If there is one group that lives by the maxim ‘never let a good crisis go to waste,’ it’s today’s online scammers. Amid a burgeoning economic crisis with significant job losses announced across industries, they are moving quickly to take advantage. A recent surge in recruitment impersonation scams is part of an ongoing story of sophisticated attacks where cybercriminals quickly hook onto current affairs—such as the looming recession and a cost-of-living crisis the worst in decades—to offer quick fixes for job security or promises of a higher income.
In Q3 last year, JobsAware, a service that provides free help to UK victims, reported a 35% year-on-year increase in job scams. With a higher number of people now searching for job opportunities or being more inclined to switch jobs if it boosts income, scammers are cashing in. Often, their approach is to use fake recruitment processes to extract personal information and gain access to sensitive data.
