Toronto Police Services (TPS) is warning residents about job scams targeting vulnerable people as unemployment and fraud rates rise in the city.
As unemployment in Toronto continues to rise, sitting at 8.6 per cent in April with more than 27,000 fewer job postings than a month earlier, more and more residents are struggling to find work in the city.
The slow job market allows for employers to be more strict about job criteria, making roles extra competitive, which affects especially young job seekers and recent graduates.
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But landing a gig is not the only concern on job seekers’ minds. As unemployment continues to drop, Toronto deals with another growing problem: job scams.
According to TPS, a reported $370 million was lost to fraud in the city. But this year, the number has made a jump, and as of May 21, $200 million has already been lost to fraud, which puts the city on track to see $560 million in fraud loss by the end of 2025.
Det. David Coffey tells Now Toronto that TPS gets about 45 to 50 fraud reports every single day, with job scams being one of the most common of them.
“We hear regularly, almost on a daily basis, certainly a few a week type thing, we hear about people being victimized by job scams. And of course, remember, most frauds aren’t reported,” he said.
The detective warns that these cruel scams capitalize on people’s vulnerabilities and desperation in finding a job, giving them an opportunity they feel like they can’t refuse.
“Who needs their money more than people looking for jobs, right? And then that just shows the nature of these fraudsters. And, you know, and they don’t care. They don’t care if you have money or not. They want whatever they can get from you,” he said.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Toronto-based headhunter David Smith has his own recruiting company and says he too has been involved in a job scam.
In January, he says he got a call from a job seeker responding to a job opening for his company on Facebook Marketplace. The only problem is that he never put up the post.
After digging in, Smith found that an Alberta-based recruiting company called The Headhunters was linked to the opening. But when he contacted the company, he was told they have also never put up the ad.
“I basically just responded and said, ‘Listen, you’re using my address and this company’s website. You don’t have our permission, and a cease and desist, and I’m writing to Facebook to tell them about this,’” he said.
In fact, Coffey says that using informal social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace is a common tactic by these fraudsters, who are usually looking for money, whether it be getting paid upfront or using your personal information to obtain this money.
And the biggest catch is that they get money by asking for documents that any regular employer would also ask for—a picture of your driver’s license, social insurance number, bank account information, home address, and more.
“Information is a lot more nefarious because you’d never know what they’re going to use that information for, but ultimately it’s for their own financial gain, right? So, they may use your information to take out loans in your name or apply for credit cards in your name, do shopping in your name, and stuff like that,” Coffey said.
One of the biggest giveaways of these kinds of scams is that the offer is often way too good to be true, including work from home, few weekly hours, flexible schedule, great pay and benefits, all with one interview round or sometimes even no interview at all.
But the detective emphasizes that job seekers need to especially be vigilant of employers that ask for any kind of payment as part of their unboarding process.
“When you get a job and you’re employed by a legitimate employer, they pay you, right? You don’t pay them. And that’s what job scams do. They’ll say, ‘Oh, congratulations on your new job. Send us $2,000 to buy your equipment,’” he said.
In a statement to Now Toronto, a spokesperson for Indeed Canada said that the company is working to limit job openings that don’t meet their standards and putting up resources to help users identify and avoid them.
“Indeed removes tens of millions of job listings each month that do not meet our quality guidelines. In addition, Indeed will not do business with an employer if their job listings do not pass our stringent quality guidelines,” they said.
Some of their tips for safe job search include never sending or accepting payments right away, looking for verifiable contact information like a company email address, and being cautious of offers that seem too good.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
Although it may be hard for struggling job seekers to keep their cool when receiving an offer, Coffey urges Torontonians to take things slowly, take time to carefully research the company, make sure that they use legitimate job boards, and be careful with any links or applications that they may need to download to get started.
“Anytime… you get a text, you get an email, somebody knocks on your door, your phone rings, be aware of the potential that it’s a fraudster trying to steal your money. Just keep it in the front of your mind. Don’t be paranoid. It sounds exhausting, but it’s not. Just be aware,” he said.
For those who find themselves falling victim to a job scam, Coffey recommends they inform their bank even before contacting the police, which will give them a better chance of getting some of their money back or protecting their account from further thefts.
The detective also urges people to denounce scammers and report them. According to him, even though it is often hard to catch fraudsters as they may be untraceable or even outside of the country, reports can help prevent more people from getting scammed.
“I’m trying to educate the public and try to prevent these from happening to others, that’s the greatest benefit to me, is when people report it… There’s very limited things we can do then, but a lot of times the job scammers are here. If we can find them, we’ll arrest them.”
