In recent years there has been a significant rise in the number of fake, exploitative, and misleading job adverts posted online. These have included identity theft, pay for training scams, fake DBS fraud, and even modern slavery.
Previously the event was going ahead at New Scotland Yard but due to the pandemic this will now be a virtual event. Throughout the period of lockdown the volume of recruitment scams has increased significantly, with more people finding themselves out of work. This makes it a crucial time to take action.
The new vetting system is designed to help online recruiters fight back against the growth of fake and misleading job adverts and show how industry can "self-regulate" to tackle the issue.
Recent Employment Minister, Damian Hinds, has previously said fake job scams have affected 1 in 10 job seekers. Last year the UK's Second Labour Market Strategy identified online recruitment as an emerging issue within the UK. Over the last two years there has been a 300 per cent rise in reports of recruitment related fraud and misconduct, with SAFERjobs receiving around 5 – 10 reports per day. The fraud can have financial implications for job searchers with individuals loosing on average £4000 according to Action Fraud.
The Metropolitan Police, BEIS, and SAFERjobs are hosting a free online event on 11th September at 1pm (until 2.15pm) about the UK's first online job advert vetting system. The event will be opened by Matthew Taylor, Interim Director of Labour Markets and previous Policy Officer to Tony Blair, and will include UK Government's current review of online recruitment, HMRC on the development of SAFERjobs, as well as a demonstration of the new system. The event is free to attend for everyone interested in the online recruitment sector, to reserve your place please click here.
