UX Design Job Hiring Scams becoming more believable — BEWARE!

Just a few days ago, I received this email from a “recruiter” saying that she saw my profile on LinkedIn and said that my skills/background could be a great fit for their UX Designer position.

I would always like to hear out what opportunity is out there so I responded to the recruiter and asked if she can share more details about the job.

Shortly after, she shared a PDF to me with all the details regarding the company, the job description, their hiring process, and the benefits. Seems legit up to this point, right? So, I looked at that PDF and seems like the opportunity sounds promising.

Because I thought it was something worth trying, I replied and asked how to proceed with the application. She told me to add her on Microsoft Teams, and we will proceed from there. I went ahead and reached out on MS Teams, as I was told.

Now here’s where it started sounding sketchy.

She told me that we will be conducting an encrypted chat interview. I was like, this is the first time I have ever heard of this. I’ve never had interviews that were only through chat. My expectation was that the next step was to be on a virtual conference or call with this recruiter. But chat???

I got paranoid and told this recruiter that I’ll get back to her after I check my schedule — but in truth, I started searching around “chat interview scams”. Gee, I wish I knew this earlier.

I immediately blocked this person and moved on my merry way.

Job seekers — please be vigilant. We are in a difficult and tough job market right now, and these scummy people are out there to take advantage of everyone who needs a job. They’re getting more creative and believable.

At all costs, NEVER give out personal information haphazardly and without second thoughts.