If you’re looking for a job in the Vancouver tech scene, make sure you dot your is and cross your ts before submitting your banking information to your future employer, as a recent scam is trying to take advantage of just that.
JAR Audio is a full-service podcast production agency that works exclusively with brands. It’s done work for major companies like Amazon, T-Mobile, RBC, Cirque du Soleil, and more.
JAR Audio CEO Roger Nairn took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the scam’s details, hoping to get ahead of similar scams that could’ve potentially targeted other agencies in the industry.
Attention podcast community!
I wanted to make you all aware of a phishing scam that I’m worried might spread from @jar_audio to you or your company.
We’ve recently gotten a deluge of people coming forward saying that they applied for a role on https://t.co/BTBJuXPaU0
— Roger Nairn 🎧 (@jar_roger) November 15, 2022
Nairn shared some of the details about the scam with Daily Hive.
How the scam works
Indeed was the primary platform that the scam operated through.
Potential applicants would see the job posting on indeed, which was a copy of a legitimate ad JAR Audio posted a month ago. Applicants would then apply and provide their email addresses.
“A person by the name of ‘Jason Robertson’ would reach out claiming they are the recruitment director at JAR Audio,” said Nairn, adding that that isn’t even a role that exists at JAR Audio, nor is anyone by that name employed there.
The applicant would eventually have a full interview with a recruiter over Microsoft Kaizala, after which the applicant would be sent an offer letter. Then they would then be sent a shopping list of specific equipment to buy to use in their role. The recruiter would also send the applicant a form to fill out their banking details, with the assurance that they would be reimbursed immediately.
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Nairn believes the scam aimed to obtain the applicant’s banking details.
A few applicants reached out to JAR to admit they got that far in the process, sharing banking details before they realized what was going on and contacted their banks to shut down the account.
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“We have also been told that a few applicants were moments away from giving notice at their current place of employment before reaching out to us through our website just to be safe,” said Nairn.
All of the emails and documents had JAR Audio logos and they looked pretty official outside of the grammar and language used.
Who is behind the scam?
We asked Nairn if he had any clues as to who was perpetrating the scam.
“We don’t know who the culprit is, other than the URL that they were using was registered in Iceland. We’ve notified Indeed and the URL register.”
Thankfully, Indeed took down the job posting, but the URL company has been “a little more difficult to track down,” Nairn said.
“We haven’t contacted the authorities because, quite honestly, things have been moving so fast, it seems to be global in scale.”
Nairn says they don’t even know who to call.
Advice for job seekers
Nairn has some advice for people looking for a job.
“Be very careful when engaging in an interview.”
He adds to not agree to an interview that takes place entirely over chat and insist on having a conversation and seeing someone face to face or over Zoom.
“Finally, trust your gut. If something doesn’t seem right, there’s a good chance your gut is trying to tell you something. In this case, the ‘recruiter’ used poor grammar, was in a rush, and refused to talk with the applicants over the phone. They used a different URL in their email address and they asked the applicants to make a purchase upfront. Red flags.”
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