Find out about these 3 popular South African job hunting scams, so you can protect yourself and warn your friends and family.

Job scams are more common than you think which is why you should know what to look out for. Here are 3 popular South African job hunting scams that you should know of and warn your friends and family about:

Scam 1: Fax only
The employer requests that, in order for you to apply for a job, you can only fax all your relevant documents like your CV, cover letter, certificates etc. The candidate is then charged a rate per minute for faxing.

Know what to do: Employers and recruiting agencies will always provide alternative contact details including an email address that you can send your documents to, if nothing is provided, move on. Warning bells should ring since they haven’t even provided a website or telephone number!

WATCH: How to identify job scams

Scam 2: Work from Home

This scam promises that you can earn money from the comfort of your home with promises of easy, get rich quick and ‘I did it and I’m rich’ promises and claims. An advertisement of this type will ask you to start a business from home and, upon responding to an advertisement, you’ll be directed by the advertisers to deposit a sum of money into their account. The work and pay day will never come.

Know what to do: Unless you are a Virtual Assistant or starting your own home business, it’s safest not to believe any work-from-home opportunities. According to South African law certain work-from-home opportunities are illegal and may not be advertised. If you come across any of these, report them to the Department of Trade and Industry. 

Scam 3: Payment needed to begin
These scammers list international positions that seem very attractive to candidates. After you apply, the scammers will phone and email relentlessly to hook you. If you apply, you’ll get an SMS notification, along with numbers to call if you have any questions. The catch with this is that candidates are often asked to pay a stamp duty fee before the application is submitted.

WATCH: 5 tips to avoid job scams

Know what to do: No legal job ad will ask you to pay for anything. If any organisation asks this, don’t proceed – there’s a 100% chance that you are in the process of getting scammed, and you will lose money. Don’t fall for the money back guarantee that they promise – it’s a lie and they’ll send you on a wild goose chase. Your phone bill will rise; your stress levels will rise even more.

Careers24 is committed to ensuring that all job ads on our site are for legitimate job opportunities. We have a zero tolerance policy to scam jobs. As part of our policy, Careers24 does not charge candidates for job applications or job offers. It is against South African regulation for recruiters to charge for job offers.

What should you do if you think you've spotted a scam on Careers24?

1. Do NOT respond to the ad

2. Notify us immediately by contacting us at reportads@careers24.com