Scammers are coming for laid-off tech workers

Nothing beats getting laid off during an economic downturn, finally being offered a job interview, then learning that the interview is actually an elaborate internet scam.

Job fraudsters are luring laid-off workers into offering up money or sensitive personal information with phony companies, job postings, websites, and interviews, per The Wall Street Journal.

• Many of those being targeted are unemployed tech workers. The broader tech industry experienced a jump in layoffs throughout 2022, totaling ~154k, and has already seen 21k+ layoffs this year, according to Layoffs.fyi.
• LinkedIn claims it blocked 20m+ fake accounts in the first half of 2022, up 33% from 2021.

The volume and economic impact of these scams have skyrocketed. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission reported US workers lost more than $209m from job opportunity fraud, up from $118m in 2018.

In just the first three quarters of 2022, workers lost $250m.