COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A new report from Heimdal reveals key insights into the growing threat of job scams, based on an analysis of 2,670 social media posts and comments from victims in 2023 and 2024. The report highlights common scam tactics, targeted industries, and key red flags job seekers should be aware of.

These findings provide important insights for job seekers, as well as businesses and platforms working to counter these scams.
Key findings of the study:
Most targeted industries: The finance and IT sectors are the hardest hit, accounting for 35.45% and 30.43% of scam cases, respectively. The healthcare industry follows at 15.41%.Remote work risk: Remote positions are increasingly targeted, with 43% of scam posts mentioning remote jobs, followed closely by on-site (42%) and hybrid roles (15%).High-value roles: Managers and entry-level candidates are the primary targets, with 35% of scams focusing on managers and 34% on entry-level roles.Contact methods: Email is the top method scammers use, responsible for 30.75% of cases, followed by social media (20.19%) and websites (19.79%).Scam characteristics: The most common job scam tactics include suspicious contact information (41.1%), unrealistic salary offers (25.7%), and misleading job descriptions (10.6%).Red flags for job seekers:
The study identified several red flags commonly associated with job scams, including:
Upfront payment requests (25.08%)Phishing attempts (18.81%)Requests for confidential information (17.49%)No interview process (15.84%)Fake job offers (12.21%)Poorly written job descriptions (10.56%)The emotional impact on victims:
In addition to financial losses, job scams are taking a significant toll on victims’ mental health:
35.29% of victims reported experiencing distress,followed by 23.53% reporting anxiety,and 9.41% expressing anger.”Job scams affect victims’ finances, so there’s that initial pain of financial loss. What comes next can be even more devastating because victims feel embarrassed, ashamed, and violated. Getting hit by a job scam can make you question your intelligence and value as a candidate—especially if you’ve faced a lot of rejection through your search,” said Albert Kim, VP of Talent at Checkr, a background check company.
“What’s rarely discussed is how these scams can strip away a person’s fundamental belief in fairness and justice. Victims feel that the system, whether it’s regulatory bodies or law enforcement, isn’t equipped to protect them, leaving them with a lingering sense of injustice,” said Oliver Morrisey, Lawyer at Empower Wills & Estate Lawyers.
“This lack of closure, combined with the emotional fallout, creates long-term psychological scars that can last far beyond the financial damage. For some, it’s not just a scam; it feels like their entire professional reputation and personal trust have been shattered,” he added.
Preventive measures:
The report highlights several strategies job seekers can use to avoid falling victim to scams, including:
Checking company reviews (26.96%)Verifying company information (22.87%)Consulting trusted friends (19.46%)Verifying email domains and checking company websites for legitimacy.”Scammers have become incredibly sophisticated, especially with the rise of generative AI, which allows them to mimic real recruiters almost perfectly. They prey on emotional vulnerabilities, making it harder than ever to differentiate genuine job offers from fake ones. It’s clear that job platforms are struggling to keep up with the growing number of scammers,” said Valentin Rusu, Ph.D., Lead Machine Learning Engineer at Heimdal Security.
“That’s why job seekers must adopt a cybersecurity-first mindset—approach every email and job offer with caution. Verify email domains, check company websites, read reviews, and consult with trusted friends before proceeding. And most importantly, never disclose personal information unless you’re absolutely certain of the company’s legitimacy,” Rusu added.
Supporting this perspective, Jessica Munday, Head of HR at Custom Neon, offered practical advice:
“Check the corporate website, the contact person’s LinkedIn profile, and other online resources to confirm the email address that is on file with the company. Use the contact information on the company’s official website to arrange a face-to-face meeting if you are contacted about a position that appears dubious.”
“Take a step back if something doesn’t feel right or if you’re under pressure to decide right away without having had enough time to consider your options. Urgency is a ploy used by scammers to force victims to act before they have a chance to think through their options,” she added.
The full analysis is available here. A video summarizing the findings will be available soon on Heimdal’s YouTube channel.
About HeimdalEstablished in Copenhagen in 2014, Heimdal® empowers CISOs, security teams, and IT administrators to improve their security operations, reduce alert fatigue, and implement proactive measures through a unified command and control platform.
Heimdal’s award-winning cybersecurity solutions span the entire IT estate, addressing challenges from endpoint to network levels, including vulnerability management, privileged access, Zero Trust implementation, and ransomware prevention.
For further press information:
Madalina PopoviciMedia Relations [email protected] 
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
The following files are available for download:
https://mb.cision.com/Main/22623/4048917/3045064.pdf
Heimdal Unveils Job Scam Tactics in New Social Media Report – Press Release
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Heimdal Job scam report – PR
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Top Social Media Trends Job Scams – Infographic
 

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— Plume WorkPass for Very Small Businesses (VSBs), and Plume Uprise for Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs) are offered first by J:COM in Japan; Plume HomePass Residential Services Suite is now available also to Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) subscribers –
PARIS, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Network X — J:COM, Japan’s largest Multiple System Operator (MSO), and Plume, the creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for communications service providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, have expanded their partnership beyond the residential segment with new services across Japan. The new services include WorkPass, featuring a bespoke solution for very small businesses; and Uprise, enabling property owners and managers to provide turnkey experiences for Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU) tenants with seamless connectivity, access controls, and property management.

Additionally, J:COM is now broadening its Plume-powered offerings beyond its cable infrastructure to J:COM’s residential subscribers on its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) footprint. Already widely deployed in Japan across J:COM since 2019, and many other smaller MSOs in syndication with J:COM since 2020, the Plume HomePass suite of services offers the highest possible quality experiences over secure, managed WiFi and J:COM’s ultra-high-performance broadband connections.
“J:COM continues to invest in best-in-class experiences with our partner Plume, and we are excited to explore new business opportunities in the small business and MDU segments in Japan,” said Mr. Yoichi Iwaki, President and Representative Director of J:COM. “We value our long-standing relationship and are excited to grow with Plume in market segments beyond residential. Our ability to leverage the same, scalable cloud platform across residential, small business and MDU market segments creates tremendous operational efficiencies, flexibility, forecast tolerance, and savings.”
Powering all three solutions across these market segments under the hood is Plume’s Haystack services suite which learns from a base of over 60 million locations and billions of devices and applications. Haystack leverages a massive, proprietary data set and AI for real-time access, analytics, insights, and both reactive & preemptive network operations and support actions.
“We are honored and thrilled to be expanding our relationship with J:COM and leaning-in with additional, market leading services together,” said Fahri Diner, Founder and CEO at Plume. “We believe that J:COM is the leading provider of ‘4D-Broadband’ in Japan – broadband measured not only along downlink and uplink Speeds, but also along the vectors of Reliability, Consistency, and Availability. Delivering delightful end-user experiences for every application, on any device, for anyone, anytime, anywhere is the ultimate catalyst for sustainable growth and subscriber loyalty – we are excited about combining our platform with J:COM’s 4D-Broadband to make all of this happen in Japan.”
Learn more about WorkPass Learn more about UpriseLearn more about Haystack
About Plume
Plume is the creator of the world’s first SaaS experience platform for communications service providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, deployed in more than 60 million locations globally. As the only open and hardware-independent, cloud-controlled solution, Plume enables the rapid delivery of new services for smart homes, small businesses and beyond, at massive scale. On the front end, Plume delivers self-optimizing, adaptive WiFi, cybersecurity, access, parental controls and more. CSPs get robust data- and AI-driven back-end applications for unprecedented visibility, insights, support, operations and marketing. Plume leverages OpenSync®, an open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading silicon, CPE and platform SDKs.
Plume, OpenSync, WorkPass, HomePass, Uprise and Haystack are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Plume Design, Inc. Other company and product names are used for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Visit: plume.comFollow Plume on LinkedIn and Instagram 
Media queries: [email protected] 
About JCOM Co., Ltd. Established in 1995, JCOM Co., Ltd. (J:COM) is Japan’s largest multiple system and multiple channel operator. In system operation, J:COM provides cable television, high speed internet access, telephony, mobile, electric power service, and services based on IoT devices to customers through 11 consolidated subsidiaries at the local level serving 5.68million subscribing households in Sapporo, Sendai, Kanto, Kansai, and Kyushu-Yamaguchi regions. The number of serviceable households or “homes passed” in J:COM franchise areas is 22.42 million. In channel operation, J:COM invests in and operates 14 thematic channels which are provided to CATV, satellite and telecom operators.
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LONDON, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Markel, the insurance operations within Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL), today announced Jack Eastwood as Senior Underwriter, Cyber, with immediate effect. His arrival underpins Markel’s commitment to investing in top-tier talent to continue enhancing its product and service offerings and underwriting expertise for broker partners. 

Eastwood takes up his position as a senior member of Markel’s Cyber & Technology team, where he’ll be responsible for working closely alongside the cyber leadership colleagues to develop and drive the organisation’s cyber underwriting strategy in London. He’ll play an important role as a senior underwriting leader, involved in all aspects of the Markel Cyber & Technology portfolio. Eastwood’s appointment will further strengthen Markel’s underwriting services and capabilities so it can continue serving broker partners and end-clients in an effective manner.
Previously, Eastwood spent more than 13 years at AIG, where he started out as a financial lines underwriter specialising in professional liability and cyber risk before progressing to the role of Team Leader – Cyber & Technology at the firm. Prior to this position, he was employed as a broker at Griffiths & Armour for more than four years.
Eastwood will be based at Markel’s London office and report directly to Dan Fox, Head of Cyber at Markel.
Fox commented: “I’m delighted to announce Jack Eastwood who has joined our London Cyber team in a senior underwriter capacity. His deep sector knowledge and expertise complements our existing cyber underwriting capabilities and will help position us for further profitable growth, so we can continue serving clients and brokers in the most effective way possible. We look forward to seeing Jack’s contributions and efforts over the coming months.”
Christopher Burgess, Director of Cyber, at Markel added: “We’re delighted to welcome Jack to our growing Cyber team here in London. His cross-functional skillset in broking, financial lines underwriting and portfolio management will be of paramount importance as we continue to drive profitable growth in the UK and internationally and firmly establish ourselves as a leading insurer and trusted risk management partner for customers.” 
About MarkelWe are Markel, a leading global specialty insurer with a truly people-first approach. As the insurance operations within Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL), we operate the Markel Specialty, Markel International, and Markel Global Reinsurance divisions, as well as State National, our portfolio protection and program services operations, and Nephila, our insurance-linked securities operations. Our broad array of capabilities and expertise allow us to create intelligent solutions for the most complex risk management needs. However, it is our people—and the deep, valued relationships they develop with colleagues, brokers and clients—that differentiates us worldwide.
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