Stories

Thu, 03 Sep 2026

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 'I lost my savings after a job interview scam'

Jobseekers, especially Gen Z, are being targeted with fake, booby-trapped recruitment apps.

* Job seekers are being targeted by scammers on job listing websites, who trick them into downloading bogus interview tools.
* A victim lost £18,000 after downloading a malicious software disguised as a normal-looking document during an online interview.
* The hackers had drained his cryptocurrency accounts within hours and disappeared.
* LinkedIn has released data showing that younger professionals (32%) face the highest exposure to scams, but nearly a third of them admit to ignoring red flags due to a competitive job market.
* Professional recruitment platforms LinkedIn and Indeed have warned of growing numbers of job scams in recent months.
* The scammers use lures such as "Complete your interview by installing the Indeed app" or "salary agreement available after app installation" to trick victims into downloading malicious apps.
* Once downloaded, the apps allow hackers to access private data for extortion or to use in financial attacks.
* Seven job seekers have been scammed out of £200,000.