Monster.com warns of ID theft

Phony job listings being used to steal personal data

The increased use of background checks as a part of normal job application procedures has provided a convenient way for scam artists to pry sensitive information such as social security numbers and bank account numbers out of job seekers, Dixon said.

Often criminals represent themselves as employees of reputable and well-known companies to mask their true identity. Phone interviews are frequently followed by professional-looking forms that collect the victim's information for the "background check."

Typically, victims don't even find out about the scam until a month or more after the information has been provided, when checks bounce or credit limits have been exceeded, at which point "it's a hideous problem," according to Dixon.

Mullins said that he has not noticed any increase in the number of complaints about identity theft.

"It's just part of doing business on the Internet," Mullins said.

Monster.com competitor Careerbuilder.com said that it had already taken measures to protect the privacy of its users.

The company's Web site offers tips to job seekers to protect themselves, according to company spokeswoman Jennifer Sullivan.

That list of tips, which is almost identical to the list provided by Monster.com, has been posted on the Careerbuilder.com site at least since December, Sullivan said. (See http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Info/Privacy.htm.)

In addition, Careerbuilder.com offers a number of different posting options, from those offering low security and high visibility, to anonymous and private posting options that prevent personal contact information from being disclosed or retrieved using searches, Sullivan said.

Careerbuilder.com is owned jointly by Gannett, Knight Ridder, and Tribune Company.

Sullivan was not aware of any complaints about identity theft resulting from a bogus job posting on Careerbuilder.com, but didn't rule out that such thefts might have occurred.

In addition to its posted warning, Careerbuilder is looking in to additional measures to protect job seekers, Sullivan said.

No information on those measures was available, however, and Sullivan could not provide information on when they might be available to Careerbuilder.com customers.

Nevertheless, Dixon took issue with Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com's recommendations that their customers not provide their social security number to employers.

"Employers are frequently asking for [social security numbers] to perform background checks, and it's not going to stop," Dixon said.

Instead of steering their users away from providing their social security numbers, online job sites should encourage job seekers to work harder to validate their prospective employers.

Candidates should call the company to verify that the person they've been dealing with works there and that the telephone number, e-mail address and postal addresses they've been provided with match the company's, Dixon said.

Mullins said that Monster.com verifies the legitimacy of "the vast majority" of companies advertising on its Web site, but that job seekers should contact the company if a job posting has raised their suspicion.