Bringing new employees onboard? Help them avoid impersonator scams

After a careful search, you hired the perfect employee. You can’t wait to share the good news on your business’s website and social media. Go ahead and shout it from the virtual rooftop, but know that it’s not only potential clients and competitors who’ll get the alert. Scammers are watching, too — and they might use the update to target your new employee.

Scammers are following hiring updates on social media and quickly contacting new employees — even before they’re on board. Why? Many new employees are eager to please, so they’re less likely to ask questions when the new “boss” contacts them with an urgent request (even one that sounds fishy). Some new employees report getting an urgent message from the boss, asking for a big favor: purchase gift cards and hand over the numbers — or quickly text their financial or personal information.

Want to help new hires and current employees avoid scams?

Tell staff how you’ll communicate and share your direct contact information. That way, if you’ll be texting staff, your employees will know it’s really you. Remind them to pause if they get a message from an unknown number — and invite them to contact you on your known number before responding. If you’ll never communicate with your employees via text, tell them to ignore any unexpected message that pretends to be you.

Educate your employers about gift card scams. Unlikely to ask your employees to buy gift cards as part of their official duties? Tell them that. Staff will know if they get a call, text, or email from someone who seems to be you and asking them to buy gift cards and send the codes, it’s a scam.

And, if someone impersonates your business, here’s what to know:

This conduct may violate the FTC’s Impersonation Rule. If someone’s posing as or misrepresenting their affiliation with your business, they may be violating the FTC’s Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses and the FTC Act. People who violate the rule may be liable for civil penalties, refunds to injured consumers, and other remedies.

Report imposters to the FTC. If someone tries to mislead your employees by faking an association with you or your business, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Report identity theft. If someone misuses your identity, report it at IdentityTheft.gov, a one-stop resource to help people report and recover from identity theft. There you can find step-by-step advice on what to do next, and resources like checklists and sample letters.