In this short podcast episode, I explain how a scammer tried to lure one of our LinkedIn Live participants into resume writing services. Bad actors pull out all the stops, and you must carry the same energy.

Their efforts are increasing as layoffs and job separations intensify. Our podcast episode during LinkedIn Live experienced this in a subtle but bodacious way.

It’s like a pest flying in your face, waiting to swat it.

Referrals are becoming increasingly common. One user may recommend a service offering the Gmail address of a fake career services professional. It’s not uncommon for a random social media user to recommend someone else who said they helped them.

Someone not in my network viewed my update about my lost Facebook page. They referred me to someone’s Instagram page, which was weird, and they copied someone’s content to fill theirs. Surprisingly, there's been a surge lately.

Why now? Oh yeah, the job market is in a chokehold of sorts. The vigilance job seekers need now has to expand. You’ll need to be more vigilant than ever.

Bad actors know the soft spots.

I know among the bad actors are incompetent career services providers who are trying to serve and help. At least within their incompetence and “scammy behavior,” they have a LinkedIn profile and social equity. While their sincerity is noted, they’re not part of this conversation. These bad actors plot to steal your personal information, not serve a bad product.

At the show's beginning, I mentioned the possibility bad actors were listening and would show up in the chat. I was half-way kidding when I said it, but it happened. I show examples in the video of how this particular one showed up, off the radar.

I monitor the chat during the live stream. I can see most comments, except certain replies from LinkedIn users who are not in my network. This parasite offered phony services to a participant whose comments I could see, but not their reply. I say their comment after the show, going through the comments, following every comment I could.

Well played, parasite. Well played.

Rules of disengagement

I’ve constantly repeated in the last couple of months: ONE RED FLAG IS ENOUGH TO DISENGAGE COMMUNICATION.

It’s enough to report and block them. Don’t visit their links, don’t entertain their suggestions, or buy into their half-baked, somewhat empathetic responses.

Here are five signs to identify a referring parasite:

* They appear randomly. Out of nowhere, they are being helpful. Many times, it’s not because you need a resume. It could be your “Open-To-Work” badge, your venting about the lack of job search success, frustrations, or your presence in the thread.

* Third connection or more. The parasite is not part of your social network. Their profile is AI-generated, and responses are scripted and automated.

* All replies are the same. They’re all the same when you search their profile and the comments. They recommend the same service provider even when the thread conversation is unrelated.

* They have multiple profiles with similar features. Parasites use AI to generate numerous accounts. There are many, but LinkedIn seemingly can’t keep up with them or has the technology to auto-locate them. The various accounts may have similar names or different headlines. They have copied it from another profile, and likely, it’s someone’s actual profile. Sometimes, like in this episode, the fake profile’s owner deleted their profile.

* Their photo, or lack thereof, is everything you need to know. If you copy the photo, save it, and then use Google image search, it will often come up with the owner of the photo. It may not be on the same social network, but it’s evident if the owner has other profiles with substantive content.

Let me know if you have experienced fake career services or have recommended someone to you. What do you think of this episode?

Feel free to comment or ask questions. I love to help.

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