In today's digital world, professionals often explore new opportunities to advance their careers, and seek new avenues to make connections, through the internet and social media. Unfortunately, fraudulent job recruitment scams have become more prevalent. These scams – often called phishing -- can be quite damaging for job seekers, and can result in the disclosure of personal information, loss of money, and valuable time and resources.
Boehringer Ingelheim has become aware of recent, fraudulent recruitment activity being conducted by individuals or groups who claim to be third party recruiters and/or points of contact for our Company. Examples include sending candidates a request for personal information, conducting online interviews or meetings, making offers of employment, demanding money for employment related services and activities, or asking the applicant to purchase a laptop or other work-related equipment for the job. The aim of the fraud is to obtain personally identifying information (e.g., identity theft) and/or money. The Company’s name is used to try to convey authenticity.
We would like to be very clear that Boehringer Ingelheim never requires candidates to make payments during the recruitment process. If you receive a genuine job offer from us, we will not request financial contribution for administrative expenses authorized for that role (e.g., a laptop computer). We also recommend that you do not disclose personal or financial materials to anyone that you do not know.
Some other red flags and details to consider:
- Requests for financial information such as social security numbers or bank account details, especially on an urgent basis, during the application process. Also sending you a link to click on.
- Are there grammatical or spelling errors in the communication?
- Do the preliminary inquiries/messages make sense for this role? General categories and vague descriptions may be a warning sign.
- What is the sender’s email address? Is it consistent with other job postings from this company? Email addresses that are slightly different from any business’s primary contact information (“Jane.Doe@ Boehringer-Ingelheim.org” vs “John.Doe@Boehringer-Ingelheim.com”) are a common warning sign.
- If you are contacted through LinkedIn, be sure to review the entire profile to verify their credentials.
- Are you being offered a role without having an interview with a current employee on that team?
Phishing scammers advertise jobs the same way legitimate companies do – often online, leveraging popular job boards and high-traffic social media sites.
If you suspect that a job offer is fraudulent, we recommend that you do not respond to it. If you believe you are the victim of any fraudulent activity, you can report it to the appropriate Canadian authorities: Scams and fraud - Canada.ca (The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre).
Boehringer Ingelheim is not responsible for any fraudulent offers and advises prospective candidates to follow the guidance provided above.