It was brought to our attention that phishers are using the NCO brand image and job postings to run a phishing scam on people interested in joining our team. If you’ve received an interview request for a job offer from anyone at NCO, please double-check it’s legitimate. People are being scammed through online job searches (Indeed, Glassdoor, and Upward) for remote data entry clerks.
The recruitment phishing scam works like this (as far as we can tell):
- Scammers are contacting people on platforms including LinkedIn, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger, Glassdoor, Upward, and Zoom.
- The scammers are posing as NCO team members and board members, using names and images from our website, as well as website addresses and email addresses that are close enough to ours to cause confusion.
- The scammers are asking people to do job interviews via chat.
- The scammers are sending fake job offers and asking victims to provide personal identifying information and financial information. They may even ask victims to purchase hardware in preparation for the "job."
- The scammers are sending counterfeit checks, either by mail or email to be cashed to "purchase equipment".
To be 100% clear: these scammers are not associated with NCO in any way and the job offers they are sending are not legitimate.
Here are some tips for identifying recruitment phishing scams:
- Official job offers and emails will always come from someone at NCOINC.ORG, not any other domain (including .us, .net, or any other domain suffixes).
- We NEVER conduct job interviews via chat or text messages.
- We will NEVER ask you to purchase your own equipment.
- If the potential employer asks for payment upfront, your bank or credit card information, it’s likely a scam.
What to Do if This Happened to You
- You can report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Visit: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
- Contact your bank or credit card company immediately. If you used a cash app, reach out to the bank connected to the account and let them know about the fraudulent charge. It may be too late to stop the transaction, but law enforcement recommends notifying your financial institutions immediately.
- If you gave the scammer your personal information, read about next steps to take here.
Phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated and are becoming a larger widespread trend. Stay alert, be aware, and be vigilant when it comes to cyber security. Please be cautious out there. Don't hesitate to reach out to us directly at humanresources@ncoinc.org or 707-467-3200 if you are even the least bit unsure of the legitimacy of any recruiting messages.
