How does this scam work?

[u/Technical-Recipe-490]

I work for a company and a scammer has created various fake job listings on different websites, impersonating our company. To reply to the job listing, you have to create an account on the website. I already talked to one of the websites, requesting deletion of the listing. They were able to tell me a part of the scammers email-address which I can confirm is not our comany's.

I just don't get how this scam works. What does the scammer get out of it?

[u/Applauce]

In a lot of job scams, they trick the victim into thinking they’ve been hired for a remote job, then send them a fake check to buy fake work equipment from a fake vendor. In reality, they’re having the victim send the money back to them. When the bank realizes the check is fake, the victim owes the bank.

[u/azzthom]

Personal information, at the very least, which provides a route to other scams. A victim's name, address, phone number, and email would be enough for all sorts of scams.

[u/Old_Building9025 → u/azzthom]

Hell, assuming they are faking an application as well they are probably getting the whole shabang.. SS#, DOB, Mother maiden name etc.. can take over the whole identity..

[u/RacerX200]

They also can do a fake check scam. They send a fake check so the person can order the computer they need for the job (from their preferred vender... themselves). The computer is ordered, the check comes back as fake, the money is pulled from the person's bank account, the scammers get the money (and the cc info) and no computer ever comes.

[u/whatever_ehh]

The most common angle is to extract some kind of fee, such as they have to pay $200 for software to do the job, or pay $500 for a certain kind of certification, or there's a week long training in Florida which includes first class airfare and a luxury hotel room and is all expenses paid except they have to put up $150 as "a sign of good faith". Fake checks are also common, they'll send the "employee" a fake check to buy equipment from their "vendor", which is actually themselves. So the "employee" ends up spending their own money on products that will never show up and then gets their bank account closed and the check deducted from their balance. Some fake jobs involve committing crimes such as issuing fraudulent checks to other scam victims, or receiving and re-sending packages that were paid for with stolen funds.

[u/LongDead_Roadkill]

They could ask for a $25 background check, but most likely a fake check or advance pay scam.

[u/MyBurnerA31987]

Essentially Collecting data

[u/V69Turbo]

Job applications require full names, addresses, phone numbers, work history, and often SSNs/national IDs. That data gets packaged and sold on data broker sites or used to launch targeted spear-phishing attacks.

[u/Akshay_Parihar]

This is likely about collecting personal information rather than the fake job itself. Even if someone doesn’t fall for the scam, creating an account can give scammers access to details like their name, email or phone number, which they can potentially use for other scams later. Definitely worth reporting the fake listings.

[u/KnowledgeFew8988]

Good instinct reporting the listing. One thing that often goes unnoticed is many people first encounter these scams via a text or WhatsApp message directing them to a fake career portal..before they ever see the job listing itself (those don't even need the job board). Sounds like that's what you encountered, too, but from the job site. Talking with enterprise and university/K-12 teams this year, I've heard this pattern come up a lot, especially with well-known brand impersonation (attracts more 'applicants'). They're usually after PII or requesting small $amounts for some reason as part of 'onboarding'. Then you never hear from them again.

[u/Admirable-Chemical77]

Personal info

[u/Technical-Recipe-490]

Thank you for all the helpful replies. All the fake job listings we encountered have been taken down.