Posted on behalf of: Neil Schwartzman, Executive Director CAUCE

A friend of mine just wrote to me about a new service called NotchUp.com so I looked them up on DomainTools.

Now, why would a company obfuscate their domain registration? I can't think of a good reason why. That isn't to say that NotchUp.com is not a fine upstanding company, I don't know, but having correct and open information in your domain registration means you are taking responsibility for your online conduct.

Unemployed folks, and others looking to change jobs should be very careful when joining a job recruitment site; they can be real hornet's nest. For one, job applicants are giving out a tremendous amount of personal data that can be misused to the ends of personal identity theft. As well, many of them are not worth the bother, or can be out-and-out malicious.

Another friend was the victim of a drive-by virus-infected when someone ostensibly reached out to him about a VP-level job, one for which he was suitable (he's a sales guy, so it might not have been entirely targeted).

The CAUCE advice?

  • Stick with the biggies – to name a few; Linkedin, Monster, Workopolis, Craigslist
  • Check out new companies and new job sites from the comfort of your own browser!
  • Run the domain through DomainTools
  • Get yourself a copy of the great tool from McAfee Site Advisor, a plug-in that works for both Internet Explorer and Firefox, and check out their reviews.
  • Use the Alexa Firefox plug-in to check out if the site has a reasonable amount of traffic.
  • Use your favourite search engine on the name and the domain name of any potential job site or employer. Then search again and add the qualifier + spam. Or + scam
  • Never respond to Unsolicited email
  • If the job seems too good to be true, (especially if you are desperate!), stay away!

For example, LinkedIn currently has many 'work at home' jobs touted, money-laundering for 419 and phish-stolen money. Getting involved in those schemes helps sustain spamming, and you can be arrested. (LinkedIn are doing a fine job of deleting these as fast as they come in, but the bad guys slip through, nevertheless)

Good luck with your job search, don't let the bad guys swindle you!