In today's digital age, job hunting has moved online, making it convenient – yet leaving job seekers vulnerable to a new kind of threat: phishing scams disguised as enticing job opportunities. 

These scams are designed to steal personal information, financial data, and may even infect your devices with malware. At Harvey Nash, we take these scams extremely seriously and want to provide you with advice on how to spot these fake opportunities.

How to Spot a Potential Recruitment Phishing Scam

Often, phishing job scams use a reputable company's name, brand, logo or tone of voice. This may make them seem authentic on the surface, but the following checks and tips will help you to protect yourself.

  1. When in Doubt, Contact the Company

    Do not directly respond to any messages with offers; this goes for emails as well as text messages. Always go to the company’s website and contact them from there to check the validity of the offer.

  2. Too Good to Be True 

    If an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is. So trust your instincts. Examples of tech recruitment scams in the USA can include seemingly attractive salaries for little work or the promise of earning a lot of money, quickly.

  3. Relevance

    If the job opportunity you are being contacted for has no relevance to your skills, it is likely to be a scam.

  4. Upfront Payment Requests

    Harvey Nash will never ask you for any payment to get a job, and neither will other reputable tech recruitment agencies in the USA. A scam is easy to spot with this knowledge.

  5. Unprofessional Communication

    Poor grammar, spelling mistakes, unprofessional email addresses or overseas phone numbers are all tell-tale signs of phishing job scams.

  6. Urgency of Response

    If the offer insists on an immediate response without giving you enough time to think or research, be cautious.

  7. Unsolicited Links or Attachments

    Never click on a link or open an attachment that you may suspect to be a scam. 

  8. Check the Email Domain

    Does the email address have an unnecessary "s" or an extra letter that doesn’t line up with the brand name? For example, we will never email you from the domain HR@harveysnashusa.com. Notice the extra "s" after Harvey. 

  9. Correct, Up-To-Date Branding

    One way to spot a USA tech recruitment scam is the use of outdated or slightly modified branding or logos of popular brands. For example, we are Harvey Nash with the red square brand, no longer using the "Harvey Nash Group" brand and logo.

Things Harvey Nash Will Never Ask You to Do

To avoid tech recruitment scams, most USA firms (including Harvey Nash) follow a consistent standard of engagement and communication with all candidates and consultants. Here are a few indicators of our valid engagement protocol.

  1. We won't ask for sensitive information without speaking with you in person, or over email.
  2. We won't send your resume over to a client without speaking with you in person, or without first qualifying whether or not this role is a good fit for you. Even then, we only share such documents after you consent to your resume being sent over to the client.
  3. We won't send you a questionnaire for you to complete in the place of a live phone call.
  4. We won't send you an offer letter without ever speaking to you, without presenting the offer live over the phone to receive a verbal acceptance before sending over any documents.

What to Do If You Suspect a Harvey Nash USA Tech Recruitment Scam

If you are unsure whether a Harvey Nash USA tech recruitment message is a scam or is genuine, please contact us directly by emailing info@harveynash.com.

Stay wary of phishing job scams where you may be contacted through WhatsApp. We suggest blocking the sender in such cases and reporting the account. You can also report the fraudster through the following resources: