In everyday life, we often rely on recommendations from our friends and family. Whether it is a nice restaurant, good cosmetics, or an interesting place for vacation. We trust their referrals because they know us and we know them, so probably they wouldn’t recommend something that it’s not really worth it and wouldn’t work for us. Also, if we are to choose something completely unknown or go for the referral from a friend, most often we choose to try the second option first.

It’s no different when it comes to recruitment and finding new candidates for the companies. Our employees are great sources of referrals. We already have amazing team members at our organization, so there’s a great chance they know other awesome people. And top of that, they’re aware of who would fit a company best. After all, they recommend a person they would work with, so we can trust their judgment.

At TRAFFIT we’re perfectly aware of the power of employees’ recommendations. For more than four years when we open new recruitment, firstly the information goes to our employees. We ask them to recommend our offer to a friend who might be a good fit for a position. If we hired such a person and they worked with us for more than 3 months and both parties agreed to continue cooperation, we paid an employee who recommended a friend (until August 2022) 3 000 zł gross.

In 2021 the referral program had the highest effectiveness – we received over 300% more recommendations than in the previous year. Almost ⅓ of the company decided to recommend us to their friends looking for a job. The referral program is a great resource for recruiting, because who will know better who will fit us and vice versa, if not our employees?
Thanks to them, we hired four great specialists.

In the first two quarters of 2022, we hired two people recommended by our employees. Both are for IT positions. As we analyzed all of our sources and the time and costs of the recruitment, we concluded that the more qualified specialists we look for, the recruitment is more challenging and more expensive. That’s why we decided to change the rules of our referral program.

We established from the beginning the initial budget for each recruitment – 40% of the highest salary offer for a role. It’s also the amount for the successful referral dedicated to our employees. We still inform them first about the newly open role, so they have time to talk with their friends. But the referral is flexible. Once we spend some money on e.g. paid job board, the budget for referral is lowered by such an amount and it goes like this with another spending.

We really do care about the timing of the recruitment process. Having such a referral structure helps us to make it shorter, but with great candidates recommended by our employees. It’s best when we can give the whole recruitment budget for the successful referral to our employees. We rely on this source heavily and encourage our people to use the possibility to get some money and also to work with the people they already know.

Is it worth it? Numbers speak for themselves, but also we can see that employees hired because of the other’s referrals are a great match for us. It’s the source that should be treated as one of the top ones along with the candidate base. It’s worth investing money and time. We can’t forget about regular checks on how it works, because it can turn out, like in our case, that some changes can improve the whole idea and the process itself. So believe in the power of referrals and just go for it, because it all pays back!

Recruitment Fraud. An introduction

Before I share the content from my livechat with a recruitment fraudster. Let me explain what recruitment fraud looks like.

While I have very limited knowledge on the topic. Basically, people post fake jobs, sometimes claiming to be legitimate businesses like amazon, etc. They pick entry-level roles such as data entry clerk, and they wait for the candidates to role in.

From that moment I know of two ways they are committing fraudulent activities.

They sell the data collected to a 3rd party for various future usage

They take candidates who have been successful and fill the role

However, need to buy a starter pack to start the work. They say the pack is worth $100 but the candidate pays $20. Then the scammers collect the credit card details of the candidate, and I think you know how that story goes next.

Why was I talking to one?

Ironically, we made TRAFFIT to make posting jobs and collecting candidates as easy as possible. This has made our solution attractive to some of the scammers. Luckily at first we setup a manual system to quickly shut them off, and now we have invested into automated blocking of these people.

However, every time I see a scammer try to sign up, I have this urge to talk to them, interview them. Try to get them to explain what are they really trying to do. Also to of course deter them from trying to do this anymore, and sometimes to try to annoy them a little.

Today, one of them replied and actually started to share some real reasons why they are scamming, that they would like to get out, and how they blame companies like TRAFFIT for not hiring in their country to begin with.

The discussion

In short, after some teasing back and forth with the scammer, I offered to help them get a legitimate revenue stream even as a TRAFFIT reseller in Nigeria (which was a legit offer btw) if they were willing to share with me details of the scam. How they learned about it, and what do they actually sell and to who.

Conversation with Mick Griffin
Started on June 14, 2022 at 09:21 AM Europe/Warsaw time CEST (GMT+0200)

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09:21 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I have some amazing news for you!

09:22 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: From today, we are blocking all job posting without verification of accounts. PLUS! just specially for you. Every test account will be limited to 5 candidates without verification by our team 😀

09:23 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : You are a funny guy😂

09:23 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I know right 😀

09:23 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: It was great working with you all this time. But sadly, it’s over 🙂

09:25 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: The sense of turning off your accounts gave me so much pleasure over the time together. You were the least intelligent fraudster I met.

09:25 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : How am i d dumbest?

09:26 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You use a VPN to be from a place that is in the middle of the night?

09:27 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : 😂

09:27 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Dont let me use voodoo on you

09:28 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: It’s kinda funny to think that someone who is scamming people everyday, is talking about voodoo 🙂

09:29 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: But i’m not concerned. I doubt you can tie your shoelaces, never mind use voodoo 😀

09:29 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : should we try it?

09:29 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: let’s do it! I’m ready

09:29 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Okay hold

09:29 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: oooo, i can feel something. did you start?

09:29 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: ooooo, i can feel it

09:29 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: omg, it’s working!

09:29 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : u must be a fool😂

09:30 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : funny guy

09:30 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: i feel it, its so so strong!

09:30 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : can you give me a legit work so i can stop scamming

09:30 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Lets talk possitive

09:31 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : positive*

09:31 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Sure, send me your CV

09:31 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Are you sure?

09:31 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: send to iamascammer@traffit.com

09:32 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : common

09:32 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : i am serious

09:32 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : its because of people like you we scam

09:32 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : because u guys are not ready to help

09:33 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You are so right! OMG. I didn’t see it before. You take innocent people’s data because I didn’t hire you before right?

09:33 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Look i am sorry

09:33 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : life is hard

09:33 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : been tryna get work but no one called me back yet

09:33 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Dude, if you put your effort into legitimate business, instead of stealing. You would be earning super money.

09:34 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m not even joking

09:34 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Can you put me through?

09:34 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: But everything you do is a choice. It’s nobody else’s fault.

09:34 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Working for legitimate money is hard.

09:34 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: It takes time. You got to follow rules

09:35 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : i know

09:35 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : i have been trying

09:35 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Look at my situation now. How could I possibly trust you? Like seriously.

09:36 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : i am from nigeria a country were our government are corrupt

09:36 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I dont need you to give me money

09:37 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : can you give me some little works i can be doing then u can pay me?

09:37 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : something like that

09:37 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Ok, let’s talk seriously for a moment.

09:37 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I am serious sir

09:37 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: How much are you actually making from your current scamming campaign. Per month for example?

09:38 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: And is it yours? Or you work for someone else who is leading it

09:38 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : sometimes i dont make any money

09:38 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I dont work for anybody

09:38 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: How did you learn about this method of scamming?

09:39 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : online

09:39 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: If we can build some trust together. I can seriously make you a reseller of Traffit in Nigeria. For REAL businesses though.

09:39 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: And i’ll pay you a commission every month

09:39 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I am serious about this

09:39 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m being serious also

09:39 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Yes i can

09:39 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You know Nigeria, you know recruitment, sadly from a illegal standpoint.

09:40 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You can make business locally to people who really are hiring companies in Nigeria.

09:40 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: No stolen credit cards

09:40 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : No stolen credit cards

09:40 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I dont do physical scam only online scam

09:41 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: But I would like to know where you learned about this recruiting scam. I want a link to where you found it online.

09:41 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : so i dont have any credit scard

09:41 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : card*

09:41 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : its on Youtube

09:41 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I do a lot of research

09:42 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I also tried this on upwork

09:42 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: please send me actual links to the content. It’s very important to me

09:42 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : do u know upwork?

09:42 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: and in return, i’ll sign you up as an affiliate partner of Traffit.

09:43 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: you will create REAL leads and customers in Nigeria

09:44 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : are you trying to use my details to get me?

09:44 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : How do u want it to work?

09:45 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: No, i’m not trying to get you. You said you want to get serious. This is my deal.

1. I want to know everywhere you learned about the recruitment scams. Youtube, Upwork etc. I want the links.

2. In return i’ll create a legitimate way for your to make money from us as an affiliate.

09:46 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: If you bring me a legitimate client to TRAFFIT. I will give you 20% of what they spend, every month.

09:50 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m asking where did you learn about scamming?

09:51 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: How do you make money from scamming? You sell the data?

09:51 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : no

09:51 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : i learnt about it online too

09:52 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : everything is online

09:52 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: So I would like to know where you learned about it.

09:52 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : research

09:52 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I would like you to send me a link

09:52 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I would like to read about them myself

09:52 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : I dont know if i can get that

09:52 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : its been long

09:53 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: And how does it make you money?

09:54 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : we tell dem to send money for materials

09:54 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : Are you not from the US?

09:54 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : u should know all this

09:56 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : are u there?

09:59 AM | Fabiocruz6@Delta.com : U dont wanna help?

10:02 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Im here

10:06 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I understand the concept in many ways

10:06 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: But what I want to understand is ‘how do people learn about it’

10:09 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: If you can help me understand this

10:09 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: We can think how to work together more

At this moment, they literally created another fraud account that I deleted instantly and continued the conversation there

Conversation with Mick Griffin
Started on June 14, 2022 at 10:16 AM Europe/Warsaw time CEST (GMT+0200)

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10:16 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Can we continue our conversation on your new fraud account I just deleted?

10:17 AM | 8oayz0t94o@popcornfarm7.com : Yes

10:17 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You find me links to show where people are talking about recruitment scams. Also what data do you sell and how.

10:17 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: In return i’ll sign you up as our affiliate

10:17 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: and you will earn 20% of any accounts you sell in Nigeria

10:24 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: Dude

10:24 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: It makes no sense to open more accounts right now

10:24 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m wathcing everything

10:24 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: you asked me to be serious

10:25 AM | 8oayz0t94o@popcornfarm7.com : Open my account first

10:25 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m not opening anything. Everything will be closed and deleted

10:26 AM | 8oayz0t94o@popcornfarm7.com : Okay pay me first $30

10:27 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: You are someone who just told me that they sometimes make ZERO $0 in a month from scamming.

10:27 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: I’m talking to you about a way to earn legitimate money

10:27 AM | Mick from TRAFFIT: and you are making the wrong choice.

Wrap Up

Ultimately, I feel a small amount of sympathy for this person. I feel they have chosen this path out of poverty. Possibly, they also exist in a culture where this is more morally acceptable. However i’m not going to get into the topic of what is morally right. Luckily the entire recruitment industry is against this type of behaviour and even the FBI is working on this type of fraud.

If they come back, i’ll certainly be looking for more details into where these scams originate and also where is the marketplace for buying and selling illegal data from recruitments.

Until next time!

Mick