Verity journal

When you think scammers, what comes to mind is one unscrupulous-looking individual coming up to you looking to relieve you of all your money. However, the truth can be scarier as scammers often have long-term strategies to gain trust before they proceed with their plans, which can take years of preparation.

You can read about the smooth-taking financial guru who ran his scam for a year, or the syndicate that made off with RM31 million after just 12 months of business (and after initially paying profits to their investors, no less). And here’s one about a gold investment scheme that ran for almost three years, costing investors allegedly RM340 million. Scammers spend a lot of time building a relationship before making a move.

In the context of potential hires, how can you tell if you are hiring the genuine article and not a scammer? You can scan their resumes numerous times and speak to them during an interview, but will that be enough?

It is enough to just go by first impressions? Everyone wants to make a good first impression, and it’s quite normal to see new hires still in the office after everyone else has left, or taking on work that no one cares to touch.

It is easy to fake enthusiasm when it comes to working hard 24/7, 365 days a year. They can spend months and even years working patiently to conceptualise and build their scam, gaining credibility and trust along the way. And when they’ve snagged their first victim, there’s more impetus to get a second one, and a third, and so on.

Background screening can help you verify if your potential hire has been truthful or behaving in their past jobs. While first impressions do count, it is best to verify first than to regret later.

If you want to know how to spot scammers, do drop by our website at www.verityintel.com and have a look around.