Today we’re talking to Keith Rosser who is a man on a mission to protect workers from the increasingly complex scams that deliberately target vulnerable job seekers.  He is an long standing friend of the show, and we caught up with him to find out about the latest job scams, the impact on victims, and to ask what exactly is being done about it?

Here are just a few of our key insights:

• There has been a 70% increase in reports of job scams in the last few months – this is just the tip of the iceberg;
• There is a human story behind every single reported job scam and the impact can be devastating;
• COVID-19 has created more vulnerable people who are susceptible to scams;
• The psychology of needing a job makes people less likely to question suspicious activity;
• There is evidence of fake jobs being linked to money muling, money laundering and ultimately funding terrorism.

It’s not just the immediate financial cost to victims, which ranges from £50 to £10k, but there is also possible longer term damage caused through identity theft and fraudulently taking out loans in victims’ names.  Listen in to receive the latest information on exactly what cons these criminals are coming up with now, what you can do to protect yourself, and what action is being taken more widely through the government and other bodies.

JobsAware

Importantly, we also chat about the launch of a brand new initiative, JobsAware, which provides free help and advice to UK workers who have suffered from job scams or unfair working practices.  JobsAware works closely with BEIS, the Home Office, HMRC, law enforcement and DBS amongst others.  You can find out more here.

About Keith Rosser

Keith has been the Chair of SAFERjobs for over 10 years. He is a Group Director of the world’s largest family owned recruitment business, REED, and is Director of Reed Screening, a large pre-employment vetting business within the group.  He Chaired the first cross-Government committee on the flexible labour market, the Association of Compliance Organisations (ASCOR).  Keith was appointed to the Advisory Panel on UK Government’s response to the Good Work Plan, advised the Name Blind committee chaired by then Prime Minister, David Cameron, and received a Commendation Award from Home Office for services to the labour market in 2018.

Keith also Chairs several trade bodies and industry committees within the labour market, including the Criminal Records Trade Body (CRTB) with the DBS, Disclosure Scotland, and Access Northern Ireland. Keith is an Advisory Board Member at Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud sharing database. Keith is also Chair of Release Scotland which works with Scottish Government on criminal record reforms.