Your security and potential threats

General

Your security and potential threats

The security of our community members is important to us at Patchwork Hub. To detect any fraudulent behaviour and scams on our platform, we’ve put a number of security measures in place. Although we’re working hard to protect our users, no system is perfect. We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the following types of scams to better protect yourself online.

If you come across any scams on Patchwork Hub, please contact us immediately to report them.

You can also read our article on Warning signs to avoid, which contains some general dos and don'ts when looking for a job.

You may also wish to visit JobsAware (formerly SAFERjobs). It’s a non-profit, joint industry law enforcement organisation that strives to combat job scams and provides free advice and resources to stay safe when searching for a job online.

Fraudulent Emails and Texts

Scam or ‘phishing’ emails are becoming more common and advanced. These emails often contain company trademarks, logos, brand colours, legal disclaimers and email addresses that look very similar to legitimate ones.

Usually these types of emails will require you to click on a hyperlink. You can hover your cursor over them to try to see if these links are legitimate. Other similar emails may ask for your financial details, or state that they are ‘processing’ your Patchwork Hub account for a third party, including PayPal and Amazon.

Fraudulent texts work in a similar way. Such messages will usually ask you to click on a link to provide your account information. They may even take you to a legitimate website. However, if the text has been sent from a mobile number, this is most likely a scam. Before clicking on the link, make sure you read the company policy on scams and ‘phishing’ emails / fraudulent texts for the company that this text appears to be sent from.

These emails and texts can look very real, but always remember that it’s extremely rare for any company to ask for your financial information via email or text. If in any doubt, don’t click on the links provided and report these emails or text messages to us, so that we can look into them. We will never ask our Patchworkers to supply their financial information, bank account numbers or passwords in an unsolicited way.

Fee Scams

When you search for a job on Patchwork Hub, we will never ask you to pay a fee to apply for a job. So if you come across any jobs that require you to pay for any of the following services, please report the job to us immediately:

Job application fees
Recruiter or job placement fees
Interview reservations
Training fees
CV formatting or editing fees
Background check or DBS fees
Uniform costs (before you've even started working)

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Scams

Although some jobs require a DBS disclosure and may ask if you have a recent DBS check on the application form, employers should never ask you to actually pay for a DBS check if you don’t have one.

Be particularly wary if:

You are asked to provide sensitive information for a DBS check, including your passport, National Insurance number or financial information.
The price is higher than £23 for a Standard DBS check; £40 for an Enhanced DBS check; or £25 for a Basic Disclosure Scotland check.
The industry you are applying for isn't in healthcare, education or security.
The employer is asking you to order the DBS check through a third-party that is not registered on the Government Directory; if the employer is asking to do the DBS check themselves, contact the DBS directly to check if the employer has been registered to perform these checks.

Cheque Scams

Never cash a cheque or purchase equipment on behalf of an employer. Cheque scams often involve elaborate stories of someone needing a personal assistant or a caregiver, and can lead to you unwittingly passing on a bad cheque.

Money Laundering Scams

These scams involve companies asking you to perform a money transfer that could be scam-related. These are typically conducted via Western Union, MoneyGram or BitCoin. A legitimate employer would never ask you to transfer money for them.

Shipping Scams

These types of scams usually advertise jobs for a “merchandising manager” or a “package processing assistant”. The job entails receiving packages and mailing them to foreign addresses on behalf of someone else using postage-paid mailing labels that would normally be sent via email. These packages could contain goods bought with compromised credit cards and fraudulent postal money orders. An employer should never ask you to use your home address to send or receive parcels.