- 2024
- Apr
- 29
A new LinkedIn scam.
For a while, I was getting these odd connection requests where it was a strange picture and a bunch of unrelated jobs and universities all around the world. The person would always have a job of “shareholder” or somesuch nonsense, and they were always an entrepreneur, and they were a jet-setting, globe-trotting executive that had time to take a wedding dress photo on the beach for their profile. They were also Chinese, even if their photo wasn’t. You could usually reverse search the image and find it on the page the person lifted it from. Nope, right in the bin.
The new one seems to be people who have no profile picture, no jobs listed even though their headline may clearly state multiple job titles that kind of but don’t really relate, and one entry in their history - usually a university from 10 years ago. It’s always “I am very interested in your career and would like to work with you” in the introduction in-mail. Sometimes they have a job, but it’s vague or “self-employed.”
Mark, why are you a Chinese woman?
Report them as not a real person, and they’re usually gone in a day or two.
It’s nothing but a scam, and you have to be on the lookout for these bad actors. If you’re in a job that may have access to sensitive corporate or government info, it’s even more prudent that you refuse anything that even smells just slightly off. It’s not going to cost you anything to hit the block button, but could cost you a lot if you take the request and start talking.