Recruitment Fraud: How to Spot Recruiting Scams

To make sure that the job position or offer you have found or have received is legitimate, you can follow these steps:

Check the e-mail address:

Evonik employees communicate exclusively via the domain "@evonik.com". Automatically generated e-mails contain the system's domain name and can be identified as the system used by Evonik (e.g., myhr@evonik.com).

Scammers:

• frequently send emails from free web-based email accounts such as Gmail or Yahoo.
• Use slightly modified versions of the official domain name (e.g. @eevonik.com).

How to recognize e-mails sent by Evonik.

Check contact information:

Compare the information on the official corporate and career website with the information you received (URL, address, phone number, etc.)

Scammers often:

• use cell phone numbers instead of office numbers
• offer job opportunities in international locations

Question their writing style:

Official Evonik job offers always have the same style. To compare, please click here.

Scammers often:

• make obvious spelling or grammatical errors
• pass on poorly formatted documents

Official job ads:

Scammers may also use genuine job ads from reputable companies like Evonik to make their fraudulent offers appear more legitimate. To verify the authenticity of any job ad or offer, it is recommended to check the official website of the company, contact their official recruitment team directly or get in contact with Evonik employees through official social media channels. Official social media channels are usually verified through a blue checkmark, and thus easily recognizable.

Formal job interview:

Evonik does not make job offers without conducting an official interview with you. Our hiring process usually includes one or more face-to-face interviews (either on-site or via Microsoft Teams).

Take enough time to respond:

Insisting on urgency ("Please respond within 24 hours") could indicate a scam contact. With Evonik, you usually have enough time to think carefully about the offer made to you and/or to ask questions.

The most important part:

We will never ask you for money or irrelevant/unnecessary personal information: Official job offers from Evonik do not contain any request for, for example, payment of "visa fees", taxes, travel expenses or bank account details. In some countries you may be required to provide passport or ID card details, but only if you have successfully completed the application process and received an official offer from Evonik.

Protect yourself: What you can do

We recommend the following best safety practices to protect yourself from potential scams:

1. Do not share contact information, personal or financial information, or documentation until you are sure it is a reputable employer and a legitimate job.
2. If you doubt the legitimacy of a job offer, visit our job board and check to see if the job is posted there.
3. Do not engage in further communication if you suspect it may be a scam. If you suspect personnel fraud and Evonik is mentioned, contact Evonik directly at:
   https://corporate.evonik.com/en/footer-en/contact
4. Change your password if you have had contact with a potential scammer.
5. Enable multi-factor authentication and other security measures offered by your online services.
6. Avoid opening attachments from unknown senders via email or social media.
7. Install antivirus software and update it regularly.
8. Install all recommended software patches from any operating system and software vendors.

If you believe you are the target of a scam and/or are asked for financial or security information, please contact us and report the incident via the Evonik contact page: https://corporate.evonik.com/en/footer-en/contact