Cooke Aquaculture warns of scam job offers

Cooke Aquaculture Inc. has warned the public of scammers impersonating Cooke employees through fake offers of employment.

“Cooke has received several reports of persons falsely claiming to work for Cooke on social media and recruitment platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed,” reads a news release from the company. “The fraudsters are offering employment positions and requesting copies of government-issued I.D. cards, proof of address documents (ex: utility bill, recent pay slip, bank statement, etc.), and cheque payment information such as a direct deposit form or void cheque.”

The release also notes that the perpetrators of the fake offers have produced false documents such as a contract of employment to help convince potential victims that they are legitimate recruiters.

“A lot of these frauds stem from an unsolicited contact, like a pop-up will appear in somebody’s social media account,” says Nova Scotia RCMP H Division Public Information Officer Andrew Joyce. “Other times, you see an ad that when you really think about it, seems too good to be true. There’s 101 different iterations of how these scams are put forward.”

Joyce recommends that job seekers do their research – look up the company that is supposed to be offering the job and seek out their official channels for employment opportunities. Cooke advised that official job postings are found at www.cookeseafood.com, www.mycookecareer.com or the @mycookecareer Facebook page.

“Other times, there’s money involved there, they want the person to pay upfront for the job application or to move things along,” advises Joyce. “Honest employers never request that anyone pay to get a job. That’s a sure sign of a scam.”

Representatives for Cooke did not respond to specific inquiries regarding the fraudulent job offers and directed us to their previous release.