LinkedIn is a good site for job adverts but it unfortunately attracts the attentions of scammers who put fake job adverts on the LinkedIn service.

Sometimes they send out emails that look to be from LinkedIn  containing job adverts. But they link to bogus sites designed to gather your identity information.

Also, you may receive an unexpected contact from a LinkedIn member offering a relevant job opportunity.

In this case, the scammer will have set up a phony profile and spammed potential victims, some of whom accept the contact request.

The details of the job offer are discussed, but what the scammer wants is your identity information and sometimes they ask for a fee for their ‘service’ .

It’s not normal practice to pay for a job opportunity, as the recruiters make their money from their clients so anyone asking for money should be a red flag warning to you.

Do be wary about accepting new contacts and check out their profile before accepting

Also, be wary if profiles contain only limited details of the person who’s contacting you, if there are misspellings or poor grammar, or if the person claims to live in Africa or the Middle East.

Do not give out confidential information to a prospective employer unless you have properly checked them  (do a Google search on their name and business and look for reviews).

If you believe you have a phony in your contacts, you can block them via your LinkedIn account. You should also let LinkedIn know.

[source scambusters,org]