In recognition of International Fraud Awareness Week, Jobsdb by SEEK released new insights into employment fraud trends across the operating markets, revealing how scammers adapt their tactics to exploit local job market conditions and economic needs.
The analysis, based on internal fraud detection data from SEEK’s platforms across its eight operating markets in APAC—Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines—reveals that Hong Kong’s job market demonstrates a significantly lower incidence of fraudulent activity across these markets.
The data show that the most fraudulent job ads are in entry‑level roles, with Hong Kong following a similar pattern.
The data shows that administration and office support roles remain the primary target across all markets. In APAC markets, this category is the most targeted for job ads, accounting for 24% of total job ads, while manufacturing, transport and logistics account for 13%.
“Administration and office support roles are particularly vulnerable because they typically don’t require specialised degrees or extensive experience,” said Tom Rhind, SEEK’s Head of Trust & Safety. “Sales positions show similar patterns, as these roles often promise immediate employment and commission-based earnings that appeal to job seekers in urgent need of income. Combined, these entry-level categories create larger pools of potential victims and make it easier for scammers to cast wide nets with convincing-looking opportunities.”
The analysis, based on fraud detection data from SEEK, found that Hong Kong’s fraud case rate is approximately 0.0035%, about 18 times lower than the APAC average of 0.067%.
Bill Lee, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Jobsdb by SEEK, explained, “Hong Kong’s unique market structure, which is highly regulated and dominated by large, registered corporations, provides a strong foundation for our security measures. This environment means fraudulent activity is more likely to stand out and be blocked before it ever reaches a jobseeker.”
“While this contributes to a much lower fraud rate on our platform, no market is immune. We are seeing scammers adapt, using AI to write flawless copy and moving conversations to social media and instant messaging platforms,” Lee added. “This is why it is crucial for job seekers to use trusted and verified platforms. Jobsdb’s investment in world-class AI and a dedicated Trust & Safety team demonstrates our commitment to building a more secure and efficient marketplace. We aim to empower Hong Kong’s talent by providing a trusted platform where they can connect with opportunities confidently.”
As Hong Kong’s leading job platform, Jobsdb aims to provide a safe, trusted environment for all job seekers. Leveraging the world-class technology and expertise of our parent company, SEEK, it focuses on eliminating unfair hiring practices.
“Our commitment begins with a robust first line of defence: a stringent hirer onboarding process where our dedicated Trust & Safety team conducts thorough verification to ensure all hirers on our platform are legitimate.
“This is followed by continuous content moderation; every job advertisement undergoes automated scanning, and any suspicious content is immediately escalated to specialist teams for manual review. The platform also empowers candidates through reporting tools to flag suspicious job advertisements directly,” Jobsdb stated.
These protection measures delivered notable results during SEEK’s 2025 financial year, between July 2024 and June 2025. SEEK’s systems scanned 100% of the 4.3 million job ads posted across APAC, with 8% escalated for manual review.
SEEK also prevented about 3,600 hirers who failed the onboarding process assessment from entering its platforms, closed about 650 hirer accounts due to fraud or high-risk behaviour, and removed nearly 2,800 high-risk job ads after investigation. Candidates also actively participated by reporting approximately 22,000 job ads for suspected fraud or scams, which were subsequently reviewed by SEEK’s dedicated Trust & Safety team.
