South Korea sees rise in fraudulent job advertisements

Reports from the Ministry of Employment and Labor show a significant rise in fraudulent job advertisements in South Korea. In the first half of this year, 323 cases of false job postings were reported, already reaching 77.6% of the total reported in all of last year.

Common deceptive practices include advertising permanent positions only to offer fixed-term contracts during hiring, promising five-day work weeks while requiring bi-weekly Saturday shifts, and misrepresenting job duties or wages. In one notable case in Seoul, a company that advertised permanent roles with a three-month probation period was found to be offering one-month fixed-term contracts, leading to a referral for criminal investigation.

National Assembly member Park Hae-cheol highlighted that these deceptive ads are increasingly being used as tools for criminal activities, such as luring individuals into organized crime via high-paying overseas job offers on social media.

The Ministry has implemented an integrated monitoring system covering recruitment platforms, portals, and social media. Between April and August, authorities inspected 287,772 advertisements, identifying approximately 3,000 suspicious posts, of which 2,885 were subject to deletion, modification, or reporting.