Opportunities that seem too good to be true usually are. Be wary of advertisers or organisations requesting the following:

• An upfront fee (e.g. for things such as ‘processing’ your application). A genuine advertiser WILL NOT ask you for money or your bank or credit card details.
• Acceptance of a money transfer where you can retain a portion as ‘payment’.
• Bank or credit card details.
• A copy of your driver’s licence or passport information as part of the application process.
• Tax file number. This information should only be provided once you have accepted a genuine volunteer offer.
• Non volunteer-related personal information, such as your appearance, or marital status.
• SEEK username and password.
• Any other personally identifying information.

Always check the legitimacy of any volunteer opportunity email or organisation that seems suspicious before you respond. If you have any concerns, call the company directly to verify.

If you have any concerns over the legitimacy of a volunteer opportunity:

• Do NOT respond to the ad.
• Report it to SEEK Volunteer immediately, providing a link to the ad.
• Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software to protect your computer.
• If you have supplied your bank account or credit card details, please contact your financial institution immediately and ask for their advice.
• Be alert for suspicious emails asking for personal details.

If you receive a suspicious email, the best course of action is to delete it immediately. Do not follow any links, or reply to the sender. By following a link, you may accidentally download a ‘Trojan’ or ‘key logging’ program, which could compromise your security. By replying, you run the risk of receiving more emails from this source.

Unfortunately, from time to time, fraudulent advertisers have found ways to upload volunteer opportunities and use other features of our site without detection. If you have any concerns over the legitimacy of a volunteer opportunity, report it to SEEK Volunteer immediately, providing a link to the ad or a copy of the email.

If you suspect fraudulent activity, please:

• Report it to SEEK immediately so we can remove any fraudulent opportunities and alert other people or advertisers.
• Report it to the Commerce Commission New Zealand who will investigate misleading volunteer and business opportunities or emails.
• Report security vulnerabilities : SEEK appreciates when members of the security community report vulnerabilities identified with SEEK’s products or services.

The most helpful information will be the Opportunity ID, link to the ad or a copy of the suspicious email.

SEEK Volunteer endeavours to ensure that all volunteer opportunities on our site are for legitimate volunteer opportunities and will remove any volunteer opportunities that are identified as having contravened our Terms and Conditions . If you suspect that a volunteer opportunity on SEEK is suspicious please contact us.

If SEEK Volunteer have contacted you regarding our concerns about the legitimacy of an advertiser, please cease communication with the advertiser immediately and if personal details have been provided, refer to the below.

• Bank details: if you have provided your bank details, please immediately contact your financial institution.
• Fraud and identify theft: If you feel your identity is compromised, please contact your local police station. SEEK Volunteer will work closely with the police should they request any details.

If you think an email is a hoax, or if it is from an untrusted/unknown source, never click on it’s links or attachments. If you did click on a link and you are worried, use your security anti-virus/anti-malware software to run a scan of your computer or device.

Symptoms to look for:

• Unusual pop ups asking for personal or financial information, such as credit cards or date of birth.
• Unusual changes to your Internet Banking pages, e.g. displaying upgrade or ‘under maintenance’ messages.
• Irregular webpage layout such as missing fields or additional buttons.
• Significant slowness in logging on.
• A “please wait” message replacing the login button, after it has been pressed.

Trust your instinct if something feels suspicious. If it doesn’t look quite right, err on the side of caution and assume it’s not right.

‘ASSURE’ yourself and stay one step ahead of the fraudsters:

Abort what you are doing - close the browser or exit the app.

Seek security software updates.

Scan your PC/Device to remove threats.

Use another device, check for anomalies and payment history.

Report any suspected fraud immediately.

Enquire further if in doubt.

• Before entering personal information on a web site, check that the URL (web address) has changed from ‘http’ to ‘https’ and that a closed padlock icon is present.
• The safest way to access any web site is to type the web address directly into the browser and bookmark it. Hover over web links with your cursor to check for spelling errors or unexpected web addresses before you click. Phishing emails often contain links to dangerous sites.
• Choose passwords for your online services that are difficult for anyone else to guess. A strong password is long and complex (a variety of letters, numbers and other characters), unique (not re-used for other apps), current (changed at least every 90 days) and not obvious (avoid dictionary words, dates, names etc.).
• Only provide information that’s necessary for what you’re doing.
• If you’re using a public computer make sure you log out before you leave and never let the computer save your passwords or usernames.
• Install anti-spyware and anti-virus software to stop intruders getting into your computer system. Run your anti-virus software regularly to scan your system and remove any malicious software.

• Check the sender’s email address - does it appear to come from a legitimate source?
• Contact the company using a phone number from their website (not from the email) before you reply, if you’re unsure about an email, .
• Check that the links contained in the email are legitimate by ‘hovering’ your mouse over the link to view the URL without clicking.
• Never open an attachment that you’re unsure about as it may contain malicious software designed to infect your computer.
• Use a spam filter to block deceptive messages from reaching you.
• Understand that SEEK, your financial institution and other large organisations would never send you a link and ask you to enter your personal or financial details.