2009 has truly seen the Internet generation stepping up a gear. Not only is being Internet savvy a staple part of everyday life, but it has finally gone massively mobile. People strut around facebooking and twittering on their mobiles on trains and the tube, next to the people browsing the web on their Wi-Fi-enabled laptops.

Sometimes I hear myself say sentences that would have absolutely no meaning to me about a year ago. The English student in me is still slightly perturbed by the way ‘Google’ has become an acceptable verb, and phrases like ‘I tweeted about that yesterday’ suddenly make sense- while a year ago people might have thought you were a slight bit mad, pretending to be a bird. It seems everyone, including my mother- who now MSN’s me regularly to catch-up, is now up to speed with the latest in social media and technological advancement that makes aspects of everyday life just that little bit easier.

But along with the advent of facebookers, the Twitterati, the bloggers, micro bloggers, online job seekers, online gamers, online shoppers, online [insert anything into this space], comes the inevitable dark side to the Internet; as a new outlet for crime. Fraud, identity theft, scams; all of these that can be executed by the tap of a few innocent keystrokes by faceless fraudsters. But this time the fraudsters are hitting home and banging down our door; the door of the recruitment industry.

An article released last week on the BBC News Website has highlighted the worrying increase of Internet job scams. The report has uncovered that figures ranging from £50- £5000 are being paid out to scam websites, all aimed at conning online jobseekers.

It’s no surprise that online fraudsters are turning to recruitment based scams to make themselves a quick buck, especially with the increase in unemployment, not just in the UK but worldwide. The Internet has become a celebrated new avenue for the recruitment industry, which has enjoyed a fresh lease of life by moving to the online market. Job aggregators, job boards, recruitment agencies and CV distributors have turned to the Internet to deliver quality services to the jobseeker, and reach a wider audience.

While Internet scams have always been present, the worry is that they are becoming more and more sophisticated. People are setting up fake recruitment sites, asking jobseekers to pay fees for services they will not ultimately provide. ‘Work from home’ scams are rife; tempting jobseekers with the opportunity to make a lot of money really quickly and easily, while all you have to do is pay ‘a small set up fee’, or pay for the materials to start the work- and as soon as you do, you hear nothing more again.

In light of the article, Tomorrow’s Blog will give you our guide from FreeMyCV.com HQ on what to look for and how to avoid getting caught out by internet scams. Remember- be aware of what’s out there and keep your data safe.