Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Scammed/Defrauded and the Wiser

I'm a trusting soul who has been out of the job hunt business for the past seven months so I am encountering some new twists and hurdles. But this is the entry detailing how I have been suckered into job frauds or scams lately.

This is the worst one. I responded to a job ad under etc. on craigslist asking for a "Mailing Assistant". The next week I got an email response asking me to fill out an application and submit it back via email. Nothing too weird, right? Just typical new hire paperwork. Just a copy of my ID, no money up front and no social security number provided. Voila I got hired! From the job description it sounded like they needed someone to do data entry and process packages. What it actually turned out to be is me shipping iPods to Russia. This scam is from a company called Goldfinch AM Group. On first glance the website looks fine but with a critical eye you notice the poor grammar and the contact number is a personal cell number. I filed a police report, a cyber crimes report, and contacted the Better Business Bureau. I also had to flag my account with all 3 credit reporting agencies. I found this article that is six years old and word for word describes my situation. Yup, that's me committing mail fraud for a global crime ring...

This second one is pretty bad but I ignored my own concerns due to the crushing anxiety of being unemployed and up past 1:00AM. I responded to a job ad on monster for entry-level recruiters which got me to this website. At 2:00AM with looming bills and dwindling checking account, I thought to myself that paying $42 for a shot at a job isn't too bad. Scam, scam ,scamminess. And it was on Monster.com!

The final fraud lying liars was through Career Network. I did register with them but I got emails about jobs I never applied for to set up interviews. By this time, I knew the drill so I checked the internet and better business bureau. Lo and behold, they ain't legit! Ripoff Report has been tremendously helpful.

Lessons Learned:

1) Online job ads aren't necessarily 100% legitimate
2) Don't look for a job after 1:00AM, aka worry o'clock
3) Always research the companies you apply to
3a) Just because they have a website doesn't mean they're legit. Check BBB
4) Nothing in life is cheap, easy, and nonsensical so trust your instincts. If an offer is too good to be true, it is!
5) You cannot make thousands working from home.

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