Chapter
1. Internet Predators Exploiting Job Websites
Job Search Security on the Internet
help.monster.com/besafe
worldprivacyforum.org/jobguide.html, privacy guide, guide to
online job sites is a list of the top job searching sites online. this list
gives information about the privacy practices at each site. resumes contain
detailed personal and professional information.
be careful who you give your resume to online.
Resume Identity Theft
First off, limit what personal information you put on your
e-resume. I might put my year of birth
on it but not my actual birth date.
Phony prospective employers will call you pretending that
you are being considered for a job and they need more information for a credit
or background check like your Social Security Number which is their key to
stealing your identity successfully, to have your name, birth date and SSN.
Don't give your SSN over the phone. Only give it after you go to a legitimate
looking company in a building or office and interview for the job.
Identity Theft While Job-Hunting
Some company HR offices say they want your exact birth date
(not just year) and your Social Security Number to run a criminal background
check and/ or credit check on you.
My advice is to not put your SSN or birthdate on your paper
resume or e-resume. Put your year of
birth or simply your age but not the date because with your name, birthdate and
SSN, anyone can apply for loans and credit using your name. It's called identity theft. Read aboiut it in my money book.
I say simply add a line at the end of your resume that reads
something like:
"I'm protecting my middle name, date of birth and SSN
because of the possibility of identity theft.
I will provide these on request."
There are bogus job websites set up solely to collect
information from job seekers to steal their identities.
Your work history, education and contact information is
available to anyone who can pay the access fee of the big legitimate job
websites that provide this information to employers.
Some job websites are not sinister but they are bad because
they don't care about helping you. They
just want your email address and phone number to sell them to mailing list
brokers.
The Fake Company Looking to Hire
Con artists simply pretend they're some up-and-coming high
tech company or a foreign company and post an ad looking to hire people. When people respond, they send an application
form which you fill out then they steal your identity using this information.
The lesson is to check to see if a company is real before
you apply for work. It's hard to do
because anyone can incorporate for under $200.
Look for news stories on the company. If none exist, the company must be fake
because every company should have some news on it.
Chapter
2. People Scam Desperate People Looking for Work
Job Search Scam One-Liners
There is a scam where somebody offers you a fictitious job
overseas then requests you email them a copy of your passport. This is to get your vital statistics to steal
your identity.
I was watching CBC's Marketplace, cbc.ca where the guy from
asktheheadhunter said you should not have to pay anyone to help you find a
job. If you have an in-demand skill,
recruiters want you for free. Your new
employer will pay them a fee.
Next to that, the government has a free job service. The internet and this book is full of
knowledge.
People pose as hiring companies to steal your identity then
your money.
Avoid job ads offering large salaries for little or no
experience jobs.
Avoid ads and websites that seem like the ywere put together
by some scammer. Stick with big job
websites.
There are niche websites.
See how long they’ve been around.
If people want money to help you find a job, I say don’t do
it. I see these house-sitting
websites. They want about $50 to give
you their list of house sitter wanted ads.
It’s a fantasy that some home owner is gonna pick some random person to
sit for him. They will get somebody
local, usually somebody through their own contacts or a professional nanny
agency or something like that.
Good recruiters are paid by employers, not by job
seekers. A few are but they can’t be
very good.
Beware of postings for fees for training or training
materials. There is a big oil jobs
website that has no jobs, just oil industry courses. Check to see if these courses are accredited
to get you a legitimate license.
Don’t disclose your birth date, social security number or
mother’s maiden name until you’ve gotten a bonafide job. An employer might need these to do a
background check.
Don’t wire money to online job ads.
Beware of money wiring scams
Scammers often use the name of a legitimate existing company
as their name.
Don’t respond to email job ads.
Do not provide bank, PayPal account numbers or credit card
information.
If you receive a check from an employer upfront, it’s a
scam.
Research companies with an internet search.
Check a phone number with whitepages or some other website.
Check addresses with a street map website.
Post resumes without your birth date or SSN.
Have a clean social media presence. Get rid of info that people can steal and
maybe lure you somehow.
Meet an employer at the business place or in public, not at
their house unless you bring a friend who waits outside.
Act like you’re not a pushover.
Report scams to bbb.org.
Where there are people looking for work, there are phony
career counselors, services, agencies, etc. that can act real professional,
rent an office in an expensive building and look successful but they could be
there to milk you, the job hunter out of your money.
The really good recruiters do not charge the job hunter a
fee. They charge their client, a company
looking to fill a position with a high quality person. If a career service asks you for money and if
they keep asking for more without results or you get their name out of an ad
somewhere rather than referral by word of mouth, be wary.
A TV news show did an undercover report on these places and
found a lot of rip-offs there by impressive looking companies. Check an employment counselling company out
before you hire them.
Some of the guidelines the FTC has listed about these types
of companies are as follows:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Check the company out by either going to its physical office
(it probably operates out of a post office or private mail box) or plugging its
name into search engines on the internet.
I've seen one of these companies with an impressive looking physical
office but it was still a scam operation.
A lot of gullible people will pay five hundred dollars or more for the
empty promise of a dream job.
Don't be fooled by an impressive sounding company name or an
impressive looking office.
Call up your local Better Business Bureau, bbb.org and ask
them if this company has any complaints against it.
Get the contract in writing even though it won't help you
much after the company folds but before then, you could always sue in small
claims court, win by default when the defendant doesn't show then never collect
your judgment.
Don't send cash or money orders. With a check or credit card, at least you
will have a record of it. Some of these
companies are fronts for the theft of credit card numbers.
Read your contract carefully.
Ask specific questions.
Overall, I would say look for a job yourself through the
information in my jobs books and other jobs books on the market.
Look for accredited career counselors, agencies, services,
headhunters, etc. through the trade organization websites I provide in this
book.
The home business/ work at home ads are the most common
scams around.
If somebody asks you for a credit report along with your
resume, they probably want to steal your identity.
Any job that requires you to ship items to another country
is a scam.
Some people offer you a job of shipping things from the
United States or Canada to somewhere like Russia or Nigeria. If you see a job offer like that, the stuff
you're sending was bought with stolen credit card numbers. They might get you in trouble by getting your
personal bank account mixed in with it.
They buy stuff with stolen crad crards.
The delivery guy delivers all this stuff to your house. You're part of a crime ring.
Do not give bank account, paypal or credit card numbers to
an employer.
Do not agree to have funds or paychecks direct deposited to
any of your accounts by a new employer.
Never forward, transfer, or wire money to an employer.
Do not transfer money and retain a portion for payment.
Never send money or give out personal information to any
company promising to find you a job. The
government already has a big free job service.
A common scam is that they say they found your resume, they
offer you a job with a $2000 signing bonus but their secretary mistakenly sent
$5000 to your bank account or paypal.
They say wire the $3000 back. The
money they deposited was a fake check.
Cashier checks are easy to fake with color printers.
Information about completing an application for unemployment
benefits is free through the government.
If you have been denied, go through the appeals process or hire an
unemployment lawyer. Don't hire someone
from flaky ad you saw on the internet.
Nobody can guarantee that they will find you a job. If they do, they're lying.
Nobody has direct access to a hidden job market any more
than you do. The world is too big and
impersonal for that.
Never give out a social security number, credit card number,
etc. to employers before an interview.
People use fake job offers to get personal information to steal your
identity.
In many scams, the email messages are amateurish, not
professional with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.
It's unusual in the HR field if an employer asks to do a
background check before you interview.
To prescreen using background check information
is illegal because it may allow a company to use protected
information to deny some candidates the opportunity of employment, i.e. income,
criminal history, marital status, etc.
To do a credit check, big companies will get you to sign a
Fair Credit Reporting Act Release.There is no reason to do a credit check
unless the position deals with money.
Job Scam Websites
scamguard.com/employment-scams-category
medicalbillingandcodingcertification.com/job-protection/job-scams
consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0243-finding-job,
ftc's government job scams
ftc.gov/jobscams
job-hunt.org/onlinejobsearchguide/job-search-scams.shtml
bbb.org
badbusinessbureau.com
ripoffreport.com
yahoo.com/businessandeconomy/consumereconomy/consumeropinion
labor.state.ny.us
jobsearch. dead website, try
dotdash.com, thebalance.com and thoughtco.com
/od/scams/unemployment-scams.htm, unemployment scams
fakechecks.org, fake check scams.
jobsearch. dead website, try
dotdash.com, thebalance.com and thoughtco.com
/od/jobsearchscams/a/money-job-scams.htm
msnbc.msn.com/id/3078533, online job listing an id theft
scam. by bob sullivan
monster.com, frequently asked questions section.
ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/invest/workhome.shtm,
work-at-home schemes
ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/education/jobs.shtm, finding a
job.
bbb.org/us/article/408, work-at-home schemes.
ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/invest/inv14.shtm, work-at-home schemes.
ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/invest/workhome.shtm, work-at-home schemes
ftc.gov/selected-industries/franchises-and-business-opportunities
ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/education/jobs.shtm, finding a
job.
consumerist.com
worldprivacyforum.org/jobscamtipspayforwarding.html,
critical tips for job seekers to avoid payment-forwarding scams.
bbb.org/us/article/two-new-work-at-home-re-shipping-scams-20472, two new
work-at-home re-shipping scams. worldprivacyforum.org/jobscamreportpt1.html,
report on online job scams
fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnsum02/fraud.html, fraud
alert: bogus bonus
checks.
cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/recruitmentripoff, recruitment
rip-off.
corcodilos.com/blog/4786/rip-off-edition-whos-trying-to-sell-you-a-job-video,
eho's trying to sell you a job?
randomconvergence.blogspot.com, executive career management
scam.
cioupdate.com/career/article.php/1571621/career-column-beware-executive-marketing-firms.htm
cioupdate.com
corcodilos.com/blog/214/how-much-would-you-pay-for-a-job,
how much would you pay for a job?
bbb.org/us/article/280, beware of employment scams.
bbb.org/us/article/4867, help wanted.
asktheheadhunter.com/teeth20031013.htm, bernard haldane: busting the bad boys.
bbb.org/us/article/5392, bbb advice: look for seven red
flags when searching for jobs online.
gradtogreat.com/tipsadvice/article-jobboardscams.php, online job board horror
stories
cbc.ca/marketplace
asktheheadhunter.com
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/fedjobs.htm, federal and
postal job scams: tip-offs to rip-offs.
ct.gov/ag/cwp/browse.asp?a=1949, attorney general warns
college students about job scam
consumerreports.org
consumer-research-guide.com
consumerreview.com
consumersdigest.com
consumersearch.com
consumersgroup.com
consumersinternational.org consumersinternational.org
consumersonline.gov.au
consumerwatchdog.org
consumerwebwatch.org
consumerworld.org
File a Job Scam Complaint Websites
suite101.com/article/how-to-expose-and-annoy-the-frauds-who-post-entry-level-job-scams-a362867,
how to expose and annoy the frauds who post entry level job scams.
suite101.com/article/employment-scams--the--rising-pandemic-a361936, employment
scams, file complaints at the federal and state level.
stopfraud.gov, the financial fraud enforcement task force,
hold accountable those who helped bring about the last financial crisis and to
prevent another crisis
stopfraud.gov/report.html#cyber ftc.gov, u.s. federal trade
commission
ic3.gov, internet crime complaint center
bbb.org, the better business bureau.
naag.org, national association of attorneys general.
usa.gov/directory/stateconsumer/index.shtml, index of state and local consumer
agencies.
Overseas Job Scams
Many of the overseas employment ads in newspapers are
scams. Beware if they want upfront fees
and if they operate out of a shoebox meaning a fly-by-night office. Go to the office personally and inspect it.
They often have no contacts overseas and don't give your
resume to anyone. All they do is get a
list of foreign corporations at the library and that's what you end up paying
$500 for.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Check the company out by either going to its physical office
(it probably operates out of a post office or private mail box) or plugging its
name into search engines on the internet.
I've seen one of these companies with an impressive looking
physical office on an investigative journalism piece but it was still a scam
operation. A lot of gullible people will
pay five hundred dollars or more for the empty promise of a dream job in an
exotic locale.
Don't be fooled by an impressive sounding company name or an
impressive looking office.
Call up your local Better Business Bureau, bbb.org and ask
them if this company has any complaints against it.
Get the contract in writing even though it won't help you
much after the company folds but before then, you could always sue in small
claims court, win by default when the defendant doesn't show then never collect
your judgment.
Don't send cash or money orders. With a check or credit card, at least you
will have a record of it. Some of these
companies are fronts for the theft of credit card numbers.
Read your contract carefully.
Ask specific questions.
Overall, I would say look for a overseas job yourself
through the information in my jobs books and other jobs books on the market.
overseasdigest.com/scams.htm, overseas job scams
bbb.org
ripoffreport.com
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, Dc 20580
800-876-7060
202-Ftc-Help
ftc.gov
Booklet about overseas jobs services.
Career Marketing and Executive Marketing Companies Want Big Money
to Help You Find a Job
With most recruiting agencies, you as a talented employee
pay nothing. The recruiter gets paid
from the company that hires you because he or she provided them with the
valuable talent they were looking for, you.
Nowadays, we got career management and executive marketing
firms. These are basically
rip-offs. They charge you loads of money
to supposedly build up your brand and give you insider knowledge. The knowledge they give you is
commonly-available knowledge. You don't
have to pay anyone to find you a job. My
job book is the best job book ever.
Everything is right here.
There are a bunch of services around called career
counselling services. Some are
nonprofit. Some are for profit. If you got money to burn, hire someone to
redo your resume and supposedly give you a fresh new image.
You can hire some virtual assistant from India to send out
your resumew to hundreds of companies for $8 an hour.
A good career coach or counselor doesn't have a package deal
with a standard price. The price should
be different for everyone.
Some of the executive marketing firm scams I read ended up
charging people $12,000 or more. They
suck you in. They seduce you. They make it seem like a few thousand dollars
is worth a good job for $100,000+ a year.
Legitimate career management firms do not contact you out of
the blue because they saw your online resume somewhere. You contact them. They don't chase you.
asktheheadhunter.com/gv010822.htm, the executive marketing
racket: how i dropped ten grand down a hole.
asktheheadhunter.com/gv010822a.htm, an insider's revelations
about executive career counselors, inc.
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