Bogus job offers (1)

I have been unemployed for 56 days. In that time I have received more bogus job offer emails than I have taken the time to count.  After the first few, and 4 hours wasted on a bogus interview, I now simply delete any emailed job offer that demands I sign up for Google Hangouts or Skype without so much as a phone call.

Here is what you need to know about any job offer:  research the company!  Do some in depth research, and, if possible, email the company and inquire about the person making the offer, or simply ask if such a job is available.  The best company websites will have some sort of “current jobs” link to click on, so you can simply see if the job you are being offered actually exists.

I have done such research. What I have found were some very impressive websites, for actual companies.  But, going that next step, I have found that these “work from home for now” administrative assistant jobs do not exist.  I don’t even want to work from home! If I cannot visit a real company, in person, and meet the people I would be working for and with, then I am not interested.  Not that there is anything wrong with working from home, but being able to do so, as an administrative assistant AND still make over $20 an hour, full time…. Seriously? I don’t think so.

Two of the companies I researched do not have offices in the United States, at all.  How do I know? I emailed them and asked!  I received polite replies telling me that the job I have inquired about is bogus, and the person I was contacted by is unknown to the company in question.  They are not recruiters; the jobs they are offering me are totally bogus.  It is fraud.

I actually got on Google Hangouts with one such “recruiter”.  We went back and forth for over 4 hours.  He described a job, and all of the duties, and even the benefits package.  This person claimed to be in Madison, Wisconsin –only an hour away from me, but stated that there was not yet an office to go to.  I would be working at home “for now”.  He actually had someone mail me a check ostensibly “to purchase a laptop, and all necessary office equipment and supplies” for my use at my home.   ….They actually mailed the check while I was still on Google Hangouts, chatting with the fake “recruiter”.  …. Here is what happened with that:  in my mailbox was a notice from my local U.S. Post Office, stating that I could pick up a piece of mail at the local postal facility.   I went to the local postal facility, and the postal worker went to get the package from the back.  He returned to the counter with the package, a postal express envelope, with a note on it.  The note stated, “FRAUD”, just like that, in large letters.  I immediately dropped my hands to my sides.  “I am not touching that.” I stated.  The postal carrier told me that the postal inspector had stopped the package, notated it, and would I fill out a form and sign, stating that I was refusing this package.  Absolutely- I filled out and signed the document.  The postal worker explained that this “may be mail fraud, involving a fraudulent check, or a check cashing scheme.” 

Here is the lowdown:  these people are trying to gain access to bank accounts.  Bank accounts of unemployed people.  How despicable is that!  Identity theft.  They want to steal from people who are down on their luck and looking for a real job. 

I wish that this was publicized widely, but it is not.  I tried to contact the local media about this, but received no replies…. So: PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG POST. 

If someone sends you an email, offering you job, but also demanding that you set up a Google Hangouts  or Skype account and add them to your contact list --         DO NOT REPLY IN ANY WAY, delete the email – mark it as SPAM.  If you think you know how they got your information report them to that entities fraud department.   If there is not to be a live, in person, interview, if they don’t have a local office that you can visit…. If there is anything at all that makes you suspicious….

And please, be suspicious of any “work at home” job offer.  Be careful out there!