How You Can Avoid Employment Scams

Here’s a scam that was sent to my email address. It’s amazing that the email got to me because it’s not my email address. Needless to say, I answered the ad because I thought it could be legit. Good thing my “gut instinct” was to delete my contact information from my resume.

The post was offered to me and they wanted more contact information. This is when the rat showed himself.

From: Bary (removed last name; it was probably a fake last name)
Subject: *****Accounting / Payroll Assistant Position Available*****
To: ernestonava77@yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008, 3:02 PM

I am looking for a part time accounting assistant to assist the controller and accounting manager. These hours varies/day,but less that 3 hours a day. Assisting financing supervisor in areas of payment processing and A/R. Apply payments to customer by transfer through money tree service, balance all monies and prepare documents,other duties assigned as needed. Must be detailed oriented. Must have the ability to work independently and be a team player. Self sufficient, effective time management and organizational skills required. Accounts Payable and payroll experience preferred but not necessary. The pay is $800/week -Monday through Friday. To apply for this position, please contact at: barylake@gmail.com with your resume and state if the weekly pay is acceptable by you.

BARY.(Deaf)
STOCK BROKAGE FINANCE.
name@gmail.com

Clue number one that this was a scam was the email address was not mine. The second clue was the sentence about “transfer through money tree service.” The third clue was the company did not show up in Google. The fourth clue was the misspelling of brokerage (BROKAGE). Finally, a reply came into my email telling me that that post was mine. Bary wanted me to submit my address, city, state, and zip; his secretary is supposed to call me. The email was immediately sent to trash and deleted.

When you put your resume on Monster.com, Yahoo! Hot Jobs, Craigslist, or any other job board, you’re susceptible to scams like this one. It was a very good scam. The ad seems legitimate and the pay is great. Too bad it is a fake employment advertisement. Plus, Bary let’s you know that he’s deaf. If you’re a woman, Bary’s deafness may “tug” at your heart strings.” Not that a man will not be compassionate about Bary’s hearing problem, but a woman may be more sympathetic because she’s a nurturer. Then again, maybe Bary is deaf.

Employment scams are prevalent. Each day on the news we hear about someone who was scammed out of money. Don’t let this happen to you!

Tips to Avoid Employment Scams

1. Google the name of the company. Search for the company on Google and see what you can find.
2. Conduct a search using the company name and contact name. Look for the company name and contact person.
3. Look for multiple spelling errors. This happens in most ads. Most of the time, the people who write “scam ads” cannot spell or construct a complete sentence.
4. Words that are not used in employment ads. Unless you’re applying for a job in another country, look for words (like “post” in the above email) that seem out of character for your country of origin.
5. Does the company request money. This is one of the biggest scams. Yes, a company needs start-up money, but they should already have the money from their investors. Do not send money to these people!
6. Email address ending in gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com or some other popular free email. A person from an organization will not use these email addresses. These emails are legit for most of us, however; if you work for a company, they’ll provide you with an email address ending in the company’s name (example: rebecca@scamfreeorganization.com).
7. Scan for keywords such as great pay, flexibility, and easy work. Look for these keywords. And — if it’s too good to be true, it probably is!

The next time you receive an email like the one mentioned in this post, think twice before answering. Protect yourself from false hope, time, and money. You must be vigilant, especially when the economy is going through changes. There are many people crawling the internet looking for their next target!