Watch Out for Those Job Scams!

Well, after a 5 month hiatus, I'm back with a new hub! So, here goes!

With the currently high unemployment rates, you can count on scammers coming out with bogus job offers. Having been temporarily laid off from October to February, I was looking for employment opportunities at a number of sites, including Craigslist.

And I did find temporary employment, then got my original job back! On the way, I did see some interesting things.

"Fake" Driving Jobs

One scam that I think is fairly recent, is that of the fake driving job. Often, the job advertises great pay for little work as most scams do, plus, instead of recruiting, it only requires you to drive your car. Sometimes they even offer to have you use their car.

Among the type of jobs I was checking out, was driving and transport jobs. Well, I came across an ad that said something to the tune of,

"Personal Driver wanted, part time, great pay - $780 per week."

When I inquired via e-mail, the respondent replied,

"I am a businessman doing business in India, then I will be coming to the USA. My wife will be here ahead of me and needs a personal driver. I will pay you $780 a week. I will send you a first check with additional funds, which you will send back to me after you cash the check."

I then knew that this was a scam, with a slightly different twist in that it was for a supposed driving job.

Since then, I've seen similar ads with a few details changed each time. Recently, a local woman actually went further and was mailed the check. She then took it to the authorities to alert them of the scam.

Usually, a legitimate company or employer will give a few more details in the ad. Also, watch for the pay. $780 a week seems a little high for a part time personal driving job. And the details often seem unusual. After all, what person would trust their spouse to a perfect stranger? And if he can pay me $780 weekly, he has more than enough for his wife to rent a car instead! This man never asked for any background information from me. That's because the job (And maybe his wife, too!) never existed! The idea was that I would go along, receive the check, and send him the excess funds. then the check would be found to be no good, I'd be stuck with having to pay back the money, and he'd be gone with the real money I sent him, then he would move on to his next victim!

Mailing for Dollars? Don't Do It!

Another ad I saw promised to pay $450 a week for receiving small catalogues in the mail, then mailing them to a list of customers. Similar ads have you distributing them personally. Seems easy enough. But when I inquired further, and checked on sites such as ripoffreport.com, I found that these companies, often in foreign countries, never pay off, and sometimes try to get you to pay fees. In any event, if they are really selling items through these catalogues, they get free distribution here. And, if not, then many of them scam more victims, namely those who you give the catalogues to, who send money and receive no product!

Again, the pay seems too high for this simple job. In this case, there was a company name, but what they do is still a scam.

Even Legitimate Companies Can Scam You When It comes to Employment!

As I wrote in another hub, I worked as an independent subcontractor distributing flyers. This was through a contractor who was working for a large well known company. Pay was based on a per sale basis. Each flyer had a code of the person distributing them. When a sale was made and the code given to the company rep, the flyer distributor was to be paid $75 for the sale. Now, on average, out of every 100 flyers distributed, one will result in a sale. So, if a distributor distributes 2000 flyers to homes in a week, on average, that distributor would make 20 sales or $1,500 that week!

Well, among the contractor's distributors, well over 20,000 flyers were distributed, which should have generated 200 sales. But we heard nothing and when the contractor inquired, he was told that the executive he had been working with had taken the money and ran, and that we would not be getting any money. So, the contractor went to the direct competitor of the company, also a well known company, and we started again, with assurances that we would get paid, the 1 out of 100 factor was true, and that what happened to us with the other company would not happen with this company. Well, after another 20,000 flyers being distributed, we again heard nothing. Upon inquiry, we were told that the company only received two phone inquiries. From 20,000 flyers.

Now, I work distributing flyers for a landscaping company, and also on the side for various small business and religious people, and have been told that my flyer distribution always generates responses. One client told me that, just after I'd distributed 200 flyers, they got 40 responses! So the company's claim is pure BS. They also said "They didn't know what to tell us".

To the contractor's credit, he was upfront with all of us through this whole thing and his actions showed me he was definitely not the scammer, as he'd been scammed, too.

So, even if you are dealing with a legitimately good person, look at some of the details. Like location. If you at least cannot meet with a supervisory person or higher in person, think twice before accepting the offer.

Last but not Least

In these times especially, it's easy to become stressed, and tired. And in this condition, it's easier to fall for scams without knowing it until it's too late! A friend of mine, who is unemployed, got a phone call in the early morning. He was groggy and the person claimed to be calling on a financial matter and needed his social security number, so my friend gave it. Then the person hung up! Then my friend, upon waking up more, realized what he'd done! He pressed star 69 to redial the number and found that it was a number in Liberia! When he told the authorities, he confirmed that he'd been scammed. He took quick action to prevent more trouble, and so far he's had none regarding his social security number, but who knows?

So be careful to make sure you're awake and focused when answering the phone!

And good luck in these tough times!

Please feel free to comment! Thanks!