Be careful of hiring scams

[contempo]

I recently had an experience with a company that has job postings on several different employment boards, including SimplyHired.

The moderators here have REMOVED the company name to prevent libel issues.

They will ask you to open up a Well Fargo Account saying that the checking account is for the company funds and the savings is for your weekly salary of $400. They are saying that they operate in UK and the Personnel Manager is in Texas (according to her) but in all her job postings her number is a UK number. She says that calls are forwarded from UK to all the regional agents’ location in the US and currently they have about 15 employees spread across the country with an annual sales figure that exceeds USD2,000,000. They are currently exporting our production to Southeast Asia, Middle east Area, North America, South America and Europe.

According to her, they specialize in all kinds of Computer peripherals Suplies such as ATX case, power supply, mouse, keyboard, speaker, blank CD-R Hard Drives, Memory Sticks and so on."

Your only form of communication are e-mail and YM and you will need to log in everyday for specific instructions. Until the judgment day wherein money will be transferred to your account that you need to withdraw then send to some off place through Western Union. The money will go to their shipping agent for customs clearance payment of orders and that agent will send you supplies so you can set up a mini office.

They then promise that all information regarding the company including offer of employment will be sent as soon as soon as you accomplish your professional assignment. They have an answer for everything, in fact, they sound fairly scripted and a tad redundant. Then when you check you account with Well Fargo its on hold due then next thing you know you’re dealing with the Fraud Department.

I know that because it happened to me.

Apparently, they try to steal the money from another Wells Fargo account to yours then a withdrawal the same day? This will certainly trigger the bank investigators that something fishy is going on.

Thankfully, I am always on top of my account and check it everyday and that’s how I learned that its on hold. I had enough time to stop the transfer and claim the money back which I have to return to the back since it’s not mine. Imagine what they put me through and I was so blunt about everything to make sure they're not illegal.

I learned my lesson to always trust my inner voice. I so wanted to just be a stay at home mom that I failed to see all the warning signs. Please spread the word as they as are still on the lookout. They might try to operate using other company names.

When you get any money transfers from unknown source call the bank first to verify before you cash them in.

And remember that, “when it’s too good to be true, then it probably is”.

[diamondblast]

I learned my lesson to always trust my inner voice. I so wanted to just be a stay at home mom that I failed to see all the warning signs. Please spread the word as they as are still on the lookout. They might try to operate using other company names.

When you get any money transfers from unknown source call the bank first to verify before you cash them in.

And remember that, “when it’s too good to be true, then it probably is”. [/quote]


Hi man, that's some good advice ,better read it and learn.... Thanks for sharing!

[ultimatwing]

I've had bad experience with these sorts of companies as well in the past. My advice is to verify, verify and verify before giving any personal details or conducting any work! Make sure the company is legit. Normally doing a name search in Google will tell you if they have any bad feedback.

[SimplyBB]

Simply Hired has a tip sheet with Tips to Avoid Online Job Scams that may be helpful to use as a guide.

Here is a sampling of tips and resources from it:

Possible Indicators of a Job Scam:

* Listings that ask for your private information such as SSN, driver’s license number, bank accounts, credit card information, etc.
* “Small Businesses” that direct you to a home address for an interview
* Foreign companies that do not have a local office
* Listings for jobs such as stuffing envelopes, email rebates or refunds, data entry, and jewelry-making at home that require payment to start, and require unpaid and tedious work upfront
* Listings requiring you to buy products and submit receipts before you get paid; this specifically addresses mystery shopping listings
* Listings that request you to go to a pay-to-attend seminar
* Employers that request you open a new bank account or credit card
* Online applications that do not have the company headline in the URL, or are not password protected
* The same business’ phone numbers and fax numbers with mismatched area codes
* Email addresses that do not include the company name
* Before you interview, check with the Better Business Bureau www.bbbonline.com to make sure the company is in good standing.

[Sam101]

Another type of scam which has started is with contracting companies, who want to bid on projects. When the prospective client asks about which engineers/other staff would actually carry out the job, these companies simply post advertisements about the position, collect a bunch of CVs and forward them alongwith their bid, creating an impression with the client that these people are already on the contractor's rolls, when in reality they are NOT. If they get the work, they may or may not actually hire these people, but they succeed in creating an impression that they have these "hundreds" of staff already on their rolls.
All this is of course, not revealed to the job applicants.This scam is common in software outsourcing jobs, large construction/pipeline projects,etc.

[zozokon]

Thank you for valuable discussion. Many people suffering this. We should read this discussion.

[timw]

Great tips here. So many scammers on the internet these days.