Fraud Scams target unemployed
I got an email last week. “Dear Rebecca”, it read. “After looking over your resume it is clear that you are qualified for the position. You have been short listed for the job vacancy and we would like to learn a little bit more about you.”
Wow! Was this good news? I’ve been looking for a job for a year. I was excited. As I read further my excitement waned. They provided a list:
“1) Any additional background information that you feel will show us that you are the right choice for the job
2) a credit report to verify your details (DO NOT email us this info)
3) The best time for us to hold the interview. Morning (8-12) or evening (1-5)
Please note: A negative credit rating will not be a determining factor in your eventual employment, (your credit itself is not relevant), a full credit check however does allow us to verify accurately, legal US citizenship, employment history, social security references and a verifiable confirmation of address. This will help expedite the process in the interview phase. To get your free report we recommend using this provider: Free Credit Report Once again, thank you for your interest in the position; I look forward to hearing back from you. Warm Regards, Heather Stevens SunTech-Corp Human Resources Director THE TECHNOLOGY THAT BRIGHTENS UP YOUR TOMORROW”
Now by the time I got to the bottom of this letter I was really let down and didn’t want to be. So, just in case I Googled the SunTech-Corp and the most I could come up with was a canvas company in Florida. For my second ‘just in case’ I did respond with, “I would prefer to keep my personal information private until I learn more about your company. If offered the position on the contingency of the credit report, I will provide it at that time.” I was not surprised that I didn’t receive an answer but was still disappointed. This was a common phishing scam that was attempting to steal my personal information. Don’t let the caution of not mailing the information fool you. My resume is meant to show and intelligent sophisticated executive. The phishers who target that group has to be sophisticated and subtle enough to fool their targets. There were several things that clued me in. Your credit report has all of your personal information and will let the person scamming you have all the information they would ever need to steal your identity. Drivers License, Social Security Card and/or passport would give an employer all they need for your I-9 and they cannot request it until AFTER they hire you.
This week I got a new letter. From employment ad on Craigs list PostingID: 1487915012 that I responded to. The ad looked legitimate. The response did not.
“RE: Admin Assistant
From: Victor Daniels<assistantposition2010@live.com>
Hello, I received your e-mail. I’m sure you’ll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point.I’m Victor Daniels from the North Side Of Chicago. I’m a lawyer by profession and I have been pretty successful in a handful of ventures I get involved in; from litigations, stock market and real estate to various welfare and community service programs, I mostly get my hands occupied, so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities.
Please note that this position is not office-based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it’s a part-time, work -from-home job and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it’s a little difficult to pinpoint the exact number of hours you’ll be doing per week but i can estimate the regular 20hrs time frame for a part time job.If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra time to do something else on the side.
As I have said, I’d want us to get started with things as soon as possible. I do have a pile-up of work and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually.Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I’m confident you can take up the challenge and on the long-run, we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.
I’d want us to meet up on Yahoo chat as soon as possible so we can discuss this extensively, more so it’s easier for me to convey information once I’m online. My Yahoo ID is westvicky1880 . It may be a little difficult working out the time difference between us initially, with time however, we should get used to it.
I’m online most of the time when I’m not out or in a meeting so we should be able to have a chat sooner than you think. Do try to keep a date..I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss. I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me this week is to run some errands for an orphanage home i’m donating to. I do this around festive periods like this. The funds will be in form of a check and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients and i have some list to email you once you received the funds,You will make some arrangements by buying some stuff for the kids in the nearest store arround you so you can mail them out to an orphanage i mostly make out donations to.
DESCRIPTION OF JOB: Process all owner distribution batches – print checks, statements and mail on a timely basis. Assisting with management of employee’s checking store supplies and placing orders Process rental applications in Resident Data. Type various letters ,Prepare 3 Day Notices. Retrieve and process faxes Send unpaid rent notifications to tenants. Deposit and monitor payments of all owner contributions.
I will get you more information on that,I will like you to get back to me with your Contact Details such as: Full Name: Full Contact Address: City: ZIP Code: State:
Phone Number: Your present occupation: Age: sex:
Once i receive your contact information i will get back to you with the task for this week,Understand that you will be paid $1000 bi-weekly and the paycheck will be mailed to your address in your name. Like i mentioned earlier, this is going to be a part time work from home job until you prove very efficiently enough to get promoted to a full time position in a physical location.I’m currently in UK for work now……..
Hope i am clear with that. Get back as soon as possible.. Victor.”
There are quite a few Red Flags that this one was a scam. The first few were grammar, spelling and phraseology. (I have noted the grammar errors in red. the spelling in blue and the strange phrases in green.) There were multiple errors that a lawyer should not have made. The phraseology also made me believe that English was not the authors first language. The more I read the more I found. (Note the bold Black) A lawyer especially should know that it is illegal to ask how old you are and what your sex is. Doing a little more research on Google, I discovered there was no attorney by this name listed with the Illinois State Bar nor in any of the states surrounding it. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. What is this scam? What did he want? I would think that it probably wasn’t legal and would be concerned regarding the promised pay check if it did follow through to a “position.” This person asked for personal information because while I have my resume out there I do not post my address or phone on it. Only my email address which also has no information connected to it.
Another Scam that seems to be pretty common was money laundering/bank fraud scams. The potential employer would send you checks which you would deposit in an account in your name and then send monthly money orders (not checks) back to them overseas. You were assured that you would be paid well and it was totally legal.
There is no way to keep up with all of the slimes and slugs out there who try to take advantage of you in this vulnerable time, but you can avoid getting caught in any of the millions of existing and future scams by educating yourself. The FBI maintains a fraud website http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm that provides information on how to prevent fraud and what to do when you are caught up in it. Monster has a great page on how to recognize employer scams. http://help.monster.com/besafe/ Consumer action has a booklet available if you know someone who doesn’t have internet. http://www.consumeraction.gov/ All of these sites and the links connected with them provide the savvy consumer what they need to identify and prevent fraud. Encourage your local news to research and do a specific story on consumer fraud and target it to the relevant topic of prevalent frauds directed specifically at America’s vulnerable and frantic unemployed. Stay safe out there!
I, too, received this same email. However, it was for Orca Technology. In this case, the Human Resources Director is Jennifer Buton, humanresources@orcatechcorp.com. I came across this blog when I couldn’t find any information on Orca Tech in VA (where I live) so I googled the quote in the signature \The technology that brightens up your tomorrow\. Hope this helps someone out there…
How much can craigs list do when they are free? Where do the funds come from. I have recently started getting all kinds of spam from ads I’ve posted on Craigs list. I am reporting them to abuse@craigslist.org but how many people can they have on staff when they don’t charge for their services?
Very good well informed ty you for the information. From the guys at Bloggles
I’m not sure how much I really like Craigslist. You’ve got the typical scammers that attempts to harm things for for the users. Don’t get me wrong there are benefits to craigslist, but do the goods really outweigh the bad?
I also received this email from SunTech. I also received one from a Linda Jackson that wanted me to set up a hotmail account to check my fluency with the computer and following directions. I didn’t see any harm in that so I followed their directions and did what they said. I then received another email and they wanted me to jump though more hoops in order to get an interview for a business with no name. I instead sent an email back to this Linda Jackson informing her I would be more than happy to take their online survey if she provided me with additional information regarding their company. I have yet to hear from her again.
I agree – I say we start a running list so we only have to check one place to see who’s who – here are just a few – No Such Job / People scammers – look out for
JKB Properties
GRO Management
Benjamin Gourley
Richard Dalton
Credvisor Services
I could go on and on – I even started a folder just for bogus jobs so I could start blocking the repeat offenders
I just got this same email from Suntech Corp. I agree with my husband that Craigslist needs to do more. They need to have full disclosure of the company that is verified prior to allowing them to post ads. Then they should send an email to see what the response email is. If the person posting is in violation of setting up a scam the police and FBI should be contacted and let them deal with the scammer. Maybe then we can get some real jobs to apply to. Even Job.com is full of scams.
I received the same email from Heather the Human Resources Director from this ficticious SunTech Corp. It’s amazing how they get away with this. I sent them back a nice nasty email because I new it was a scam right away and told them that in this day and age, playing with people’s lives like this could be a very DANGEROUS situation for them!!!
Of course your local authorities and Craig’s List state there is nothing they can do about it. As usual. So here we are, hoping to find employment to support our families while these jerk off’s take advantage of us!!!
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
You are welcome to. Thank you for your interest.
Heya i got to your site by mistake when i was searching bing for something off topic here but i do have say your site is really helpful, like the theme and the content on here…so thanks for me procrastinating from my previous task, lol
I, too, have received several of these email responses to my interest in a job, not just from Sun-Tech but Employment Craze and others! Be careful, many people just send their info in without two thoughts and those are the ones we hear about who have their identity stolen. What a shame those of us looking for legitimate employment have to filter through this junk!
I got the exact same response..it’s unbelievable..all I want is a job..geez..so discouraging…=(
Thank you for posting this information i got the same e-mail response and did some research before i did the credit report, thank you for your information! That SCAMMER!!!! ugh! so irritating!
I just wanted to stop in and let you know that I really liked this post. It was full of great information and creativity, both of which we always need.
Title…
Very interesting post. I would like to link back to it….
Thanks so much for the awesome post. this was exactly the thing I needed to see
Hello to all. This blog I am liking much. I am Lars in the US for holiday wishing all a Happy New Year to you also.
Thanks for the very informative post. I have bookmarked the website as
I am looking for job received email identical to the other from Heather Stevens at Sun Tech. Being cautious and actually I have applied so many places I tried to look at the website. So then I just googled her name. THANK GOD it brought me here…..
SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!!!!!!
I received this email today. Thanks for blogging about your negative experiences. They have helped me sift through the junk responses. What a shame that scammers have to prey on the unemployed. Just because we don’t have jobs they think we’re stupid!
After looking over your resume, it is clear that you are qualified for the position. You have been shortlisted for the job opening and we would like to learn a little bit more about you:
1) Any additional information that you feel will help us decide that you are the right choice for the position.
2) A current background check (Less than 1 month old/Located here at zero cost to you – http://backgroundchecks-free.com)
3) The best time for us to hold a formal meeting. Either morning (8am – 12am) or evening (1pm – 5pm).
4) Please be sure to dress appropriately for the interview. Men please wear a tie and women should wear a skirt/dress or dress slacks. Jeans are not allowed under any circumstance.
This will help expedite the process in the interview phase.
Once again, thank you for your interest in the position; I look forward to hearing back from you.
Warm Regards,
Heather Stevens
SunTech Human Resources Director
Thanks for posting this information. I received the exact same email from Heather Stevens just today, and it matched yours word for word. i was googling Sun-Tech when I came across this page.
Thank you so much again.
I was also impacted by this scam. I responded to a job advertisement posted on Craigslist.com for my old home town. Thankfully, I figured out the scam based on the scammer’s response email asking for my credit report. I should have known better, but I had heard of others finding work through craig’s list employment ads. Oh, well, live and learn. Thanks for your post about this scam. I’ve now contacted the credit bureaus and filed complaints, although it will do little good. I had responded willingly to the Craig’s List ad, and because I had not provided my personal information no crime was committed by the scammer. The fact the scammer posted a fraudulent help wanted ad is not criminal per my county’s sheriff department.
GOOD DAY. I GET THESE ALL THE TIME AND WILL NOT PROVIDE MY CREDIT REPORT. THEY ARE JUST PHISHING FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION. WHY CAN’T SOME PUT THESE PEOPLE OUT OF BUSINESS PERMANENTLY? THEY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS! THANK YOU.