Job Posting Scam!!!

As a person that has been doing a lot of job searching (as I am unemployed) I have been using Craigslist. Now all of the job hunters just like me know the drill; work at home "opportunities" are a waste of time and are more often than not are a scam. However, a more recent scam has been used and it has not gotten as much publicity as it's bigger, more obvious cousins like "Google Kits," "work at home," and "multi-level marketing." This is my attempt to give it the credit it deserves for being such a good scam.

The beauty of this scam is that they, more often than not, do not come to you. You go to it

Here is a prime example. Names and companies are blanked out, because I don't know if it is a legit company that has had it's name stolen by a scammer, or if it is a fake company:

In case it is hard to read, the position being offered is Sales Secretary/Administrative Assistant, and the e-mail says:

Dear Blank,

After looking over your resume it is clear that you are qualified for the position. You have been shortlisted for the job vacancy and we would like to learn a little bit more about you.

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: False Credit Report <-------(SEP Field Note- this is not the actual link, I have put a link to an article that warns of these types of scam, but if you don't want to click an unknown site, I understand, and will post the article's page again at the end in case you want to look at it.) Once again, thank you for your interest in the position; I look forward to hearing back from you. Warm Regards, Blanky Blank Blanky Blank Blank Human Resources Director "THE Blankety THAT Blanks UP YOUR Blank "

It will reroute you to a site that will generate a "free credit report," but only if you put your credit card number on it (smell a rat yet?). Here are some of the warning signs of this scam:

1. A legit company will do a credit report on you. A scammer will put up a link to a website where you will have to put your credit card number to generate it. By the way, if you need to generate a free credit report, go to annualcreditreport.com or directly to the Experian, TransUnion, and Equfax website. You are entitled to one a year for free. Your FICO is extra (about 7.25) and you can sometimes get it from your credit card company for free.

2. They should not redirect you to another site.

3. You type the name of the company in question, and the word "scam" comes up.

There are many more, and I have to thank talkabout for this article:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Job-Hunting--10-Red-Flags-that-the-Job-Post-in-Craigs-List-may-be-a-Scam.

May your job hunting be scam-free

And Good Luck!

Welcome to the Somebody Else's Problem Field

Welcome to the relaunch of something I call the SEP Field, or the "Someone Else's Problem" Field. What is the SEP field, exactly? Well, if anyone is a fan of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" series, it is "something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem.... The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye. The technology required to actually make something invisible is so complex and unreliable that it isn't worth the bother. The "Somebody Else's Problem field" is much simpler and more effective, and "can be run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery."

This is because it relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain."

In other words a perfectly fine name for a blog, as it is a place where if you think that something is "someone else's problem, " you might not even bother to look for it.