Oct
18
Job SCAMS!! And How To Report Them
Filed Under Business, World News
I'm pretty lucky, in that I can work, or not work, at my choosing. I learned back in 2001, that computer companies aren't dependable employers, so I better save my money for rainy days. Ever read those "at will" employment agreements? Yeah, "at will" means you're expendable. Call me a cheapskate, but I have enough savings too last 2yrs, and do absolutely nothing the whole time. I just took a gander at the job market to see if anything interesting is out there. If the right opportunity comes up, I'm willing to hear what the company has to say.
I don't talk to recruiters, EVER! Recruiters match you to jobs, based on keywords and buzzwords. They're just doing the job for a commission. Unless, they're recruiters who work directly for the hiring company. Recently, I almost got scammed! Here's what happened.
I agreed to an interview, for Robert Half Technology. I build websites if you don't know, but the recruiter interviewing me has never built a single webpage. That's getting an oil change, from someone who's only seen a video of someone changing oil. Even if they're new, they should know the difference between Penzoil and Valvoline. She admitted she was totally new when I began to question the job requirements. Like "ColdFusion7.02 3yrs experience". No-one can meet that! ColdFusion 7 hasn't been out for three years, it's impossible. She didn't know what the web language acronyms meant that she was trying to match me too. She listed ASP, CFM and PHP… Do you know any programmer who knows all three of these languages?? It was obvious, the requirements were meant to cast the widest net for candidates possible.
Second, I received a nice looking email for a job that was offering much more than I typically charge. This was from a company called "Instant Human Resources".
However, the company talked about in the email was called Next Generation Solutions. If this email came from a recruiter, why would Instant Human Resources tell me what company is hiring? I would just talk directly to the company, and bypass the recruiters commission. The answer is, with the misspelled words, lack of proper business communication, and it being too good to be true… Instant Human Resources is a scam!! It's a variation on those crafty Nigerians! They're not legally allowed to represent the companies, or allowed to take commissions for job you're doing!
Their intent is money laundering. The paper trail involves only you and your computer. You're just being asked to 'assist' but everything will happen in your name. Or, they'll send you forged checks or counterfeit money orders. Which, you will never be able to cash at a bank. In fact, you'll be lucky if they don't arrest you at the teller window for presenting it. Some rules of thumb to determine if an employment opportunity is a scam: [see scambusters.org]
- An unsolicited recruiter will not tell you who the client is upfront, but will ask if they can represent you in the negotiations. This means their client has authorized them to act in their behalf.
- EMPLOYERS PAY EMPLOYEES. It's not supposed to be the other way round.
- Anything involving western union and paypal is suspect.
- Business opportunities that come from contacts at yahoo/hotmail/gmail, etc - are suspect.
- A legitimate business is easily traceable - directors names, listing in companies house, etc.
If you've signed up for this, never reply to spam email. Log into your account, and change your mailing address to spam@uce.gov. The FBI says to report complaints to www.ic3.gov and both the FBI and Secret Service said "if you have fallen victim to the scam to go to the Federal Trade Commission website at www.ftc.gov" Honestly, I don't know how effective it will be, but I also know that if they don't get enough complaints, they won't lift a finger.
Jeff Knooren has been a professional software and website developer for over 8 years. Working in leadership roles for political candidates, b-list musicians, and fortune 1000 companies.
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3 Responses to “Job SCAMS!! And How To Report Them”
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Very interesting reading until I came upon this quote
“She listed ASP, CFM and PHP… Do you know any programmer who knows all three of these languages?? It was obvious, the requirements were meant to cast the widest net for candidates possible.”
As a web developer, I work with teams of people who most definately can write in all 3 of these languages, as well as ASP.NET, C++, C#, etc. A good developer can fill all of those shoes, and there are PLENTY out there, myself included.
This isn’t specific to Robert Half. When someone says they want a C# programmer, you know what the best use for the language is. But, my point is, this recruiter didn’t know what they needed. Another one of their requirements was typing 40wpm? First of all, accuracy matters more than word count. Second, typing is a skill? I scored 90% on Excel and Word from another agency, and if those test results aren’t ‘proof’ enough, I’ve walked out of interviews at that point. It’s like asking a mathmatician if he can fish, it just isn’t relevant.
The requirements for the job, speak volumes about what projects are going on, even if they don’t say so in the job description. If someone was looking for PHP and C#, it makes me question what they’re building. If they want ASP + PHP + CFM, that says they’ve got a mish-mash of competing and duplicate systems. If you want to band-aid mistakes most of the day, or deal with teams of people working on similar, but different projects, then you can have the job they sent me. I’m not doubting anyones abilities. There’s good money in doing the jobs no-one wants to do. I’m doubting the potential companies focus and direction.
It’s funny, I’ve recently been in the market for employment opportunities (heh) and received an email from a “recruiter” representing Target. Well, there was just something odd about the letter. A spelling error, references to “work from home,” and a gmail account instead of a company email all raised warning flags.
Needless to say, I never sent a reply. Guess you just have to be really careful these days.