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Three Ways Scammers Trap Job Seekers By Christine Durst & Michael Haaren August 2, 2012 As joblessness persists and economic pressures mount, work-at-home scammers enjoy a “perfect storm.” Here are three ways con artists trap the unwary job seeker, and how you can avoid being a victim. THE BACKSTORY: DESPERATION AND LAGGING ENFORCEMENT It’s easy to see why scammers are thriving. Seventy-nine million boomers are headed for “golden years” that look increasingly like they’re made of iron pyrites (“fool’s gold”). New college graduates stagger under debt fueled by hefty 7.5 per cent annual surges in educational costs, but salaries haven’t risen in 20 years. The middle class overall feels the frightening hand of social descent clawing at its clothes. Meanwhile, consumer watchdogs are muzzled by pre-Internet budgets, which don't take into account the international horde of criminals swarming into homes and offices through the unguarded gates of the web. KNOW YOUR ENEMY: POPULAR SCAMMER TACTICS Since the tight economy and weak consumer protection will probably be with us for awhile, “knowing thine enemy” has never been more important. Here are three popular tactics that con men use to fleece the unwary looking for home-based jobs. 1. Using resumes on job boards for tailored come-ons: When job seekers post their resumes to CareerBuilder and similar career sites, scammers find everything they need to bait their hooks. The result? You soon receive an email offering you exactly the kind of home-based job you were looking for. The only problem is, it’s bogus. Be especially wary if you’re looking for administrative work. Scammers often target resumes of those seeking data entry or other popular administrative jobs. This allows them to spam a larger group with the same come-on. This category of job seeker is also most frequently fed into “boiler rooms” – call centers specializing in high-pressure sales tactics, selling pricey “business coaching services” with kickbacks to the referring scammer. To protect yourself, be extremely suspicious of any unsolicited job offer arriving in your inbox. Legitimate work-at-home jobs are in high demand, and employers don’t need to send out unsolicited offers. Red flags also include high pay for little work, non-corporate email addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.), and claims that no experience is necessary. 2. Front-loading search results to hide negative reviews and comments. Scammers know that many job seekers will research their job leads to see what others may have said. So they pay people to post glowing reports of their con games and dubious products, and use search engine optimization techniques to have these comments appear first in search results. For example, the bogus comments will use phrases that job seekers themselves are likely to use, such as “Is xyz company a scam?” When job seekers find these positive “reviews” clustered on the first pages of their search results, most will look no further, little realizing they’ve been had. For protection, check such work-at-home forums as WAHM.com or WorkPlaceLikeHome.com. (Though again, since the occasional bogus comment can’t be ruled out, take all remarks with a grain of salt.) You can also check to see if the employer or job appears in the screened leads on our own site, RatRaceRebellion.com. 3. Late-night infomercials and radio ads for home-based “opportunities.” Beware infomercials touting quick wealth through “ecommerce web sites” or “trading on eBay.” Often, the come-on showcases a low-priced book, but the transaction is just a ploy to get your contact information, hit your credit card with surprise monthly charges, and throw you to the boiler-room wolves. Similar ads are now cropping up on radio, too, often involving pyramid-marketing schemes. There are hundreds of legitimate home-based jobs and projects opening up every day. For the time being, however, TV and radio ads are bad bets for reliable home-based work. ---- Christine Durst and Michael Haaren are leaders in the work-at-home movement and advocates of de-rat-raced living. Their latest book is Work at Home Now, a guide to finding home-based jobs. They offer additional guidance on finding home-based work at www.RatRaceRebellion.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2012 BY STAFFCENTRIX, DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM |
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