radiant marketing solutions

will the job scams never end? here's the latest: an email that purports to be about a job but is actually a survey site that makes money off your contact information:

http://www.e-researchcenter.us.com/

http://radiantmarketingsolutions.com

and here's the email that these con men send:

I hope you're having a great Saturday! I'm Jim the Executive HR Manager for the Radiant Marketing Solutions group. Sorry for the late reply, but I have been extremely busy for the past week. You've, been forwarded to me from one of our umbrella companies by my buddy Julius and I personally reviewed your resume and I believe you have a very good chance of getting the job. All you need to do is answer three specific questions and one essay question for the job on one of our websites.

All instructions are below.

**Job Qualification Form**

IMPORTANT: Kindly follow the instructions carefully, the first page on this site will be using our regular customer's website general info form. Follow the instructions completely until you reach page 3. On page 3 you need to answer three specific questions and one essay question, along with inputting your name and telephone number.

You may begin filling out your information here: http://www.radiantmarketingsolutions.com/ad4/4/2.html

On Page 3, be sure to follow instructions and answer your questions completely and input your contact information properly. I will review all your answers and give you a call to set the final one-on-one interview.

Thank you for your time and I hope to talk to you soon!

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

James Andrew Koletty
HR Executive Manager
Radiant Marketing Solutions Group

a new twist on the kenya scam

remember the old scam about the african government ministry that said it was willing to pay you millions in exchange for helping them to transfer uber-cash in oil wealth to the states, and all they needed was your bank account to channel the money?

they're back, but with a new twist: they want to give you a job, but you have to handle all of the money through your bank. uh-huh. the posts are appearing on - naturally enough - craigslist. here's a peek at one (found listed under customer service):

We are in search of a special individual who will be the public facing evangelist for our great software and technology products. This person should be comfortable interfacing on a technical level with our product and services teams and at the same time be a dynamic public representative of these products and services to external, high-level business customers.Get back to us if you are interested in this job.

the addresses and company name all mention charlestoneltd, using hotmail addresses. you've got to admire these con artists for their sheer inventiveness. if they would just put that much energy into actually creating real jobs, they'd be able to make money and avoid prison.

has anyone seen any variations on this one yet?

another job scammer: dc alarms

if you receive any messages from dc alarms or see any postings on craigslist about working from home answering emergency calls, it's yet another scam. in this case, the scammer gets paid by webex, which is where the link for the 'test' that they send will take you.

craigslist has become a home for scammers by the truckload, which makes it less and less useful. if they don't do something about that soon, folks will stop using them. maybe the time is right for a better-moderated classified ad site.

here is the message we received from dc alarm, for your reference. notice the obvious-scammage disclaimer at the end:

You recently replied to our job posting on Craigslist.org seeking
customer service reps/ virtual assistants.

You are receiving this email from me because your resume has
been reviewed , accepted and you have been selected as a
possible candidate for the advertised position.

We are seeking virtual assistants who will serve as customer
service representatives for our security alarm firm. We have
customers throughout 46 major cities who require 24 hour monitoring.

Your responsibilities will include monitoring remote alarms for faults and contacting the local engineers to service/ repair faulty alarms. You may also be required to take emergency calls.

Candidates should have average to above average office skills, good comprehension, and should be able to type at a fast pace.

Pay is $17.50 per hour and you should be able to work a minimum of 15 hours per week, with the maximum being 40 hours. Payments are made weekly via check or direct deposit. Calls will be routed to the phone number of your choice (this must be a US Number) during the time you are signed into our system only. This will not prohibit you from taking personal calls, as your screen will indicate when it is a call being routed from us. If calls are not answered after 8 rings they are re-routed to another representative.

All applicants need to attend a web based meeting where you will be shown each aspect of the job in details, as well as having any questions answered. Please set aside 1 hour to complete this and also be prepared to take notes. I have also attached 2 tests which will serve to gauge your comprehension and computer skills. In order to meet our deadline of 1st October start date, all documents, tests and orientation should be completed no later than 1st October 6pm EST.

To receive your invitation to the orientation webinar please visit our website at: http://www.profinsoft.com/webex/1st.php and create a trial account using the email you used to apply for the position.

After I receive your username and tests, I will send you a few manuals to look over, along with a choice of 2 times to attend orientation, and a file containing fully functional copies of all necessary in-house software that you will need to have installed and ready before the orientation webinar. It will not be necessary for you to purchase any other additional software programs for this job.

Please note you are not guaranteed employment until you receive an email from myself entitled "Welcome Aboard". Before this time all tests, orientation and paperwork must be completed, the results of which will determine your employment eligibility with us.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Mary Green
Recruitment and Training Manager
DC Alarms
Tel: 1-253-449-8258

** Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail **
The information contained in this e-mail is of a confidential nature and is intended only for the addressee. If you are not the intended addressee, any disclosure, copying or distribution by you is prohibited and may be unlawful. Disclosure to any party other than the addressee, whether inadvertent or otherwise, is not intended to waive privilege or confidentiality. Internet communications are not secure and therefore DC Alarms does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author.

job scam update

we've previously reported on a company that posts jobs on craigslist and, when you apply, sends you an email pitch to a dummy webpage that pitches college classes and tries to send you billable text messages.

a dead giveaway is the lack of company or contact information, plus the rampant spelling errors throughout the site (which consists of only 3 - 4 pages). you'll also see on quantcast or other traffic ranking sites that the site in question suddenly appeared in mid-late august and had zero traffic prior to that.

here are a few more domain names that they're masquerading behind. if you receive email from any of these, please flag them on craigslist so that we can shut these scammers down (since craigslist seems unable or unwilling to do so themselves)

any message from 'jessica lynn' who calls herself an 'hr manager'

apphiring.net

esiapp.com

career network

yourcareersite.com

ecareersite.com

bluestarjobsite.com

careersourceteam.com

jobsource-group.com

careernetworksite.net

hiringsolutionschannel.com

networkedcareers.com

power-careers.net

thecareerapplications.com

gopplassociate.com

wfhp.info

starlitecareers.com

another scammer is beyond.com, inc., which posts jobs on craigslist and - even if you apply within an hour of the post - tells you that the job that you're applying for is filled, but suckers you into registering with them in exchange for the vague promise of 'other jobs'. their site seems legitimate, so maybe this scam is merely the result of a wayward employee covering the cleveland market (where elsewhen is based).

here are some of their aliases:

administrativejobs.com

techcareers.com

financialjobbank.com

administrativejobs.com

entertainmentworkers.com

communicationsjobs.com

constructionjobforce.com

customerservicejobs.com

educationjobsite.com

engineer-jobs.com

armedservicesjobs.com

healthcarejobsite.com

servicejobsite.com

humanresourcesjobs.com

insurancecareersite.com

legalcareersite.com

businessworkforce.com

manufacturingworkers.com

markewtingjobforce.com

retailgigs.com

prjobforce.com

utilitiesjobs.com

realestatejobsite.com

salesjobs.net

sciencecareersite.com

techcareers.com

logisticsjobsite.com

hospitalityjobsite.com

hey dept. of labor folks, isn't there a law on the books re: job sites like these and bait & switch?

if you come across any not posted here, please put their url's in the comments to help your fellow elsewhen'rs spot them. you might also report them here. finding a job these days is hard enough without these scumbags.

career network: a wide web of scuzz

career network steals job listings from craigslist (on which they also frequently advertize jobs) & other employment sites, pretends that the jobs are listed through them or one of their dozens of link sites, and sends them via email to unsuspecting resume posters as if cn were the ones doing the hiring. if you apply, they sock you with text messaging charges, collect your cell phone info, throw up credit card offers, college pitches, and collect contact information re: your references - whom they also hit up.

is it legal? whether it is or not, doesn't it sound scummy? and a scam by any other name still stinks. if you read their terms of service, it won't make you feel any better.

our advice: stay away from them, and tell everyone that you know to do the same.