Bogus Job Offer
Fraudsters recently hoodwinked a friend of mine into disclosing personal info through a bogus job offer. Jay, freshly graduated with honors from a reputable university, was actively looking for work. He engaged top-of-the-line job sites. For a while, his only responses were regrets or offers from distant cities.
Though Jay was open to relocation, he was only going to take that option for a great offer. It was thus a pleasant relief when something picked up fast. A topnotch job search engine notified him of a first, second and third reviews of his posted resume. While the job site was telling Jay how ‘hot’ his application was getting, and how only a small number of applicants reached third review, Jay received an email from the company instructing him to schedule an online interview. It was exhilarating. After months of waiting, something was working out at last.
Google Hangouts
Two ‘interviewers’ sent Jay multiple links to google hangouts. That’s where the interview would be conducted. Jay had sense enough to search the web to validate the company and its agents. Everything seemed authentic—the company/agents/credentials and all. The interviewer’s questions focused on employee ethics rather than skills for the position. While Jay found that odd, he assumed they’d already verified data from his resume and were relying on their findings. The interview took about three hours, mainly because communication was intermittent. The online conversation was by text only. At one point, Jay attempted to facetime the person on the other end, but ‘she’ ignored it. Something else bothered him; the interviewer didn’t present herself very professionally. She used poor grammar, misspelled words, and was impolite!
The position required a competent work-from-home graphic designer. The successful candidate would pick assignments daily from an online source. S/he was to work for no less than thirty hours a week at a time of his or her choosing. For that, the company would set up a mini office at Jay’s residence, comprising a desk, Macintosh computer, a printer and an unidentified electronic gadget that’d keep track of his time on company assignments. Jay was to undergo a week-long training within which he would be paid $25/hr. After that, he would graduate to full pay at $35/hr. Jay was excited; nothing at all seemed out of place. For three days, the intermittent communication continued, sometimes repeating itself awkwardly.
Eventually, the good news arrived! Owing to Jay’s skills and professional demeanor, the ‘board’ had decided to offer him the job. The company was supposedly based in Florida. Jay lives in Delaware. Papers were emailed for him to sign and return. The ‘documents’ had security seals and required a password to open. Among other personal data, Jay emailed a copy of his driver’s license, social security card and home address. After returning the signed documents with required attachments, Jay received a congratulatory email, welcoming him onboard as a new staff member. From then on, he was required to log on to Google hangouts every day for updates.
Red Signal: Check Clearance!
Quick in the heels of that appointment, more instructions followed. On a specified date, company approved vendors would deliver equipment and set up a mini office at Jay’s residence. A check arrived via overnight courier service to offset cost of the equipment. Jay was told to pay cash for the equipment.
A CHECK in the mail! Jay’s ‘antennae’ began to buzz. Check clearance is a ‘RED SIGNAL’ that’s never to be ignored. He didn’t want to become a victim of cyber criminals, but neither did he want to squander a valid opportunity. How was he to decipher the mystery? After careful evaluation, he decided against putting the $7,276.47 check into his personal accounts. Instead, he asked his bankers to accept the check as a first deposit for a new business account.
While Jay waited in line for his turn at the bank, his cellphone buzzed incessantly. The fellow on google hangouts kept asking if he’d already banked the check to ensure equipment vendors were paid on delivery. They urged him to put it into an ATM machine for ‘quick processing’. It was ridiculous. He didn’t need to make a trip to an ATM. He could easily have scanned the check and banked it on his mobile App. Jay’s fears were being confirmed. He felt angry, silly and ashamed. How had he become such an easy target?
The lady at the counter looked at the check, at Jay, then at the check again before passing it through a detector on her desk. “What is this company paying you for? I mean… what kind of job did you do for this them?” What could he do? He’d come this far. Though it made him like a hopeless idiot, Jay mustered the courage to repeat his story as the lady cushier pitifully pored him through with her ruthless stare. “Sorry, she sighed, “we can’t accept this; our system doesn’t recognize it!”
Seething with rage, Jay told the fellow on google hangouts that the bank had declined the check! “IMPOSSIBLE!”, a text yelled back. “The check is good. I have consulted with our bankers, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Just go ahead and put it in an ATM!” Jay’s patience ran out. It was at that point he asked the ultimate question, a question he should have asked days before, a question that permanently closed further communication. He should have received it’s answer long before he consented to deal with strangers online. “I NEED TO TALK TO YOU DIRECTLY; WHAT’S YOUR OFFICE PHONE NUMBER?”
Deceived? You Are On Your Own!
Long after communication had ceased, the charlatans’ google hangouts remained green, indicating they were still online. The following day, Jay received another check in the mail worth more than the first. He archived all online communication and disabled links to the fraudulent company. He emailed the job site where he’d found the offer. Unbeknownst to Jay, the job site had long removed the fraudulent offer without informing applicants. They thanked him for drawing their attention to the sham and assured him of their commitment to protect job seekers from imposters. Could Jay kindly report the incident to the police?
Police showed zero enthusiasm in tracking the criminals. Since Jay hadn’t suffered any financial loss, he had no crime to report! However, as a good citizen, he could play the Good Samaritan role and warn the counterfeited company, so they could launch an investigation if they deemed it necessary! “You may want to consider this, Mr Jay,” the cop rubbed his shoulder as he showed him the exit, “ensure you create alerts with credit reporting agencies to prevent unauthorized activity on your personal identity.”
In essence, Jay was not only on his own in this predicament, he needed to pay online agencies to monitor his stolen identity. Neither law enforcement nor his job search sites were going to alleviate his misery in any tangible way. Their services weren’t competent to combat cybercriminals.
When you use job search engines and other online tools, Caveat emptor (buyer beware) is your personal responsibility.