16 replies to this topic

[rayzoredge]

I'm going to share with you one of the most frustrating things to deal with while on Craigslist.

I'm a rather-computer-savvy person, so you wouldn't think that I wouldn't fall for any scammish material. However, I've sent (fortunately, harmless) information to "potential employers" because I'm in search of an additional job.

To make it short and sweet for readers: if you respond to a Craigslist posting and you get something that looks canned, raise the red flag. If you send follow-up e-mails to a "person" and they lead you to a website to complete your interview, raise a red flag. If they don't have a phone number, slightly raise a red flag... some people don't want to be called, but scammers really won't want to be called. Also, within legitimate-looking e-mails, pay attention to the URLs the links are sending you to. If it has a referral number, looks out-of-whack, or in any way suspicious, forget it.

I'm just sick of this crap on having to deal with fake postings and wasting my time and energy, waiting for a job opportunity that never was. So far I haven't gotten anything requiring anything more than my e-mail address and my physical address (which I could give two flying you-know-whats about anyone knowing), but it is still very, very frustrating. Add this to the telemarketing scam calls I've been receiving on my WORK phone and it's been a hell of a time. (I hope signing up for the National Do-Not-Call list stops a majority of those calls...)

[mahesh2k]

I don't know if you're aware of this. But there are some people who benefit from selling resumes. and by creating fake companies,giving employment ads etc. I'm constantly seeing one ad of a company on monster. That company is posting ad on almost every technology out there. and their most of the calls are for freshers. and they even released their webpage earlier. i don't know what happened to their site now. But their site was horribly designed. something like you can say geocities style that beginner sites. That site only had contact info and company profile and some blah blah company material. Now the thing is how site like monster allows such spammers.


Some questions coming to my mind are, how they're earning by posting employment ads ? I can understand that they can sell fresher job seekers resume to consultancy companies. This could be way to earn money. Gray area here we can say cause there are plenty of consultancy do that in one way or the other. But some scammers are ruining this. They're on Dice, Monster, Facebook, Orkut. and almost every possible job seeker sites you can imagine. If site is famous then they are there. Don't know how to deal with them. But i do know how to track them and to recognize such scammers out of crowd. They have pattern of posting and way to approach any newbie. So be cautious on job seekers sites.

[jlhaslip]

The same concern for security and providing personal information applies to the entire Internet.
Be very careful about what information you provide and to whom. This is especially important to younger members.
The Internet can contain some very scary surprises. Defend yourself early and often.

[TheDisturbedOne]

I'd suggest you look in newspapers and on trusted local websites to pursue employment. Craigslist has many scammers, though there are tons of legit people on there. You won't find many scammers putting an ad in the local paper looking for people to scam.

[Nameless_]

I am new to Craiglist... and I don't know where to start... can I get a job there? Even if I'm probably like, underage?

And I was just looking through the jobs and stuff... and there was a sample testing one. Are they genuine? And I trust it?
How do I get a job there?

Yeah well... and has anyone actually received their payment through Craiglist? Because I don't think there's any point in doing that if no one has.

[TheDisturbedOne]

I believe that the OP was talking about looking for a job on Craigslist, not looking for a job working for Craigslist. I don't think that they advertise those positions, and are given to trusted members of the project, or assigned in some other random way. I'd expect that you would have to be 18 to work for Craigslist, considering some of the ads aren't in the PG-13 rating.

[rpgsearcherz]

rayzoredge, on Sep 17 2009, 09:16 AM, said:

I'm going to share with you one of the most frustrating things to deal with while on Craigslist.

I'm a rather-computer-savvy person, so you wouldn't think that I wouldn't fall for any scammish material. However, I've sent (fortunately, harmless) information to "potential employers" because I'm in search of an additional job.

To make it short and sweet for readers: if you respond to a Craigslist posting and you get something that looks canned, raise the red flag. If you send follow-up e-mails to a "person" and they lead you to a website to complete your interview, raise a red flag. If they don't have a phone number, slightly raise a red flag... some people don't want to be called, but scammers really won't want to be called. Also, within legitimate-looking e-mails, pay attention to the URLs the links are sending you to. If it has a referral number, looks out-of-whack, or in any way suspicious, forget it.

I'm just sick of this crap on having to deal with fake postings and wasting my time and energy, waiting for a job opportunity that never was. So far I haven't gotten anything requiring anything more than my e-mail address and my physical address (which I could give two flying you-know-whats about anyone knowing), but it is still very, very frustrating. Add this to the telemarketing scam calls I've been receiving on my WORK phone and it's been a hell of a time. (I hope signing up for the National Do-Not-Call list stops a majority of those calls...)

I completely understand how you feel. I've put in many applications now to "companies" on CraigsList and most of them send you to "Complete surveys to earn $150 an hour!" sites and stuff like that.

[Nameless_]

TheDisturbedOne, on Sep 18 2009, 07:53 AM, said:

I believe that the OP was talking about looking for a job on Craigslist, not looking for a job working for Craigslist. I don't think that they advertise those positions, and are given to trusted members of the project, or assigned in some other random way. I'd expect that you would have to be 18 to work for Craigslist, considering some of the ads aren't in the PG-13 rating.

Oh OK... right. Yes.... a job position that is listed on Craiglist on trying samples... darn, if it's 18+, then I don't think I'll be allowed. But it's only testing products!!! (And keeping them, of course!!!!)

[rayzoredge]

I don't mean to discredit Craigslist by much if I did, but it's just too easy to hit up job-seekers with scams promising stuff or even look like a legitimate job listing for innocent job-seekers that will have no idea that their personal information would be stolen and probably sold to the highest bidder. I've already got spam making its way through my Gmail spam blocker because "I subscribed" to it. B*st*rds.

Even with legitimate listings, though, another frustrating thing I've come to realize is that people are HORRIBLE with getting back to you. Here's the deal: If you post a listing asking for help or if you're selling something, don't post and forget about it. At least check it at the end of the day so you don't leave potential customers or employees waiting, wondering if they just wasted their time or if their resume was sent into a black hole. If you want something to sell and you did sell it, don't keep the stupid listing up so that you get pestered with e-mails left and right for something you don't have anymore. (That just seems like common sense to me... and yes, we all forget, but I'm sure that we have sore reminders whenever we have to reply to people that we sold something a WEEK ago.)

Surprisingly enough, I've NEVER seen a job listing for completing surveys and crap... but I have seen one about testing products and a bunch with clinical studies, which may or may not be a scam. (Google for the listing text and more likely than not, you'll find that it's a scam. I almost fell for one until I actually raised my red flag and searched for it.)

Some scammers are retarded, too. I saw a job listing for a project manager with a description for an administrative assistant.

[iGuest]

posted an ad on CL with resume and link to my LinkedIn profileLook Out For Scams On Craigslist

I responded to an ad on Craigslist for a position that looked legit, but have since discovered it is not - just another scammer. What, if anything, can a scammer gain from having even some of my personal information, ie. Phone, address, LinkedIn profile? I've had several professionals tell me to list my physical address on my resume which I have done and am usually very conscientious about who receives it.  dumb. I understand that even after forwarding to a legitimate post, it could still get routed to a stranger, but this one I'm just sick over the fact that it's now in the hands of some a Craigslist spammer/scammer.

I have had success with obtaining interviews through Craigslist postings in the past and have only once (before now) unknowingly answered a spammers ad. I'm still dealing with spam email everyday from that one. In this case, I didn't follow one of my own rules of thumb which only allows me to answer ads that list a company name or person that I can research before supplying them with a cover letter and resume. This one, however, sounded legit. I'm getting the feeling spammers are getting wiser and finding better writers to write their posts. 

If someone could lend me some piece of mind on this one as to what could be done with my info., I would really appreciate it. Thanks.