Beware! The work-at-home scam!
Hello, friends! This week, I have a warning for all you job seekers out there, especially those who are looking for work over the Internet. Remember when your grandparents told you that, during the first Great Depression, work was so scarce you couldn't even buy a job? Well, if you have about 500 bucks floating around, have I got a deal for you!
This job, should you accept it, is one of those "work at home" jobs that everyone is interested in these days, because if you can do your job at home, there are a lot of perks involved. For example, you can save boo coos of money on gas and Metro fare money, money that you can spend on other things like, oh, I don't know, food? Also, you can do your job in your pajamas and slippers. And, for all you parents out there, you don't have to put your kids in daycare, because you'll be home to take care of them! Yes, my friends, there are a lot of reasons why work-at-home is sooo appealing to so many people.
The reason why I'm talking about this particular subject this week is because I have a good friend, a sweet lady, who has literally made a second career out of looking for a new career. She has one every thing right: she has a college background, she's gone to trade and vocational schools, and now, she's looking for something that can help pay her bills (like, I'm sure, a lot of you are as well), and this past week, she thought that she found job of her dreams. Thought, that is.
She has her resume on practically every employment website on the Internet, and Wednesday, she got an email from a company called Transam Associates, a medical data entry company, with word that she could be eligible for their work-from-home program. So she took the typing test, and the next day, they told her that she passed the test, and they'd like to speak with her during a live chat, and it was during this live chat that , in order for her to be hired, she would have to pay, out of her own pocket, 495 dollars for some "special medical software" that she never even heard of before. Well, she exclaimed that she couldn't afford the software, but they made it perfectly clear that she would have to pay for it. They even told her that she could pay for half of it that day, and could pay for the rest of it later. But she would have to invest in this software. Well, of course, she did what any smart person would do in this particular situation: she thanked them for her time, and she promptly logged off the live chat session.
After I came home from school that day, she came over, and told me what happened, and you know what I told her? I said that she did the right thing, that I never would have paid for anything that I thought they should have paid for. And when my mom came home from work soon after, we told her the same story, and you know what she said? Yes, she said the exact same thing: that you're never supposed to pay for anything concerning your job. They're supposed to pay for everything: they're supposed to pay for your training (and this software is part of the training), they're supposed to pay for your business travel, they're even supposed to pay for any equipment you're supposed to use (including software). Also, my friend asked if there was a nearby office that she could go to if she didn't want to work at home, and they told her, "No!" There wasn't a nearby office she could go to! Right away we all knew this was a work-at-home scam.
You see, friends, I wouldn't be telling you about this if I didn't think that you all should know about this, but the reason why I'm telling you is because these scammers are now trolling the Internet employment websites such as CareerBuilder, Monster, and Beyond to look for new, um, prospects. And since I know how more people are looking for a job now more than ever before, I'm telling all of you so that you can be aware of what's going on over the Internet as far as the employment opportunities are concerned. So if you have your resume posted on any of these sites, you all consider yourselves warned.
And it's not only the people who email you who are potential scammers. I'm sure you all have heard of this radio ad for an Internet company called Internet Speedway? They're supposed to send you a free CD to learn how to sell stuff over the Internet that you don't even have to pay for, like you do with other Internet companies like SMC. Well, my friend also called these people over the phone, and she found out that, in order to get the "free" CD, she had to join a club in which she had to pay 60 dollars a month for a certain amount of time to be a part of, or, if you don't have a credit card, it will cost you a flat sum of 495 dollars (is 495 some kind of a magic number?) to join, which, of course, my friend doesn't have.
Yes, my friends, we all have to be careful, now more than ever, and not fall for the crap that some people want us to swallow, because, like our grandparents also told us, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. So I'm just telling you all to keep on looking for that job, but job seeker beware.
Until next time, be well, and stay well.
Sincerely,
Marley Sue
This job, should you accept it, is one of those "work at home" jobs that everyone is interested in these days, because if you can do your job at home, there are a lot of perks involved. For example, you can save boo coos of money on gas and Metro fare money, money that you can spend on other things like, oh, I don't know, food? Also, you can do your job in your pajamas and slippers. And, for all you parents out there, you don't have to put your kids in daycare, because you'll be home to take care of them! Yes, my friends, there are a lot of reasons why work-at-home is sooo appealing to so many people.
The reason why I'm talking about this particular subject this week is because I have a good friend, a sweet lady, who has literally made a second career out of looking for a new career. She has one every thing right: she has a college background, she's gone to trade and vocational schools, and now, she's looking for something that can help pay her bills (like, I'm sure, a lot of you are as well), and this past week, she thought that she found job of her dreams. Thought, that is.
She has her resume on practically every employment website on the Internet, and Wednesday, she got an email from a company called Transam Associates, a medical data entry company, with word that she could be eligible for their work-from-home program. So she took the typing test, and the next day, they told her that she passed the test, and they'd like to speak with her during a live chat, and it was during this live chat that , in order for her to be hired, she would have to pay, out of her own pocket, 495 dollars for some "special medical software" that she never even heard of before. Well, she exclaimed that she couldn't afford the software, but they made it perfectly clear that she would have to pay for it. They even told her that she could pay for half of it that day, and could pay for the rest of it later. But she would have to invest in this software. Well, of course, she did what any smart person would do in this particular situation: she thanked them for her time, and she promptly logged off the live chat session.
After I came home from school that day, she came over, and told me what happened, and you know what I told her? I said that she did the right thing, that I never would have paid for anything that I thought they should have paid for. And when my mom came home from work soon after, we told her the same story, and you know what she said? Yes, she said the exact same thing: that you're never supposed to pay for anything concerning your job. They're supposed to pay for everything: they're supposed to pay for your training (and this software is part of the training), they're supposed to pay for your business travel, they're even supposed to pay for any equipment you're supposed to use (including software). Also, my friend asked if there was a nearby office that she could go to if she didn't want to work at home, and they told her, "No!" There wasn't a nearby office she could go to! Right away we all knew this was a work-at-home scam.
You see, friends, I wouldn't be telling you about this if I didn't think that you all should know about this, but the reason why I'm telling you is because these scammers are now trolling the Internet employment websites such as CareerBuilder, Monster, and Beyond to look for new, um, prospects. And since I know how more people are looking for a job now more than ever before, I'm telling all of you so that you can be aware of what's going on over the Internet as far as the employment opportunities are concerned. So if you have your resume posted on any of these sites, you all consider yourselves warned.
And it's not only the people who email you who are potential scammers. I'm sure you all have heard of this radio ad for an Internet company called Internet Speedway? They're supposed to send you a free CD to learn how to sell stuff over the Internet that you don't even have to pay for, like you do with other Internet companies like SMC. Well, my friend also called these people over the phone, and she found out that, in order to get the "free" CD, she had to join a club in which she had to pay 60 dollars a month for a certain amount of time to be a part of, or, if you don't have a credit card, it will cost you a flat sum of 495 dollars (is 495 some kind of a magic number?) to join, which, of course, my friend doesn't have.
Yes, my friends, we all have to be careful, now more than ever, and not fall for the crap that some people want us to swallow, because, like our grandparents also told us, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. So I'm just telling you all to keep on looking for that job, but job seeker beware.
Until next time, be well, and stay well.
Sincerely,
Marley Sue
Comments