Watch Out

[slightlv]

Due to a disability, I took early retirement 2 years ago. Dying of boredom, I decided to look for something I could do remote that didn't involve telemarketing. I've got 40 years experience in the IT field and Administration strongly interspersed between all that. The Admin is what I was stressing on Career Builder, as I didn't want to deal with the stress of IT.

You can probably guess what kind of notifications I got -- basically all IT based. However, there were a few Admin based. Followed up on a few of those and a couple looked really good. Interviewed with one, and an offer letter followed, which I accepted. Sounds good, right?

Turned out it was a scam. I'm so disheartened and depressed now I wish I never started this hunt.

When this first began, I checked things out via the BBB, did research via Google on career hunter scams, etc., and pulled up nothing. But my personal hackles got raised by some things that were said yesterday, and I went back online and did a search on this specific company with the word "scam" following it. That led me to a Facebook page and another couple of pages with information that matched exactly what had raised my curiosity. Finally, it led me to a page with a message from the company, itself, stating that people had been purportedly representing the company offering jobs and they were *not* with the company. That only by filling out an application on their website would you be considered for a position (which, btw, I consider to be very spoof-able).

Luckily, I "caught" this scam before they scammed me out of any money. They wanted me to send $350 for a piece of time tracking software. But I didn't find out before filling out a W-4, and I'm not sure how to protect myself against this. I'm open to suggestions. I'm also open to how to safely hunt for a job in this deadly age we're living in today.

Thanks... Sandy

[XanaDUer2]

1. I'm sorry that happened nt

[Tetrachloride]

2. go to a bank office.

they can start. protect your credit card is the main thing for today

[CanonRay]

3. I'd put a freeze on credit if they have your SSN.

Any of the credit companies can do it I think.

[Farmer-Rick]

4. When a company who wants to hire you

Asks for your money to do the job, I always say no. There are a few, very few, legitimate needs for an employee to pay up front but I won't take those jobs.

I want the employer to pay me, not the other way around.

Good for you for catching the scam. There are just so many out there. I bet I get an ad or txt or message trying to scam me at least 3 times a day.

[slightlv]

5. I'm lucky, in that I've been working

with my credit union already so that nothing would happen unless I approved it personally. And I don't carry any credit card other than my amazon prime. And that's one of those that doesn't even have a security code number on the back - it's a "never expire" card that you can't use anywhere else. We really don't use credit cards, thank goodness. It was more my social security/medicare that I was worried about, though I'm already actively drawing both right now.

They're suppose to be sending me a check via FedEx to cover the cost of software I'm suppose to buy from the company vendor. From what others on FB have said, this should be around $1300. I have no intention of even opening up the FedEx pkg. I'd like to send it back unopened. Is that an option? Has anyone ever refused a FedEx pkg? This would be my last bit of extraction from this "mess."

I did go buy a desktop PC when the one I was going to use as a "sandboxed" system died the night I set it up. But I just decided to keep it rather than taking it back. There ARE going to 87k IRS jobs opening up sometime soon, and at least some of those are going to be remote customer service positions. If I'm lucky, I could get one of those. I need something to cheer me up. And this desktop, while not anywhere near a top dog system, was a pleasant surprise for no more than I paid for it. I consider it an excellent buy; not one I'll run into again for awhile. So, I'll use it to cheer me up for now, and only add what I need to get it ready to go for a sandbox system, separate from the family network I have set up.

Meanwhile, maybe I'll call Blackboard. I worked with their software for 20+ years. Maybe they have something remote. I think rather than trusting something coming to -me-, maybe cold calling on companies is the way to trust things right now?

[Waterguy]

6. You have to be alert - in this new scheme

You always had to be alert in the old scheme,
especially if you were just starting out or had no special skills,
oh, it is the bottom feeders they prey upon...

I'm in my sixties as well, the other day I get this text that says I owe,
I know about internet scams, but this was a text, I thought it was personal,
my college aged daughter said, dad that's a scam

Of course, look at the text address - dammit cell phones are so relatively new
even to me in my mid-sixties

And to be so unscrupulous.

And don't even bring up the topic of experience.
Too many firms discount experience

[Backseat Driver]

7. Get this...

‘Overemployed’ Hustlers Exploit ChatGPT To Take On Even More Full-Time Jobs

"ChatGPT does like 80 percent of my job," said one worker. Another is holding the line at four robot-performed jobs. "Five would be overkill," he said."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7begx/overemployed-hustlers-exploit-chatgpt-to-take-on-even-more-full-time-jobs

Don't worry - at the top you can listen to the transcript of all those paragraphs below.

Sorry that you ran into all the scammy fishiness. Good luck finding the traditional "good fit" you need. It's really getting scary out there...