A Japanese company put an ad in the paper looking for translators. Applicants were given a clipboard with Japanese writing and told to translate it into English. Once complete they were told “We’ll call you”. Never happened. All those free translations cost them was the ad.
It’s no wonder capitalism gets a bad wrap. Throw in Steinbeck when he wrote Grapes of Wrath. He hated the doctor in The Pearl.
This reminds me of the old Hollywood trick.
They would interview screen-writers and ask them to show how clever they were by sharing some ideas for future movies/tv shows.
They would not hire the candidate—and then years later the best ideas would be used for real movies/shows.