Fraud in Online Job Listings [Warning: Watch out for money laudering jobs on Monster.com]

The NY Times ^ | May 17, 2004 | BOB TEDESCHI

[summer]

Tina Haloulos of Marlton, N.J., found a job through Monster.com that left her in a lurch. She ended up owing about $2,000 over her unwitting role in fraudulent transactions.

HELP wanted: money launderer.

Online job sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and HotJobs have given employers another way to find workers, but it turns out that crime rings are making use of the sites, too.

[summer]

FYI.

[tdadams]

Ms. Haloulos would accept payment for the software company's domestic sales, then take that cash out of her PayPal account and wire it, via Western Union, to the software company's contacts in Ukraine.

And this procedure didn't raise any red flags with Ms. Haloulos???

[summer]

I think maybe because she found the job on what she thought was a legitimate site charging employers, she never considered any red flags. But, while those sites are "legitimate" the "employers" may not be.

Also -- the US Postal Inspector had never even heard of this particular scam before.

[jgorris]

Ms. [name not worth repeating], who is studying information technology, said, "I feel really let down by Monster."

Sounds like the type of person I'd want working in my IT department, yeah.

[summer]

Oh, I think you are being way too hard on this person. She thought she found a job, but instead she was swindled out of her money. The people committing the fraud deserve some blame here.

[Young Werther]

I received one of the Monster alerts with this type of scam offered. I forwarded my complaint to Monster and to the FBI! Eternal Vigilance.

[Dark Glasses and Corncob Pipe]

Like Amway, they offer sope to folks desperate to get ahead.

Next thread!

[Imal]

The company does not disclose how many listings it has on its site at a given time, but Mr. Mullins said it listed about 1 million jobs each quarter, with prospective employers paying $335 to display each listing for 60 days.

That's a lot of money.

[summer]

Wow! Good going!

[summer]

Yes it is, and a real bargain if an entity is a criminal enterprise instead of a legit employer.

[dc27]

My thoughts as well.

[I still care]

I got a paypal swindle email the other day that I thought might catch the unsuspecting. It looked very legitimate (they all do) and purported to be an email from paypal informing me that a new address had been added to my paypal account.

It had a link to click on if "you have made no email change to your account."

Of course the link looked like the front page of paypal, and asked for your account and password. But I could imagine some people panicking and clicking and filling it out without thinking.

[RedWhiteBlue]

I'm surprised that the US Postal inspector didn't know anything about this type of scam. It sounds like a slight twist on a well-known scam played on ebayers: Click here.

Never, ever send money to someone you don't know via Western Union. If you do so, and it is a scam, you kiss your money goodbye and there is no way to recover it.

[VeniVidiVici]

And this procedure didn't raise any red flags with Ms. Haloulos???

How fitting that she wants to be a lawyer.

[Jeff Gordon]

Oh, I think you are being way too hard on this person.

You will have to admit that she can not be very bright if she thought that this was a legitmate operation. She does, however, have what it takes to become a typical lawyer. I wonder if she passed her LSATs?

[richmwill]

I'm still waiting for the millions of dollars that the Delegate from Zimbabwe promised to put into my bank account if I helped hold it for him.

(A fool and his money are soon parted)

[rmlew]

My sister came accross many of these last summer when she started to look for a paying job.
I made a list and sent it to the FBI. i wonder what they did with my e-mail?