A Scam

My wife has her resume out on a lot of websites and is looking for a particular job. A few weeks ago she got a call from someone that claimed they wanted to speak to her about a job opening they had.

In her opinion the caller didn't know anything about the position or what was typically involved. It isn't unusual for an HR person to make those calls and they often don't know a lot about the positions, but this one seemed to be an ignorance overachiever.

Then comes the part that made this into an obvious scam. The caller said that before they could go any farther they would have to do a background check and there was a $70 fee associated with doing the check and they needed her SSN, etc. So they wanted to steal her money and her identity. A two-for-one so to speak.

Sorry. No way. I've worked for a few places and they never had a background check before an interview. They would make an offer contingent upon a clear background check. I've never heard of any company making the applicant pay for a background check.

If you know anyone looking for a job, especially younger people that may not have been around the block, yet, you might mention the possibility of a caller being a scammer. I'll give them an A+ for creative approach. Monster, Dice, etc. are a great place to pick up people's phone numbers and addresses and allow the scammer a more time to work out something more closely targeted to their intended victim. Our resumes have a P.O. Box address on them so at least creeps can't find our home address so easily. It can still be done but it requires a little more effort.

Be careful out there, especially when you are posting your resume while looking for a job.