Don't get Scammed

College graduates and those desperate for employment are the first ones falling victim to fraudulent job postings on web sites like careerbuilder.com and monster.com.

Entry-level jobs usually within the fields of entertainment or sports marketing, advertising and sales have been soliciting enthusiastic job-seekers and profiting off their free work.

The scenario starts after they review your resume on any popular career web sites, within a day an e-mail from the human resource department is sent, which provides very little details about the job, but claims that they are in the middle of the hiring process and they are excited to set up an immediate interview.
Case and point— Jax Group Inc., located in Jacksonville, Fl, a self-described leading marketing and advertising firm.

Other companies include Strictly Advertising, Inc. in Miami, FL, Niko-laos in Tampa, FL, R3 Enterprises of Winter Park, FL, and Triple Crown Marketing.
At the initial interview with Jax Group Inc., they explained the company sold windshields for major companies for Geico and AllState and boasted of their eight million dollar revenue. The hiring manager, Jeff Gomez, explained that the business was for self-motivated people who had a desire to succeed, and extended a second interview with on-the-job training.

The second interview requires you to drive to meet with another employee and sell the product on street corners and residential areas in the area. You are required to sell the product door-to-door and are not paid any money for the miles you’ve walked or the time you’ve wasted.
If you agree to go ahead with the job, you are hired as an independent contractor so the employers don’t have to pay taxes, and are paid $50 a day, plus whatever commission you make.

Scams like this are becoming increasingly common— in order to protect yourself do the required research and ask direct questions of what is expected of you; don’t fall for the line “You’ve got to see it to believe it.” Companies like this are hard to track, and rely on taking advantage of job-seekers’ eager and naive attitude. If you find yourself in a scam like this you can avoid more danger by being aware of your surroundings or else you could end up with a stranger in the middle of nowhere.