wierd/scary craigslist job

SweettartRN · Oct 27, 2011

Something similar happened to me a few years ago. I had gotten a phone call out of the blue and was given a time/date for the interview. No name of the company to google, the number traced to a cell phone, etc. Went anyway, and was ushered into this room, was quickly give a once over, and then was ushered into another room for a "presentation" to sell vitamins and other crap.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Oct 27, 2011

Did you ask any questions during the interview like "what is the name of your company?" or "Tell me more about your organization?" I know those types of questions are usually taboo, but in this case where they aren't forthcoming with info, i think it'd be safe to ask.

Also - It's not out of the question for a national type company to rent an office space to have interviews, especially if they are trying to establish a foothold in a new territory, but still something seems shady about this situation. Training 500 miles from the interview site seems really bizarre as well as non working emails. Tread carefully and be cautious with giving them copies of your personal documents and personal numbers.

LR59 · Oct 27, 2011

My husband replied to a job for a position in sales ,they beganto ask for a lot of personal info looked like it was a scam to get info

GimiRN · Oct 27, 2011

Personally, I would forget about them. There are red flags all over the place. And giving up your ssn, address, etc is just too risky. I was scammed on that site, as well as another bigger name employment site. The bigger name site actually identified that it was a scam and notified me.

After those experiences, if they don't give the company name, I always google the number to see what they're all about. If I can't find info with the number, I move on. Anytime they have a lot of grammatical errors, claim they are out of the country, don't post a job description, have a description that doesn't quite fit the position, or start asking for more personal info, I think scam.

For me, both jobs had the "family member" supposedly out of the country when they contacted me. And for one of them, I googled a portion of the job description, and I found the ENTIRE ad, word for word, for a job in another state on another site. So this person clearly copied it from there.

Did this company give a name? Did they explain why there was no furniture? Did they tell you what kind of patients they serve and what you would be doing? If not, I would end all contact with them.

Besides, if a business is new and trying to get off the ground, wouldn't they want to advertise their name to get more exposure? I just think it's too risky with so many unanswered questions and shadiness. You mentioned trafficking, which isn't unheard of (I watch a lot of ID channel too ). But I've heard a lot of times when they claim to be out of the country, they start to talk about paying you in advance or something similar. Then that's where they want bank account info, or send you those fake money orders to cash. So you can never be too cautious.

Lynx25, LPN · Oct 27, 2011

Craigslist is for offing your old nasty couch onto other people, and for finding skeezy one-nighters, not for finding a nice permanent job.... everyone on the internet should know that by now.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Oct 27, 2011

I would be wondering if this is some type of scam/ very dangerous place to be and call the police about this. Keeping a company confidential until the interview is one thing but empty rooms and no mention of a company?? How much personal info did you give out?

allnurses Guide · Oct 27, 2011

Craigslist is for offing your old nasty couch onto other people, and for finding skeezy one-nighters, not for finding a nice permanent job.... everyone on the internet should know that by now.

Eh, not really true. I found a position at Cooper Clinic on there and two other very good jobs years ago. The difference here is that they were very up front about who they were, what they required and of course had a very transparent goal, building, presence, whatever.

The red flags are not hard to spot.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Oct 27, 2011

Sure would be interesting to find out what it really is....... :smokin:

GimiRN · Oct 27, 2011

Eh, not really true. I found a position at Cooper Clinic on there and two other very good jobs years ago. The difference here is that they were very up front about who they were, what they required and of course had a very transparent goal, building, presence, whatever.
The red flags are not hard to spot.

Agree. A couple of my friends found their jobs on there. And right now there are several legit companies that have postings in my area. And these jobs were posted on some of the other sites, as well. But, CL does tend to have more scams than other sites. So you just have to keep your guard up.

MomRN0913 · Oct 27, 2011

Sounds like some black market organ harvesting. I'd stay away.

netglow, ASN, RN · Oct 27, 2011

I agree. Craigslist is something you must be careful of. Do not respond to any ad that does not have some contact information about the company. Many times it will list a fax number, which I google to find out the company name. Then, off that I get the phone number and call it and briefly ask if they are looking to hire (position on the web). I tell them that I just wanted to check to see if it was legit. Often these ads will state "do not call us" and you best then, not leave your name or ask anything beyond verification of the ad. Then you can decide if you want to go ahead and send your resume etc. If I can't find a company attached to that fax number listed, I will not respond to the job posting.

There are some large internationally known institutions that have posted on craigslist in my area. Also some private practices too. I'd never respond to any "recruiters" I only deal direct with the business itself.