Warning about job-shop hustles

SUSAN TOMPOR

When you’re wondering how you’re going to find another job in an era of high unemployment, any kind of job offer starts to sound good.

Can you make money using Twitter? Sending e-mail for a company that’s outsourcing that tedious work? Make money as a mystery shopper? Want to make $50,000 in one week making and sending cheap postcards?

If you’re not careful, you can say goodbye to lots of cash through such come-ons and a host of other job-shop hustles. Some consumers have complained about signing up for job programs found on Craigslist but never receiving the instructional DVD and still getting charged fees. They never were able to get their money back.

Others noted that a trial period was promised but they were immediately charged $40 a month for some promotions.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is even warning job hunters about a mystery shopper fraud found on Craigslist involving fake FINRA checks.

With this type of scam, some scammers pay the person with authentic-looking but fake checks that appear to be from legitimate companies, including FINRA.

A real company’s name is on the check, as well as real account and routing numbers.

But the victim is told to deposit the check — often written for more than the amount owed — into his or her bank account and then transfer some money to someone else. Much later, the bank informs the victim that the check was counterfeit — and the victim owes money to the bank.

Other bad deals involved paying thousands of dollars upfront to get a job.

A down-and-out housing market meant that Oakland County, Mich., real-estate agent Larry St. Dennis had extra time on his hands and he was ready to make extra money.

After reading an e-mail, he paid $197 about a year ago to learn how to make big money by processing rebates at home. But he never processed a rebate. Instead, he handed over about $200 to learn firsthand about work-at-home scams.

“I hate talking about it,” he said. “I can’t believe I was that stupid.”

Money has been wasted on all sorts of work-related deals, including:

U“Personal coaching services” that cost thousands of dollars for John Beck’s Free & Clear Real Estate System or Jeff Paul’s Shortcuts to Internet Millions, according to legal enforcement action taken by the Federal Trade Commission. All consumers who signed up for the programs also were automatically signed up for so-called continuity programs that cost $39.95 a month.

UThe Google Money Tree, which misrepresented that it was affiliated with Google, according to the FTC, and promised consumers that they could earn $100,000 in six months with a low-cost kit. Ordering the kit, though, triggered charges of $72.21 a month.

UStuffing-envelopes-at-home scams or sending e-mail from home. Some consumers reported ads on Craigslist that proclaimed that one way to make money is by helping companies outsource their e-mail — offering a new twist to stuffing envelopes, according to the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan. Instead, consumers paid a fee to learn about how to place online ads like the ones they had received to promote such programs.

David Vladeck, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said some jobs listed online and in newspapers are come-ons or scams.

First clue: No one should pay any money upfront to anyone who promises he or she can get you a job, quickly train you for a high-paying job, help you get started with a work-from-home program, or give you quick credentials so you can qualify for a job.

Consumers are encouraged to move cautiously when they hear about such offers. It’s best to try to check out a company with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org or contact the state attorney general, not only where the company is located, but also where you live.

XSusan Tompor is the personal finance columnist for the Detroit Free Press. She can be reached at stompor@freepress.com.