BBB warns of job-seminar scam

Staff report

youngstown

Consumers should be wary of a company that has been offering local seminars on how to obtain government employment, the Better Business Bureau said Monday.

Public Service Pathways, a New Jersey-based company, recently hosted workshops in the Mahoning Valley that claimed to offer attendees expert advice in how to get a job in local, state and federal government, the bureau said.

The company charged residents $5 to attend local seminars and encouraged attendees to enroll in a $100 online course, the bureau said. Attendees were told they could sign up for the course only in person.

“These companies are offering consumers false hope and are using high-pressure sales tactics in order to bilk consumers out of their savings,” bureau president Patricia Rose said in a statement.

Public Service Pathways guarantees that those who enroll in their online course will obtain a job in civil service in as little as three months, according to the company’s Web site.

The bureau warned consumers to be cautious of employment-service firms that promise to find any customer a job.

Consumers also should be wary of firms that promote “previously undisclosed” federal positions, the bureau said, as all federal positions are made public.