Craigslist Job Posting Scam

By now, most of you are aware of the common spam emails you get from your posted resumes on Craigslist.org or some other job hunting site. I wanted to alert you to another, potentially more serious job search email scam that I have recently encountered on Craigslist.  You may already know about it. When you reply to a job posting that seems legitimate, you might have received a reply email where the person is posing as a Human Resources professional and asks for personal information.  Information, such as your telephone number, might seem harmless to provide.  Plus, the emails are typically well-written that you would not suspect it was a spamster.

However, when you are directed to a website and asked to input your personal information there, note that this is not legitimate. Also, if you receive links from said "Human Resources professionals" for information on your credit score, this is definitely spam.  Please do not click on these links or provide any information! 

These spamsters are out to get your personal information or perhaps they are out to get a valid email address, as usual. Whatever the case, they are getting good at posting real-looking ads too so be on heightened alert when you receive a strange request such as those above. Use your common sense and refrain from clicking on any links in any emails unless you know for a fact that it is a company website that you recognize or can google first without clicking on it.

If at all possible, return to the ad on Craigslist and "flag" the job post (if you can recall which it was).  These cleverly-written ads and equally cleverly-written emails can fool even the seasoned job hunter so beware the next time you receive an email in response to the job posting you contacted. Oh, and I hope that by posting your resume on Craigslist, you are omitting your name/address/telephone #/email!

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