I have been applying for remote work for years. Literally thousands of jobs in the last 2 years.
I tried something different in my cover letter for a Remote Data Entry Analyst job. I thought I finally struck a nerve and got a response, because clearly, 2 years of diligently applying and trying to be professional doesn't work.
Someone, Jenifer Tate Thorpe (323-872-0297, a Los Angeles based phone number), contacted me about the same job, but from a company similar to the one I had applied to through Workable.com, whose resume import function literally sucks. Jenifer asked me to install the Signal Private Messenger App on my phone to conduct an interview.
I checked out the app online first, and it has excellent security (the sick irony is not lost on me). Interesting app. Not the point. The app provided them with a channel to me with no government eyes looking on, if you get my drift.
She continued with the job interview, with a questionnaire that was typical of job interviews, which unfortunately provided them with lots of background info on me, before I caught on to what they were doing. Alas. You'd think after 20 years of ID theft in my life I would have a stronger instinctive alarms going off in my head, but no.
She described a setup I thought was both elaborate and fishy because of the excuse she used to try to get me to go along with it - they were having issues with their courier service, so they wanted to send me a check to buy a list of equipment to set up my "mini office" for this remote job. Despite the premise of remote work being that you are using your own equipment, she pressed on, wanting my comittment to this endeavor, er, job.
Then I thought, why would a job interview be so focused on getting me a check for equipment that, in all honesty, could be shipped from their office, no courier needed? I then looked up what I thought was their website. I typed in Includedhealth.com - it's a legit company, reviewed on both glassdoor and Indeed. They were HQ'd in NY, while the scammers say they're HQ'd in Dublin, OH, but have a Columbus, OH address.
But their website was jsut slightly different. Theirs was includehealth.com, with the 2nd "d" missing. I had looked up the wrong company (on Glassdoor, Indeed and the BBB). And as soon as I saw their site, I knew I'd been had.
You see, one of the first signs that a company is not legit, especially online, is when their website has no contact information, no phone, no mailing or street address, and certainly to contact page. I've been building websites for decades, and I knew as soon as I saw this, that there may be others that have fallen for this stupid trap.
I asked her about the no contact info in the site, and they stopped commuicating with me immediately. So, I naturally went to report this on the FTC and FBI websites, then I came here. Gads, I feel like such a rube. After all this time, you would think I would catch on to this before my information went out.
But they got my name, address, phone, email, and the name of the bank, but not my bank account info. d**n it! I'll be kicking myself for years over this. They also got plenty of background information on my work history to provide themselves with plenty of cover story for their schemes.
This is why I tell people - don't hesitate to report this immediately to the authorities. It's bad enough that they are going after desperate people, but if we don't at least try to stop them, it's going to get worse and worse.
And when you're applying for jobs, look up the company before you apply, even if it's through a legit job source. You never know, do ya? Check out their website first and foremost. Legit sites, and technically, legally, all websites MUST have a contact page, and/or a mailing address and phone for people to contact them.
Think about it - only a legit company would want to hear from their customers, clients and employees, right? Keep that in mind when you're doing something so honest as job hunting. It's absolutely horrifying to know that such evil is out there. But if you don't try ot protect yourself, you will lose. Please, please, PLEASE be careful. Life is hard enough without this crap going on. And yet, here we are.
IncludeHealth Reviews
I have been applying for remote work for years. Literally thousands of jobs in the last 2 years.
I tried something different in my cover letter for a Remote Data Entry Analyst job. I thought I finally struck a nerve and got a response, because clearly, 2 years of diligently applying and trying to be professional doesn't work.
Someone, Jenifer Tate Thorpe (323-872-0297, a Los Angeles based phone number), contacted me about the same job, but from a company similar to the one I had applied to through Workable.com, whose resume import function literally sucks. Jenifer asked me to install the Signal Private Messenger App on my phone to conduct an interview.
I checked out the app online first, and it has excellent security (the sick irony is not lost on me). Interesting app. Not the point. The app provided them with a channel to me with no government eyes looking on, if you get my drift.
She continued with the job interview, with a questionnaire that was typical of job interviews, which unfortunately provided them with lots of background info on me, before I caught on to what they were doing. Alas. You'd think after 20 years of ID theft in my life I would have a stronger instinctive alarms going off in my head, but no.
She described a setup I thought was both elaborate and fishy because of the excuse she used to try to get me to go along with it - they were having issues with their courier service, so they wanted to send me a check to buy a list of equipment to set up my "mini office" for this remote job. Despite the premise of remote work being that you are using your own equipment, she pressed on, wanting my comittment to this endeavor, er, job.
Then I thought, why would a job interview be so focused on getting me a check for equipment that, in all honesty, could be shipped from their office, no courier needed? I then looked up what I thought was their website. I typed in Includedhealth.com - it's a legit company, reviewed on both glassdoor and Indeed. They were HQ'd in NY, while the scammers say they're HQ'd in Dublin, OH, but have a Columbus, OH address.
But their website was jsut slightly different. Theirs was includehealth.com, with the 2nd "d" missing. I had looked up the wrong company (on Glassdoor, Indeed and the BBB). And as soon as I saw their site, I knew I'd been had.
You see, one of the first signs that a company is not legit, especially online, is when their website has no contact information, no phone, no mailing or street address, and certainly to contact page. I've been building websites for decades, and I knew as soon as I saw this, that there may be others that have fallen for this stupid trap.
I asked her about the no contact info in the site, and they stopped commuicating with me immediately. So, I naturally went to report this on the FTC and FBI websites, then I came here. Gads, I feel like such a rube. After all this time, you would think I would catch on to this before my information went out.
But they got my name, address, phone, email, and the name of the bank, but not my bank account info. d**n it! I'll be kicking myself for years over this. They also got plenty of background information on my work history to provide themselves with plenty of cover story for their schemes.
This is why I tell people - don't hesitate to report this immediately to the authorities. It's bad enough that they are going after desperate people, but if we don't at least try to stop them, it's going to get worse and worse.
And when you're applying for jobs, look up the company before you apply, even if it's through a legit job source. You never know, do ya? Check out their website first and foremost. Legit sites, and technically, legally, all websites MUST have a contact page, and/or a mailing address and phone for people to contact them.
Think about it - only a legit company would want to hear from their customers, clients and employees, right? Keep that in mind when you're doing something so honest as job hunting. It's absolutely horrifying to know that such evil is out there. But if you don't try ot protect yourself, you will lose. Please, please, PLEASE be careful. Life is hard enough without this crap going on. And yet, here we are.