scams, scams, and more scams...how to avoid job scams? (job hunting, apply)

[suissegrl702]

It doesn't seem to matter where I apply to work, I get scam emails, and most recently scam calls all day and night on my cell phone. I've already omitted my address on my resume and have an email that is for job hunting only. I also won't post my references on the resume, and omit all contact information from my employers.

It would seem that the scammers are getting more sophisticated. I'm picky about what I respond to in posts, and even on Monster and Career Builder I get scam emails back, and put on scammer phishing lists. I'm at a loss of what to do here. I can blow off the emails, but the calls are getting bad.

I really do need a job, most emplouyers--even McDonalds--insist that you apply online--but I keep getting caught by the scammers, over and over again.

[TobinJ]

Craigslist posts are notorious for the scams and you'll see plenty of the pyramid scams (i.e knife selling). You have to learn to recognize them...any job posted more than once in more than one city is usually suspect.

If it's careerbuilder and the company has any details you hit google and look for a web page. Really generic web pages or pages that list multiple url links on the main page can be suspect.

Places like McDonalds typically use Taleo or one of the form type websites; they're reputable. They break up your csv for keyword searching.

Some of the posts are just so generic it's hard to know for sure...too many misspellings or bad formatting can give it away...often you just have to take chances and deal with the phone calls from sales companies etc.