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identity theft

Job Search Scams: Third-Party Background Checks

Job seekers are being approached by phone and email by third parties who claim to be doing background checks on behalf of a potential employer. They insist that the background check is necessary before the job seeker can be considered for any opening. They then ask for social security number, checking account number and other personal data.

Do not give your personal data to any third party claiming to perform a background check. First, call the company where you have applied for a job and ask for verification that this is a legitimate background check. In most cases, the company will be surprised and shocked to learn that a third party has contacted you.

In addition, if your resume includes personal data such as your social security number, height, weight, marital status or medical history, please remove it. Companies do not want or expect this information and it increases your risk of identity theft.

Because I am a Certified Advanced Resume Writer and a Certified Federal Resume Writer, I can advise you on exactly which information belongs on your resume—and which information should never appear there. Contact me today.

Be Careful for Scams in Your Job Search

Be careful in your job search. There are many scams out there – and some can look good! Here is one of them. Do not give any personal information such as social security numbers before you have an interview and you KNOW the company is legitimate (only exception is for the Federal government where some job announcements still require folks to provide their social security number – but even this is changing). The example below recently happened to a client of mine:

A few days ago, my client received the following email in her inbox (some items in RED have been changed to protect my client’s identity). I have also added in my comments in BLUE. Items in GREEN are terms in British/Hong Kong English, not American English (which is where we are located). It does look like they at least used American spellings for the words.

Dear First Name Spelled Incorrectly:

Thank you for submitting your details to the advertised position of Generic Title in City received on 02/xx/2011. (note the client did not send out any advertised positions at this time that would have been received on that date)

This is a rewarding position with excellent benefits and future prospects. Your previous experience as outlined was felt to be suitably beneficial. We are delighted that you are interested in joining our client and wish to advise that your initial submission has successfully passed our clients requirements thus far and we hope you will be pleased to learn that you are shortlisted for screening and meeting.

Here is an overview of what has happened so far and what you can expect next:

(a) Your details were received by us in our remit as our clients staffing and screening company. As you are aware, we are responsible for screening and verifying all candidates for our client.

(b) Your HR Client Contact Manager appointed to your file is Rachel Bradt.

(c) Should you continue to have a genuine serious committed interest in securing this position, we ask that you go to www.globecogroup.com/portal.php (note the hyperlink here is http://www.globecogroup.com/interspire/interspire/link.php?letters and numbers)

(d) Please complete the required questionnaire screening process. You will need to enter your name, email address and unique Applicants Case Number which is: 123456 in the appropriate fields to enter and start the screening process. This is standard procedure requested by our client on the remaining concluding stage successful candidates.

The brief screening process involves three stages which are:

Stage 1 – Please answer a short questionnaire. The questions are similar to ones you would expect in a face to face interview and your answers can be as short or long as you require.

Stage 2 – We and our client require all candidates to undertake a without charge identity verification check for precautionary safeguarding reasons prior to any time expended on closing interviews in light of fraudulent applications being received periodically. Applicant authentication is provided by an external independent credit check organization which provides one of the few means and ways to independently verify someone’s identity online for staffing companies such as ourselves. When you complete the verification check you will be given a customer/client number which we require to activate your file as it confirms your independent verification – we do not require seek or obtain any personal details. Please ensure you do not forward any personal data to us as it is company policy to delete your email and file immediately should you do so. The customer number validates your identity as being independently confirmed for our client.

Stage 3 – Please forward the customer number you received in Stage 2 from the verification by email to verification@globecogroup.com  Upon receipt of this validated number your file is activated by us and your Client Manager Rachel Bradt is notified enabling your screening questionnaire to be collated and your application to proceed to the last stage meeting with our client. Please note, we wish to reiterate, your customer number is the number provided in Stage 2 above, not your applicant case number we provided you. When forwarding your customer number, please also verify that we have the correct contact telephone number for you in our records which is 555-555-1212?

(Note: If you have completed an independent verifiable check / identity verification within the last month it will not be necessary to undertake Step 2 & 3 above, you will need to contact us and state this whilst including the customer number and where you obtained this check. Please allow additional time to process your file if this is the case)

Please ensure all stages are completed correctly, as you will only be able to take this screening one time and one time only. Please also do not leave the screening before finishing it completely in one sitting as you will be unable to return and we will then be unable to complete your submission should you do so.

All completed verified and activated files are expected to be finally reviewed by us and our client within the next 3 days therefore we would ask that you complete the above as soon as possible.

Only candidates who complete the above process as outlined in full and have been independently verified will be called for concluding meetings.

Should you have any questions on the above please email support@globecogroup.com

Thank you once again and we look forward to speaking with you soon.

GlobeCo Staffing
(Group 3) Client Staffing Screening
http://www.globecogroup.com

____________________________
My client sent me this email and called me about the next steps (if any) they should do. My client rightfully was concerned about providing identity information and the strange fact that all would have to be done in one sitting with no chance to review and return to the information. I’m glad my client had these concerns.

I did a quick check to see if I thought this could be legitimate. In these days of high unemployment, I do not want my clients to miss on legitimate activities. I went to the globecogroup.com website and found it to be a very basic 4 page website – with no contact information besides generic email addresses and a form to upload comments. The artwork on the website is generic with stock pictures found everywhere on the Internet – no logo for the company. They claimed they are in 25 countries worldwide.

I next went to check the website WHO IS. This is what I found:

WHOIS SUNUCUSU v.10.6
Idari Yonetici / Registrant
(Admin)
Ad / Name Linh Wang
Adres 3617 Tower 1, Lippo Centre Hong Kong Queensway 89
Tel +852.3006.4510
Faks +852.3006.4510
E-posta info@xchiang.com
Guncelleme / Updated

Teknik Yetkili / Tech
Ad gizli
Ad / Name Linh Wang
Adres 3617 Tower 1, Lippo Centre Hong Kong Queensway 89
Tel +852.3006.4510
Faks +852.3006.4510
E-posta info@xchiang.com
Guncelleme / Updated

Muhasebe Yetkilisi / Billing
Ad gizli
Ad / Name Linh Wang
Adres 3617 Tower 1, Lippo Centre Hong Kong Queensway 89
Tel +852.3006.4510
Faks +852.3006.4510
E-posta info@xchiang.com
Guncelleme / Updated

Alan Adi Sunucusu1 / DNS1 ns9.scorpiohost.com
Alan Adi Sunucusu1 IP / DNS1 IP
Alan Adi Sunucusu2 / DNS2 ns10.scorpiohost.com
Alan Adi Sunucusu2 IP / DNS2 IP
Son Guncelleme/ Last Updated
Kayit Tarihi / Registration Date 2010-09-29
SKT / Exp. Date 2011-09-29
Statu Aktif

This is MediaOn.com the worldwide Leader in
Privacy Hosting. Fast Contact:
Abuse Report: abuse@MediaOn.com
Billing: sales@MediaOn.org
Internet: www.MediaOn.com
Welcome to Digital Gateway Networks A.????.

2011-02-18

Registry Status: ok

___________________

Note: The website indicates a registry in Hong Kong, China. The site was only registerd 4 months ago. Scary!

A further search on Globeco Group on Google indicates the only site with the name is the company website. They claim to be in 25 countries. If so, there should be many more references to the company than just the one stub, 4 page website they set up. They were a bit sophisticated in the writeup of the website – and a search on the phrases they use only picks up this website – so they did put some effort into developing an almost legitimate website design.

I am glad my client felt a need to check out this listing – and will NOT be responding to fill out the forms. My client did not post their resume on any website, and has only been sending out networking letters to qualified lists of companies, networking through friends and answering direct ads on job boards for the type of position they are looking for. This means someone is posting fraudulent ads for very selected title positions in medium to small size cities to capture their information and scam them.

Be careful out there when searching for jobs – and before you provide key identity information – be sure the people you are providing this to are legitimate!

Taking Your Job Hunt Online

Paper resumes are still a valuable job hunting tool. Almost all of the current generation of Human Resource managers grew up in the era of paper and still prefer it. But you need to consider posting an online resume also. It widens your job hunting reach, and it gives you a professional presence on the Internet. Many companies will research you online even after receiving your paper resume.

When posting an online resume, make sure:

  • The online information is consistent with the resume you have sent to the company. If a professional resume writer is helping to write your resume, you may want to hire the same person to write your online profile.
  • Any comments or referrals on your online resume are positive and bolster your image.

Is the fear of identity theft keeping you from posting details on line? If you search for your name online, you may be surprised to find out how much information is already available. In all probability, your contact information is widely known, especially if you’re listed in the phone book and have shopped online. However, if you want to hide your real address but still show your local availability, you could rent a mailbox at a UPS store or other mailbox service. Unlike Post Office boxes, commercial mailboxes offer a real street address.

Stay away from resume-distribution sites that request your date of birth, marital status, picture or social security number. That’s where the possibility of identity theft is strongest.
Technology, comfort levels and employment law still have a way to go before all resumes are online. But you want to take advantage of every resource available to you. Do you have a success story to share about your online resume?