Avoiding scams - the Work From Home or Freelance Job Scam

Everybody knows that there are good paying, work-from-home jobs out there that will train you.

Our Recruiting Team viewed your resume and we are pleased with your qualifications, we believe you have the required qualifications to undergo an online interview.Your resume was shortlisted for an online interview with the Hiring manager Mrs Smith via Google Hanqout with the following email address (------------@gmailcom) Add her to your buddy list and send her an IM, she will be online waiting for you ASAP to conduct the interview for you. The pay rate is $50 per hour and you get paid $20 for training, Also leave your digits and email behind. Your verification code is XXX9999 this would serve as your identification number .flexible.... 

Interview Scheduled : Online.

Time: ASAP 

Venue: On line Google Hanqouts 

Training is Available 

Your swift and timely response matters a lot in this beneficial position. 

We look forward to having you on the team. 

Hr Department  

Empire Ozark Food Brokers

The problem is that this thing everyone "knows' is actually a false rumor. The letter above is not a legitimate job offer but another scam. I have a resume posted on LinkedIn (with personal information redacted), but never have I gotten a legitimate job offer from LinkedIn. I usually get "business deals" that would require a time or monetary investment from me. In other cases, I get people wanting to be a part of my "network" so they can further promote their own businesses. Most of these things are harmless, but the danger of posting your resume or building a profile on any job search website is that you are jumping up and down, waving your hands, and screaming "SCAM ME! PLEASE!"

In many cases, when you get that call about reducing your student loans (for example), the scammers have no idea whether or not you have student loans. They are simply cold calling you and hoping that you have one. Generic scammers usually don't even ask to talk to a specific person. But when you put up a resume or fill out a profile on a job website, you have already let them know that you need a job. In many cases, you may be desperate for a job since you resorted to an online marketplace to find one.

I am not talking about going to Walmart.com and applying for a job there that you saw advertised in your local store. I am talking about job posting websites such as Indeed and Ziprecruiter and places like that where "applying" is "easy."

I have never heard of anyone getting a legitimate job from any of these places. Why? Because applying is easy. That means, you can apply to hundreds of jobs that you are not qualified to do, and so can millions of other users. No company has the resources to personally sort through all those applications, so they develop computerized filters that kick any application that doesn't meet the specific (narrow) requirements. This means that even if you are qualified for the job, you are more likely to be kicked for something not recognized by the filter (with the millions of unqualified applicants) than you are to be hired.

But these websites are great resources for scammers. The same is true for trusted freelancing websites like Upworks and Guru. The main difference is that if you let the job sit a few days on the freelancing websites, it will probably get flagged as a scam. In addition, freelancing websites allow you to verify payment before working.

But what if it really is the good deal it promises to be? It isn't. So how do I know? Let's look at the "job offer" I received:

1. The business is the name of a legitimate company in the United States. The English is not legitimate, native born United States English. 
2. This job was supposedly a translating job--translators (and most professional writers) prefer per word rates instead of per hour rates.
3. I am a translator, but my profiles only state that I translate INTO English. This project wanted me to translate FROM English. They clearly did not pay attention to my resume.
4. You cannot train someone to be a translator. The person must already have the language skills. Some people will never be able to understand foreign languages. Translating requires more than typing something into Google Translate and cutting and pasting the gibberish you get. 
5. In addition to the above, the job post said they needed the translator for international safety and accreditation purposes listing official agencies that were requiring these translations, but neither of the agencies do that and no one needs a translator to help "accredit" a food broker. 
6. In fact, food brokers usually need people familiar with food service who are salesmen and bookkeepers. This food broker is a very small company making the need for a translator even more unlikely. 
7. The number one thing that should always send every warning bell in your mind off is "ASAP" and "she will be waiting online for you." No American company has someone waiting online 24/7 for you to respond to a job offer. I highly doubt anyone anywhere in the world except a scammer would have someone waiting for you to call them back 24/7. Some translation jobs are urgent, but a food broker looking for accreditation is not one of them. Again, even an urgent job would not have someone waiting for you to call 24/7.

Usually these scam jobs hurt you in two ways: (1) You are required to do immediate work with no chance to set up something like Guru's SafePay. Even when I am taking an urgent job on Guru, I require funds deposited (and cleared) before I begin work. However, part of this scam is getting you to do work before you are paid. (2) After you have done the work, you are sent a check and the typical fake-check-deposited-in-your-bank scam is then done.