Lola's Diner: 2/13/11

Some of you may recall my previous posting Beware Of Craigslist Job Posting Scams. I just came across two more. Here is the first one, the job posting I replied to:

Office Administration / Assistant
Date: 2011-02-16, 8:09AM CST
Reply to: job-ce2qr-2217297229@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
The role is for an apprentice and will be providing administration support the sales and customer services team. No experience is needed as full training will be given to the successful candidate. The role will involve:

General office administration
Filing, photocopying, scanning
Update and maintain information on the database
Composing letters and emails to clients

* Compensation: up to $17/HR
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 2217297229

This is the email reply I received:

Re: Office Administration/Assistant PostingID: 2217297229
From:
Thomas Townsend

Job Description : Personal Assistant

I got your resume and it has been reviewed, I did appreciate it, So I will give this a GO !

I received your resume in response to the ad on Craigslist, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities. I have had a previous PA who has been very commendable in her activities and who has been part of my life for the past 3years, she has since returned to her country. I sincerely hope I will be able to find someone again who will be as efficient as she has been. Am Aged 55 originally from Australia, I have spent a whole lot here in United States. I'm a business man and Interior Designer by profession,I have been pretty successful in a handful of ventures I get involved in from the Angel Investment Network in Canada and United States to various welfare and community service programs, I most very often get my hands occupied, so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities. I'm looking for someone that can be trusted and reliable to work very well and with good understanding.
This position is home-based and flexible, working with me is basically about instructions and following them,my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, so I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.As my Personal Assistant,your activities amongst other things will include;

*Running personal errands, supervisions and monitoring. Scheduling programmes, flights and keeping me up to date with them.Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence while I'm away. Making regular contacts and drop-offs on my behalf. Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities..
Basic wage is $650 Weekly

I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point,as I am presently in Australia for business and the holiday and I will be back in Two Weeks.
I think you're the right person for this position,Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time/trial work from home position and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week.

If you can manage your time properly,this job may even give you some extras while you do something else on the side. As I have said, I'd want us to get a head START with things as soon as possible.I do have lots of works piled up presently and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually. Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and on the long run we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.

I'm online most of the time as I am hard of hearing so I prefer we contact each other through E-mails,but if there is need for me to call, I will be glad to do that.I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss. I am also glad on the commitment in working.I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me this week is to run some errands out to some of the orphanage home, I do that every month.

payment in form of check from one of my clients will be sent to you and i have some lists to email you once you received the funds,You will make some arrangements by buying some items for the kids at the Orphanage home at the nearest store around you so you can have them mailed out. I will get you more information the assignment i have for you.

To Apply for the position Please Fill in the information below :

Full Name :
Address (Include Apt Number if Available):
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number(H) :
Phone Number(M)
Email Address :

The employee,acknowledged the Detailed Job Description
and signed _______________
(First Name and Last Name of Employee)

Once I have received your contact information, I will get back to you with the task for this week,Understand you will also be paid as well as its important for me to make the necessary steps before i get back from my business trip back to the states.

Hope I am clear with that.

Get back as soon as possible.

How do I know the above job posting relates to this email? Because of the Craigslist Posting Id #. The email doesn't even relate to the job posting I responded to. And any job that requires you to "run errands" and "make drop-offs", "run some errands out to some orphanage home" clearly signals it's a scam. (Also note all the improper English and misspelled words, for someone who is supposed to be so successful in his ventures.) Also, I Googled Angel Investment Network Scam and there were plenty of listings.

Here is the second one, for which I have no idea what job listing I may have responded to, or if this is just a random email scam:

Subject: Response Required: Please confirm your request for information.
From:
LMS HR DEPT.

This email is regarding your response to our ad about a position with LMS and our department of Consumer Reporting-Market Research/Review writing:

Before we begin, we need you to CLICK THE LINK BELOW to confirm that we have your permission to send you this info.

We want to send all job details along with your first assignment right away.

Thank You,
LEVEL MEDIA SOURCE HR
-----------------------------------------------------------
CONFIRM BY VISITING THE LINK BELOW:
http:// LINK REMOVED
Click the link above to give us permission to send you information. It's fast and easy! If you cannot click the full URL above, please copy and paste it into your web browser.
-----------------------------------------------------------
If you do not want to confirm, simply ignore this message.

Thank You,
AWeber Support
120 W. 26th Street, New York, ny 10001, USA

Request generated by:
IP: 173.195.15.17
Date: February 16, 2011 14:05 EST

First of all, you should never have to click on a link in an email to confirm a prospective employer has your permission to send you information. Second of all, what kind of job is this supposed to be? "We want to send all job details along with your first assignment right away." My first assignment, am I to be working for an elite covert operations unit (ala Mission Impossible)? Is Tom Cruise my boss? Will I be working with Greg Morris, Peter Graves and Martin Landau? Will I receive my assignments via tape recorded messages from Bob Johnson? No, wait, it's 2011, I guess they would be on a cd or flash drive that will self destruct in 5 seconds.

If you're job hunting, be careful out there. Use some common sense.

Today we ripped off a blogger named Rol Hirst at the blogSunset Over Slawit. We’ve ripped from him once before. He states that he doesn’t remember where he stole it. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft’s thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. What is your favorite Mexican dish? That's a tough one. At a restaurant it's Snapper Veracruz (although I have made it at home.) At home, Chicken Enchiladas.

2. When you were a kid, did you get started on your homework right away after school, or did you procrastinate? I rarely brought homework home. I took full advantage of study hall.

3. What is your favorite store for home furnishings? Freecyle.org.

4. When you were young, did you like school lunches? I always had to bring a lunch. My parents never paid for school lunch. When I got a job at 17 I would occasionally buy lunch.

5. Is religion a crutch? Religion is a choice!

6. In your region, what is the “big” high school sport? Probably football. Isn't it like that everywhere?

7. Do you consider yourself rich? Rich in friends. Poor in family and poor in finances.

8. Which of these would you have the best chance administering:

A) CPR
B) Heimlich Maneuver
C) Changing a flat tire

I've done (C) more times than I can count. I know how to do (A&B), but have never done them, but I'm sure if the situation arose and no one else stepped up, I would at least make an attempt until medical personnel arrived.

9. Which dance would you prefer to learn & why:

A) Salsa
B) Hip Hop
C) Waltz
D) Swing

I'm not much of a dancer. But if I got free lessons, I'd give (A&C) a try.
10. What’s the worst news you’ve ever delivered to someone? Telling my kids their paternal grandmother passed away.

11. Name something you learned in college that had nothing to do with classes or academics. That you can stay out until bar close, get a beer buzz on and still manage to prepare a demonstration speech on how to draw a human figure for English class. Complete with about 6 sketches that I drew in the wee hours that morning as I wrote my speech. And you can still get an A-.

12. New variation on an old question: If there’s a song in your head that just won’t get out, what is your favorite (or most repeated) line in that song? Black Eyed Peas, I Got A Feeling..."tonight's gonna be a good night". And it doesn't bother me that it gets stuck in my head when I hear it, because it gets me in a good mood.

Don't forget to enter my Green & Black Organic Fair Trade Chocolate Bar sample pack giveaway!

So far one entrant and the contest ends Monday, Valentine's Day.Click here to enter.
You have a great chance to win!

Lola's Diner

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

More Craigslist Job Posting Scams

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Giveaway Winner! Green & Black's Organic Chocolate

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sunday Stealing