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I’ve been out of work for a while (my fault) and I really let the SHTF by waiting till the 11th hour to really try and find work instead of cherry picking and having fun. At this point I’m willing to settle for work outside my career path just to get an income stream again to pay for the little things in life like shelter and food.

 

I went on Craigslist and Careerbuilder.com and other stuff and just applied to a lot of jobs all at once. At least 60 maybe more. A lot of the email responses I got seemed like scams and I’m convinced they are so I didn’t even reply.

 

I applied for jobs with AT&T and Sears for example where I felt comfortable enough though annoyed to give them my credit information just during the application process.

 

I also dealt with a IT Recruiter who is getting an interview for what could be a somewhat promising job who hasn’t asked me for any credit information yet and we’ve met in person so it feels more legitimate.

 

The reason I made this post was to get your opinion on the following. I got an email from a guy claiming to work for a temp firm called Spherion. His email came from [email protected] (it said his name which I will leave out of this post) so that seems legitimate I guess? I mean I don’t know to much about Spherion but it seems real. Well he sent me some tests and it said I had to take them with in 48 hours and I did. He said I passed and that now I had to take the credit test. Which I understand but I haven’t met any one in person so I’m skeptical. I really don’t need to have my identity stolen in a phishing scam. The credit test for some reason was sent by some girl who I had never spoken to on the phone instead of the guy I had previously been talking to [email protected] and the test links me to https://aissreports.acxiom.com/subject.asp which I was afraid to even click. Acxiom.com is not something I’m familiar with and I’m unsure of what the additional aissreports and /subject.asp do and even if it is legitimate I’m just nervous.

 

What do you guys think? I really need a job and if this is real I’ll probably get one by doing this. If it’s not just a new head ache. Is this a Phishing Scam?

 

I hope some one who knows what they are talking about comes in and sets me straight one way or another. Hopefully this is all real. But I just don’t know.

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Spherion is a legitimate company, but that doesn't mean your email is legitimate. There is apparently a scam where people pretend to be Spherion (or another employment agency) and try to get your info. Spherion are aware of this scam: http://www.spherion.com/corporate/phishing_scam_alert_July2010.jsp I suggest you delete the email and forget about it.

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Spherion is a legitimate company, but that doesn't mean your email is legitimate. There is apparently a scam where people pretend to be Spherion (or another employment agency) and try to get your info. Spherion are aware of this scam: http://www.spherion.com/corporate/phishing_scam_alert_July2010.jsp I suggest you delete the email and forget about it.

 

Thanks for that link. I had actually seen this before but it still left me wondering.

 

I spoke to some one on the phone so it’s not just an email. (but not in person and it wasn't an interview) The person spoke perfect English and seemed American. (Though I’m still here wondering if it’s a scam) The email also came from a @Spherion.com address as opposed to @Gmail.com or what ever else a scammer may send from.

 

For now I’m ignoring them and may lose the job opportunity if it’s real. The job itself doesn’t necessarily seem too good to be true. It’s a standard 13$ an hour call center customer service type job. Obviously still could be a scam and at this point I’d rather not just give out my credit info.

 

I just hate the way even legitimate companies do things requiring a background/ criminal/ credit check using SS# just during the application process maybe to never even here back from them. Better jobs don’t make you fill this type of info out until closer to being hired like after a successful interview.

 

I still just don’t know what to do. I might email that [email protected] about my situation. Just not sure what kind of answer I would get.

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I ended up going to www.spherion.com and calling them at their headquarters. They confirmed that the guy I had been speaking to and the telephone number he uses are all part of their company. I also researched and called acxiom and it seemed to be a real legitimate company and they confirmed the link given to me was real. So I went through with the credit check. If my identity gets stolen because of this it probably wansn’t a scam just bad security on their part.

 

On a side note how sad the times we live in where you have to do a credit and criminal background check at every job, every place you want to live, every school you want to attend etc. etc. Not only that but I often have to confirm my social security number to some fellow in India or where ever just to get my own banking or credit card information if I call. Yeah I probably will get my identity stolen one of these days. But the temp agency doesn’t seem to be out to steal identities. Spherion seems real and so does Acxiom and the link used for the credit check. The job interview being promised also sounds real. Hopefully I get a job out of this.

 

Damn I’m depressed not even the though of getting a job and being able to pay my rent will cheer me up. Thanks to the two people who posted.

 

Feel free to put in your thoughts even though I made a decision and went through with giving up my SS#.

 

The job Spherion is helping me with is a 13$ an hour job. Seems like I might have a good shot at it.

 

The other job I might get involves a different company. The recruiter hasn’t asked for my SS# and we already met in person. That job pays 15$ an hour and sounds really easy like the type of job I could surf the internet the entire time and still get employee of the month. Only draw back are the hours involve working from 6-3am.

 

I’ve been unemployed since getting out of grad school (100% my fault not to say the economy hasn’t made it much harder). It’s been about a year and I’m in real financial trouble. I really should be working in my career making 20$-30$ an hour starting pay. But right now if I get a 13-15$ an hour job at least I’ll be able to pay for rent and food instead of going deeper in debt or upsetting my family by being helpless. It might also put a fire under me to get back into my field and make possibly double and do work I have more of a passion for.

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So, I went through with it and now I’m waiting to see if this temp agency Spherion can place me in a job for 13$ like they said might.

 

Like I said I have another job that might come through that’s for 15$ an hour with horrible hours. (all night work but seems easy)

 

I’m feeling super guilty because I should be working a salary job in my field that would easily equate to earning more then 20$ an hour. Now I saw a job advertised in my field as Entry Level in the title. It’s on craigslist and for some reason they are looking for some on in my area to go work in another state which I’m confused by. Though it may be legitimate and it’s in my field and would pay a salary that would equate to over 20$ an hour when divided into a 40 hour work week. So, the possible scams don’t end. I know for sure I’m not going to give them my social unless I meet them in person. Sad really cause the job says I’d have to move out there. Just odd!

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how long has it been

 

It’s been under 24 hours since I gave up SS#. It’s the full battery of checks I’m going through criminal, credit, and what ever else. I spoke to the Spherion guy I had been dealing with on the phone around 2pm yesterday and he said they had received it and it was being processed. I’ll either call or email if I don’t here anything by this afternoon.

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It sounds like you did your due diligence before submitting the information.

 

Keep us updated - good luck in your job search!

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It sounds like you did your due diligence before submitting the information.

 

Keep us updated - good luck in your job search!

 

I have an interview set up for tomorrow with a company by the Spherion guy. The job is not full time. Somewhere between 20-30 hours which is better then nothing at 13$ an hour. They want me to bring all this annoying stuff to the interview like W-2 forms from all the jobs I said I had worked at, and school transcripts.

 

I emailed the other recruiter just now about the 15$ an hour full time job he was trying to get me an interview at. (this is the guy who I haven’t given my SS to)

 

I’ve also been sending out resumes and cover letters to people in my field. I’ve applied to at least 3 jobs so far today but want to apply to many more before the day is through.

 

I’m just so upset at myself. I feel I’m really letting myself down. I’ll probably try to go work out soon. Make myself feel better.

 

I don’t even want the 13$ an hour job. But I let things get bad. Didn’t work in over a year. If I don’t get any job soon I’ll be forced to move in with family and depend on charity. The shame is killing me. Seriously I just want to run away or something. Run away from my own life. Lets hope the circus doesn’t come through my town or I’ll probably be clown on the road just to get away from facing my problems.

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