Around 2002 I posted my resume on Monster.com (which I have since learned, only opens you up to scams and doesn't help you find a job, fortunately I didn't fall for any of them). I was contaced by someone from the Linda Christas Foundation approaching me for a job. Now, keep in mind my major was in Theology, not education and I wasn't trying to get a teaching job. I got another email before I could reply to that one saying due to my impressive qualifications they would skip the normal interview process and hire me immiediately to be a tutor. So now that they've buttered me up with flattery, they send me the pitch... All I have to do is read a textbook which I can buy on Amazon.com and write a review, and when it's approved I have a job. All I have to do is pay the measley $400 fee. Eeeeyeah. First red flag. Upon reading the website, I notice they mention there is no phone and no "brick and mortar" address. No phone and no physical address??? Also, why kind of comapny would hire me—sight unseen and no background check—to work with kids? When I asked if they could provide me with more credentials the next email scolded me for doubting them—a typical tactic conmen use. I passed and kept my money.
This scam has to be the most elaborate one on the internet. They've gone to a lot of trouble to put up fake positive feedback on the internet, and their website looks legit at first. I've read reviews of other people who have fallen for the scam. They paid the $400 and didn't hear anymore from Linda Christas. They were expected to go out and find students to tutor and charge them $2000 a month... No marketing plan, no materials, no nothing. You could go out and find students to tutor on your own, and it would be the same difference... Only you won't get ripped off for $400.
Now here's where it get's better...
I posted a comment about Linda Christas on a scam report website. The next day I recieved an email from someone claiming to be a teenage student in China using a hotmail account. Her English sounded way too good to have been a Chineese girl. She scolded me for saying anything bad about LC and defended Linda Christas, saying there was indeed a physical address and that there was a phone number. I asked her to give it to me and she sent me another weird, bizzarre ranting email and mentioned stuff about Barbra Striesand (who was in the news in the USA then) which had nothing to with what we were talking about. She finally gave me a phone number (but no address), and I used reverse lookup to discover the "phone number for Linda Christas" at their brick and mortar address was actually an AT&T cellphone in Sacremento. Lol! I wonder how many people would not have thought to use reverse lookup and fallen for it?
I sent the little Chineese girl (who is probably a middle aged man running the whole scam pretending to be multiple people) one last email and said "You should win the Academy Award". She (he?) emailed me back and said with tounge jammed in cheek, "I don't know what that means, but thank you". ROFL It was quite entertaining, I'll at least admit that.
The scam seems to target Christians. Pat Boone and Ephrim Zimbalist (yeah, right) were listed as Members of The Board... But you can't read that part until they email you a password so you can get to that part of the website. Anyone who wants to give you a job isn't going to ask you to pay $400. I see their website is still up years later. I can't believe the cops haven't shut them down yet.
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