I am currently out of work like millions of hard-working Americans are, so I was pleased and a little surprised to receive an email titled, "INTERVIEW REQUEST" from a Kate Smith at HRP Staffing. I should have know something was not right when the "interview" was actually a GoToMeeting webinar which included over 50 people from all across the USA. Below is a copy of the email I received:
Hello Karen
I was forwarded your resume and based upon your background we would like to extend you an offer to interview with us. We've recently expanded our National Healthcare Division and need individuals capable of working Full-Time and/or Part-Time for Marketing, Recruitment, and Business Development. Experience not required, although HR, Marketing, Sales, Recruitment, and Customer Service is a plus.
Below are the times we have available this week. Please note: these are Eastern Standard Times.
Tue, Sep 6 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
Wed, Sep 7 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
Thu, Sep 8 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
To secure your time slot, please click on a link above and Schedule your Interview. After you schedule your interview time we will send you Login instructions... This is a great way for our Candidates to Interview with us and make sure it is a mutual fit.
Important Note: This interview is in our Web Conference Room. It's a Web-Based Interview Platform. A WEBCAM and MICROPHONE are not required!
We Look Forward to Speaking with You.
Thank you,
Kate Smith
HR/Employment Generalist Hospital Recruiting Partners
(877) 636-4067
[email protected]
www.hrpstaffing.com
Here's what should have tipped me off:
Why are certain seemingly random words capitalized? Seems weird. No physical address given for this "company."
No direct line phone number. "Kate Smith" could be anyone. I clicked on the original email and the originating address is kate@hrphrdept. Comcastbiz.net. This is a personal email address from some poor person working out of a home office.
But being the optimistic person I am and kind of desperate for work, I decided to attend the webinar this morning. What a waste of an hour of my time! The guy who was holding the meeting is some guy named Scott (last name not given - surprise, surprise) who was holding the meeting using the same Logitech webcam that I use for video chatting with friends and family. Video quality was jumpy and I could not see the slide show until I exited and came back to the webinar. He sure knows how to talk and talk. I didn't know how many people were in attendance because Scott made sure that we couldn't chat or ask questions unless he unlocked the screen.
It wasn't until the last five minutes that he presented us with the real scam. It will cost you $199 up front to become an "Executive Recruiter" who is not really working for HRP Staffing but is a 1099 contractor (read: you pay your own taxes and no benefits). This fee allows you access to their "monster database" with "millions of qualified leads" and "all training that you could ever need." Okay, I might have been born at night but it wasn't last night. I fired back a question that said, "This looks like a scam. Goodbye." However I did not leave immediately. My question was ignored but I noticed people dropping out of the webinar like flies. Scott said he only had 31 slots left for the "training" tonight. False scarcity is a typical tactic of scammers. I will not be giving this scammy company ANY money and I advise anyone who gets an email like I got to just delete it.
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