Beware of âThe Internet Company (Orlando, FL)â, âThree Stars Mediaâ, âJobNabâ, and âCareer-Networkâ
I have good reason to believe that I recently joined the ranks of those unfortunate job hunters who fell victim to the likes of âThree Stars Mediaâ aka âThe Internet Companyâ, and their recent pet projects (âJobNabâ and âCareer-Networkâ). I'm embarrassed to say that I bought into their ploy claiming to be a legitimate business looking to hire independent contractors to serve as "Job Scouts". They claimed that duties for this position would include searching job boards, online classifieds, newspapers, and company websites for job postings. Once these were found, they were to be submitted to "The Internet Companyâ's back office for approval in order to be placed on the aggregate job board known as "JobNab". Then if these postings are approved, the Scout is then supposed to spread the job post link on âJobNabââs board to other locations on the web for marketing purposes.. Payment was said to derive from commission; meaning that every time an individual applying for a particular position, posted by the Scout, chose to receive more information about furthering his/her education the Scout was to receive $10. What seemed so appealing about this job board was the fact that they claimed not to charge employers for posting on the board, as many others do. Instead, most of the revenue was claimed to come from advertising. So I figured Heyâ¦this seems like a great ideaâ¦concentrating job posts into one location so that people can find work more easily while also saving employers money⦠HOWEVERâ¦EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THIS ALL TO BE A SCAM. After doing a bit of research, I have uncovered an overwhelming amount of claims linking these enterprises with fraud. Fraud in the form of phishing schemes which work to trick people into giving out their personal information which is in turn sold to third parties for a profit. Hired individuals of âThe Internet Companyâ also reported that they were inadequately compensated for their work, or even worseâ¦not even paid at all! This is a far cry from what the company claimed their contractors would be earning after a few weeks time (on pace to earning $30-$40K/yr). Check out some of these links to read up on what people had to say about their experiences. http://www.phishbucket.org/main/content/view/3596/103/ http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-jobs-talk/thread.cfm/threadid:767 http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search=jobnab&sort=date http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=286519832586&topic=12858 http://www.jobvent.com/review-of-job-at-the-internet-company-R79215 Oh, and by the way there are plenty more out there. What I found to be strange was the fact that there was really no way to directly contact an executive or even a supervisor over the phone. The only way you are able to reach someone is by email or AIM. If you go to âJobNabââs site: http://www.jobnab.com/contact.cfm You will see a phone number for a direct contact, someone named âRobert Schafferâ (no title?!?) and nobody else listed on that same contacts pageâ¦Well, it just so happens that âRobertâ, if he actually exists, doesnât like anyone getting a hold of him during regular business hours. There was no dial tone. It went directly to voicemail. Apparently, this is a façade to make everything appear ânormalâ. It seems to suggest that there is no way for employees to directly reach their employers. When is this ever considered ânormalâ?! Try calling yourself to see if someone answers. Iâd bet my bottom dollar that they wonât. Iâve tried many times. I also found that if you run a search on Wikipedia.org, no legitimate results are displayed for any of the following: âJobnab.comâ, âThe Internet Companyâ, âThree Star Mediaâ, or âCareer-Network.comâ. This seems strange especially considering âJobNabâ and âCareer-Networkâ job board hits are quite common when job hunting (at least Iâve found this to be the case). Youâd think by now someone would have bothered to post some information about these supposed boards on Wikipedia, especially if they want some publicity. Wouldnât that be good for business? I mean if an obscure job board such as indeed.com has a wiki entry, thereâs got to be something going on here. It suggests to me that they are afraid of the truth getting out. âThe Internet Co.â and âJobnabâ claim to be partners with big wig companies such as: Google, Amazon, Yahoo! (whom claims they are not affiliated w/ them), Starbucks, Ebay, Dream Works, and Calvin Klein just to name a few. The IC instructed me during their introductory seminar, that they have developed 10 of the top 1% of the most searched sites on the web and have been around for nearly 8 years. Donât you think this would qualify any legitimate company with these ties and credibility to at least have a simple wiki entry? They donât. http://www.internet-company.com/about/clients.cfm http://www.jobnab.com/ http://www.career-network.com/ Often people who submit complaints on forums get a rebuttal from one of these scam entities trying to smooth things over; offering to answer their questions via emailâ¦of course. They also suggest visiting their Facebook page so they can learn more about them. Well, this would be fine and all if they didnât have the ability to delete, and plant comments on their wall. Nice try, âJobNabâ. The people behind these operations are suspected to be Ralph Edward Bell and Alec Defrawy. Defrawy is a felon who spent time in prison for operating a consumer fraud scheme over 10 years ago. Bell was convicted of running a fraudulent business in VA. Watch these YouTube videos for more info. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfuC7IbVdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjtIoWL8mhM&feature=related Tips To Consider While Job Hunting This experience has taught me many valuable things and I hope to spread my knowledge to others before they leak their own personal information to scammers, especially clever ones. 1. Completely steer clear of âJobNabâ and âCareer-Networkâ job boards. It wouldnât be crazy to assume that the jobs posted on these sites donât exist in the first place. 2. A good rule of thumb is to simply research job boards you are unfamiliar with before submitting personal information to them. 3. If you plan on emailing a questionable company requesting additional information, be sure that you remove your email signature (if you have one) which appears at the bottom of all outgoing emails. This way information including your phone number(s), Full Name, alternate email address(es), and personal/company website URL(s) wonât be given away to potential scammers. ***Itâs probably not the best idea to contact them at all, but if you feel like you should, be careful. 4. If you are contacted initially via email instead of by phone, this should send up a red flag immediately. The only legitimate companyâs looking to hire (whom I had a REAL, FACE TO FACE interview with) have initially contacted me by phone, not by email or any other method. 5. The email you receive from suspected scam artists may include offers that are too good to be true such as: a. Earn a good paying salary in the matter of months. b. No prior experience necessary. c. Work from home. The job description will most likely be very vague. Chances are there will be no link to the companyâs site and a contact phone number will not be listed in the email. 6. When encountered with one of these fishy emails, it would be wise to conduct a simple Google Search using the companyâs name alongside words like: scam or fraud. 7. If the company claims to be a big hitter thatâs been around for at least 5 years, such as the IC has, there will most likely be an entry about the company posted on Wikipedia.org if they are legitimate. 8. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau of the state the company claims to be based in for a consumer report. What Can Be Done After An Information Leak If you believe your identity has been compromised, donât panic. There are a number of things you can do to protect yourself. Millions of Americans, including myself, have made the same mistake. According to research, this problem has become more and more prevalent over recent years. 1. Contact your bank and ask them to report any suspicious activity involving your accounts i.e... a. New banking, checking, or credit card accounts being opened in your name. b. Large purchases are made with your funds. c. Transactions are made in your name in far off locations. Also, closely monitor your accounts yourself. ***I would just like to clarify that I am not attempting to sell or endorse any of the companies, or products listed below. It is just something to consider if you suspect that your identity has been compromised. 2. Consider contacting one of the big three credit agencies: Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. These agencies have the ability to put a freeze on your credit, or issue a 90 day fraud alert. This basically means that before a loan, or credit card is issued in your name you must personally grant approval either over your home phone, or work phone. More information about this can be found here: http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/flag.html. a. Equifax, www.equifax.com, 800-525-6285 b. Experian, www.experian.com, 888-397-3742 c. TransUnion www.transunion.com, 800-680-7289 3. Also, think about subscribing to an identity protection package. Information about several notable services is provided below. Most include fraud alert and cover financial costs which result from ID theft. Most will cost you $6.50 - $18.00/month depending on what sort of coverage you want. a. http://www.5identitytheftprotection.com/top5identitytheftproducts.html b. http://www.zanderins.com/idtheft/idtheft.aspx# ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-jobs-talk/message.cfm/messageid:4320 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-jobs-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-jobs-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
