The life and times of a normal university student

03 July 2012

Craigslist Scam! Watch Out For Ashleigh Loudon -- Seventy Seventh Post

If you've been job-hunting on craigslist lately, you've seen the big scam warning that pops up before you get to the actual postings.
Guess what! I found a scam!
So far, it's come up on two medical-ish office jobs. They look pretty legit, but the email response sets off all the warning bells.
I took a screenshot of mine. My housemate, incidentally, got the exact same email response for a different job.
The first thing that got me was the bit about "a high financial environment". This is supposed to be a VET'S OFFICE. Sure, veterinary services are expensive, but not that expensive.
Second was the email address. What "head of the human resource department" uses her personal email for setting up interviews?
Third was the fact that they want me to fill out an online credit form, which involves a lot of my personal information. This was in the warning that craigslist put up.

So, I did a few google searches.
Ashleigh Loudon is common enough name that nothing came up for her. However, Numark Systems, LLC doesn't appear to be a real company. Numark Systems makes sound equipment. That link -- I clicked it in hopes that it wouldn't eat my computer, which reminds me that I should run a scan just in case -- redirects itself five times and drops you at a "get your credit rating FREE! It just takes a few seconds!" site.

I decided not to follow up on the job offer after discussing it with my dad, just to talk it out. I felt like my problem-solving skills had been proved when my housemate was wondering out loud (she conducts almost all of her thought processes out loud, actually, a concept that I kind of understand, but not really) about craigslist scams, and I excitedly informed her that I, me, her very own housemate, had received a scam email that very morning. [That was one hell of a sentence.] She demanded that I use my scam-spotting expertise and see if her email was a scam.
Lo and behold, she had the exact same email., word for word, from Ashleigh Loudon.
If anyone knows how to report scam job postings to craigslist even if no crime has been perpetrated against you, let me know. I'm too lazy to google it myself.

EDIT: To report the scam, go to the craigslist main page, click "about craigslist" and then "contact form".  See if you can find the original postings so that you can report the post ID, found at the bottom of the page. I found this out from "Anonymous" who posted the first and probably only comment below. Thanks to whoever posted that!
Here's the link in case you get lost: Craigslist contact form 

EDIT AGAIN: If you're looking for more information on craigslist scams, try Let's Get the Craigslist Scammers.

1 comment:

  1. Hi,

    The same thing happened to me when I applied for a position at an eye clinic through a Craigslist posting. I received the exact email response that you did from Ashleigh Loudon. Of course, I looked into it once I saw I was supposed to fill out a credit report. I did report it to Craigslist under "contact us" under the listing "scams." I gave them an email outlining what happened and gave them the posting ID number. I hope something will come of my reporting this to craigslist. Thank you for posting your experience. It is really important to let people know about these scams. So many people are desperate for jobs and it is such a shame that these scams prey upon those who are looking for work.

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