Spam and scams
So I answered a dubious Craigslist writer-wanted posting using my junk e-mail address (Hotmail, it’s good for something). And by “answered” I mean I wrote “Please send more info,” or something totally innocuous like that. I’ve noticed two things since then: an uptick in the spam I’m sent to that account, and that the posting I answered is a total scam.
The response I got purports to be from Instant Type Jobs (instanttypejobs.com), but really it sends you to Freelance Home Writers (freelancehomewriters.com), where you pay to be “trained” and to be given “job tips” (which are really just links to places who are hiring writers, something you could do for free with Google or legit sites like Elance.com). Surprise, surprise, there is no phone number or address anywhere on either website, just e-mail addresses. Scuttle on the Internet says it’s a scam to get monthly payments of $47 from you, and it’s hard to cancel it. The Better Business Bureau does not seem to look favorably upon this organization (it’s got a D rating). So I said scram.
But they didn’t scram — they’re just trying a different name. Because, apparently, they think I’m that stupid. Today I just got a new e-mail from a “different” company. (You’d think that it would be bad business to reply to a query using three different company names, right? Well, I think so too.) Anyway, this one is called Ocala Home Jobs and it has TWO websites, sort of, ocalahomejobs.com and earnmoney99.com (which only redirects you to Ocala Home Jobs), and — no way! — it has no phone number or address, and it just so happens to link to Freelance Home Writers (“rated No. 3 by our clients.” Yeah, No. 3 scam, right behind Nigerian Royalty and cute little girl scouts selling cookies…). It also gives you an annoying pop-up when you try to leave the site which got through my pop-up filter.
So, what am I trying to say? That the following sites are one giant related scam:
- Freelance Home Writers
- Instant Type Jobs
- Ocala Home Jobs
- Earn Money 99
- whitesmoke(dot)com
The great thing is that it only takes about one minute of Googling to find this out, but from the sound of it, a lot of wannabe freelance writers aren’t doing their homework. If these are the people I’m competing with, I feel pretty confident about my possibilities.
Saw that, too. Also sent the email and also checked them out. Boy, howdy, even sending an inquiry got me worse off for the wear. Spam has gone through the roof. Thank God for the Internet, Google, and others doing the homework then posting a warning about these scammers! More writers should be as cautious.
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Thanks for the note. Cheers.
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I got redirected to their site too through a post on Craigslist. I thought the company name looked familiar when I got to the site but went through the initial BS. I stopped when I saw that I had to pay a fee. No one should ever sign up for their sites. And now I’m getting more spam too.
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Thanks for this.
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I, too, fell victim to this over 2 months ago. Simply asking for more information and I am still receiving emails on a weekly basis. Each email claiming, “One great opportunity left. Only for selected writers!”
At least I was able to pinpoint the scam aspect before being caught in their web. I know others are not so lucky.
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Thanks so much for your experiential wisdom. I was literally typing earnmoney99.com into google to discern precisely what you’ve explained, and I greatly appreciate that your blog provided the answer. Of course, there were 15 results above yours full of hyperbolic, superlative reference links. Thankfully, I smelt the scam soon enough to skip to yours.
I, too, fell victim to the craigslist writers advertisement enough for an “Are you a unicorn?” reply that obviously triggered this scheme. Optimism about a valid offer is too rarely rewarded in the cyberwasteland.
I hope we both find more fortunate opportunities in the future. You’ve earned great cyberkarma with this blog.
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