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Chris Duncan
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Dealer Relationship Manager at American Credit Acceptance

Scam alert - Gary Cox from Zip Recruiter

Just received this email from a Gary Cox. Never applied to be someone's personal assistant or administrative assistant. Just. A heads up because this one came from a Comcast email address....

Hello,

    I did receive your email regarding the position of (PA/ Admin posted on ZipRecruiter Job Boards, after reviewing and going through your resume, I decided you will be competent to take this position.

More About Me & Detailed Job Description Below:

I am Gary Cox. I'm 53 years Old and I have been a local and international relative successful entrepreneur and sometimes invest in the real estate market which makes me travel often within and outside the state working on various independent projects. This is why i need someone who can help keep me up to date with some of my activities, especially while i am away and amidst my busy schedule. My previous personal assistant is currently unavailable due to health reasons and cannot work with me anymore, and i am keen on finding an efficient, motivated, organized individual who can communicate well and is able to multi-task. this position is home-based and flexible. working for me is a test of following instructions. as my personal assistant, your activities among others will includes:

· Creating orders, pick slips, invoices, and credit memos · Running personal errands · Scheduling programs, flights, and meetings and keeping me up to date with them · Dropping off letters via FedEx/USPS · Calling/Receiving client calls · Filling and faxing · Meeting up with clients on my behalf (REPRESENTING) and getting things set up · Making regular contacts and drop-offs on my behalf · Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities · You will be working 3 times a week, 2 hours a day, so you are bound to choose your working days and hours as it's flexible · Basic wage is $625 weekly

Am sure you should have understood how busy my schedule should be on a daily basis. Currently, I am in Texas meeting with partners. I will be back in one week to arrange a formal interview with you. I think you are the right person for this position. Please note that this position is not office-based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules. It is a part-time job, and some weeks you will be busier than others, though pay stays constant.

NB: you have to be checking your email regularly, and also i want you to add me to your email contact list if you are interested for easier and faster communications.

Furthermore, I think you are the right person for this job, and think we should get a head start nextweek. I have some little works piled up that i will need help catching up on immediately. I would like to use this week to test your efficiency and diligence, and to work your schedule around mine. I am hearing impaired and usually stay in touch through email and text messages, but if you would like me to call, I will be glad to do that. I am glad you responded to the ad in such a timely manner and look forward to working with you and promise to be a good boss.

If Interested in being my personal assistant, get back to me through email and we can move forward with the first task. Moreso, Leave me the details in my email again, Names, Address, zip code and current cell phone number or home number.

Warmest Regards,

Gary Cox

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about 9 years ago
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Hi Chris! Thanks for letting us know! But remember-- as far as spotting scams is concerned, it's not so much about the exact message you received, but spotting the red flags within any messages you receive. Here's my go-to list of ways to spot and avoid job scams:

  1. Look out for anything that's too good to be true. If they reached out to you (and you didn't apply!), if the pay is too good to be true, if you got the job without having to do much, these are all signs of a scammer preying on peoples' hope.
  2. Look out for extremely vague job listings. If there are no real qualifications or requirements, it's likely that they don't care who applies because they're trying to scam applicants.
  3. Look out for unprofessional messages. If there are many typos, weird misspellings, grammatical errors, (i instead of I, "Human resources" instead of "Human Resources", no space following the period after a sentence, etc.) -- this could point to the fact that they're trying to scam you.
  4. Look out for online interviews. Google Hangouts are very popular with scammers because they don't require any proof of validity. Anyone can pretend to be anybody on Google Hangouts. Make sure you research any company that asks you to do an online interview.
  5. Look out for emails sent from a generic email account. Real companies will send out emails from their company's domain (for example, Jobcase will email you from an email address that ends in @jobcase.com) whereas a generic email address ends in @gmail.com, or @yahoo.com. These emails, again, can be made by anybody and require no proof. Make sure you do the research even if the email address looks legit, because scammers will often purchase similar-looking websites or domains to email from (for example, adding a hyphen or adding or removing one letter of the company's name).
  6. Google EVERYTHING that looks suspicious. If company names don't add up, if there's no online presence, if you can't find enough information to make a decision it's probably something to be avoided. Real companies have an online footprint, you can find Glassdoor reviews or Yelp reviews or even references to the company that are not job postings. If there's no information online, be wary.
  7. DO NOT GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION! Don't give anyone your bank account information or social security number until you know for sure they are legit!
  8. DO NOT ACCEPT CHECKS FROM STRANGERS! Take any check you've received to the bank immediately to get it looked over to make sure it's not a fake check. US jobseekers lose millions of dollars in fake check scams every year.
  9. Look out for any job asking you to pay for anything. Some companies do require a small fee for background checks, but if you're not sure if that's legit ask for help first!
  10. Trust your gut. If you think it's iffy it probably is. It is always better to be safe than to be sorry. Please let me know if you have any questions! Glad you avoided this guy!
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