Wednesday, January 5, 2011

"Aramark"/Craigslist Scam

I was ALMOST scammed on Craigslist today, and if you found this because you Googled this BS advertisement too, you're welcome.  If you are just reading my blog because you're friends with me on Facebook or your name is Caitlin Nosal, sorry.  This might be boring.

Here's the general summary: A job posting purported to be from Aramark Regional Staffing Centers, titled "Part Time Online Recruiter, No Exp. Necessary" is a fraud.  Don't do it.  It's not legit.  The end.

Now, the story...

So while I was frantically searching for internships on Craigslist yesterday because I hadn't heard back from any, I came across a posting that looked a little like this:

 This isn't the original because Craigslist took it down, I think.  At least, I couldn't find it when I went to go look back at it today.  It was posted over the past month on various job websites all over the US, so it may look slightly different than this.  It links to the website http://www.sermeer.com/, which will take you to this:

Note the Aramark logo at the top of the page; that's what originally made me think the ad was legit, until I looked closer.  This website ripped off the Aramark logo, and sermeer.com is in no way affiliated with Aramark, Inc.  Aramark is aware of the scam, as noted on their careers site:

Also, after I did respond to the advertisement, I got an email that looked like this:

When I tried to Google the advertisement to check up on it, I found some other scams that this Aramark imposter has tried to pull over.  However, I haven't seen this one written about, blogged about, or even listed on a scam site, so it was hard to verify that it was a scam via the Internet.  So I figured I would post something about it, just in case anyone else is in the situation.  Hopefully I've put enough key words into this to get it to pop up on Google!

Boring blog entry?  Maybe.  We'll save pizza party for later.  But important blog entry?  I definitely think so.

PS: If you love me and were worried about my state of well-being that I was resorting to Craigslist for internships, no need to fear!  I most likely fretted too early for no reason, once again, and I am no longer crying over the fact that I'm graduating in, oh, I don't know, five months.  That is... I'm not crying right now.

Love and beating the bad guys,
Courtney

1 comment:

  1. Hi Courtney. Came across your blog because I research everything related to Craigslist and I find your story to be all too common. It's amazing how many people fall for these scams, and I'm glad you didn't. I have a blog www.howtobeatcraigslist.tk that I run just to help people like you from falling prey to these scams. If you think your scam was bad check out the huge list I have amassed over the years. Stay informed and be very careful with Craigslist. NEVER give out any personal info to people from Craigslist. I hope your readers learn from your experience.

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