good ol' shady craigslist.

"portobello road, portobello road, place where the riches of ages are sold..."

Yeah, my rule of thumb is if it's on Craigslist: pass.
Unless they promise to triple your income, they by all means sign up.

If it's from CL, then I wouldn't pay anything up front.

But I will say this - I had to pay $7 for my own background check when I got interviewed (and hired) at UPS in 2002. I'm not sure if they stopped that practice or not since then. (Left about a year ago.)

I've read messages where people paid for Security Checks and went to a location to meet the interviewer, only to find they are standing with a group of folks who got ripped off too.

@crazyasianman: dude you just made my day with that bedknobs and broomsticks reference....damn that brings me back

yeah i would say its a scam. have had to get a couple different background checks and never had to pay for one of them.

@crazyasianman: Man, I haven't seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks in ages.

Scam! Anyone who is seriously considering hiring you would not ask for this up front, the worst that they would do is possibly deduct the fee from your first paycheck. Seeing that this is on Craigslist, run for the hills!

Whenever my employer has required that I pay for something (a uniform, for instance), it always came out of the first paycheck. I would never agree to pay upfront.

I'd pay for a background check on myself only to satisfy my curiousity about what the hiring company will see... in the same way I'd pull my own credit report before shopping for a loan.

I found my current job on Craigslist a few years back. The scammers are more likely to target lower skill/pay jobs than people looking for tech work.

@crazyasianman: wow, I love childhood references.

Not all job postings on Craigslist are illegitimate. In fact employment ads are the only thing that isn't free on Craigslist. However, any "job" that is asking for an "investment" or to pay for a "background check" is an entity not interested in paying money to anybody, they only want to collect it.

@FeuerrotBenz: @MrEvil: Netflix! Bring me this movie!

If they request a specific document indicating a certain fact (that may already be in your posession) then that's fine. Security checks, language requirements, etc. require certification that you must provide and that typically cost money. If they expect you to pay THEM for those documents, then be warry. If they provide you the names of agencies or companies that can get you those documents (and whom you pay for those) then it sounds legitish.

I'm looking for a job right now and I've been really surprised at how many fake/scammy job postings I see (and sometimes, accidentally respond to because they can be so convincing) every day on craigslist. Sometimes after emailing a carefully crafted cover letter to a company whose name I should have googled before, I'd receive a link to a fake employment application site that does nothing but tries to get you to give lots of contact information (yours, your references, your employers) and try to sell online degree programs to you. I've learned my lesson now. I haven't been asked for money yet in that way but I'm not surprised this happens.

Definitely a scam. You should never be paying for anything in order to interview for a job.

@femaleconsumerist: Yeah, I hate these guys. usually a quick google search of the email address in the listing will turn up multiple craigslist listings of the exact "job", a dead giveaway. I have picked up some awesome, well-paying freelance work on craigslist before, so I can't say that anything on craigslist is worth it either. I am digilant at flagging fake postings, and I hope others out there do the same. Job Spammers are somewhere between dick cheney and Tim Curry's character from legend on the evilness scale.

@Tallanvor:

Bingo ! . As someone who has hired and fired, I can tell you one thing for certain : If they are interested in hiring you,THEY will happily make the nominal investment in you to scan your background.

If you're a person with ANY marketable skills,you won't find your dream job on Craigslist...

@mtarget: That's pretty awful but at the same time pretty lol.

Yeah that phrase about paying money to "demonstrate that you are serious about this position" is positively indicative of a scam. I could only guess at what type of scam, whether it's MLM, door-to-door selling sleaze, or just plain old take-your-money-and-run, but it is definitely a scam.

Rule of thumb: if you have to ask yourself "is this a scam?", it's more than likely a scam.

Can you post the name of the 'company'?

Absolutely a scam.

But there are legitimate positions on Craigslist. I have been a Recruiter in the tech industry for over 10 years and use Craigslist on a regular basis.

I do agree that these scammers may target lower end jobs more. My advice to anyone is if/when you do submit a resume through CL - only list your name and either phone number or email on your resume and request a live conversation.

That should help eliminate scammers and prevent them from getting any vital info up front.

NEVER pay anything up front.

@femaleconsumerist: no kidding. i actually gave up on craigslist for job postings b/c i've yet to find anything but scams - & some of them are quite clever! obviously the "earn $550/day" & "work at home & earn $50,000/wk" are garbage", but i've already responded to about a dozen that sounded like legitimate job opportunities, only to find that my resume/cover letter is responded to with a link to a pay-to-signup web portal for [insert b.s. way to earn a buck]. now, not only do these people have my email address, but also enough personal info to start a pretty lucrative ID harvesting operation. joy.

@nytmare:

Agreed, no legit company would ever say "demonstrate you're serious by sending us money". This is without a doubt some kind of scam.

What a great scam! Seasonal employment. Do this a few times and you'll pay for Santa.

We will hire you if you pay for your own background check. Then: You're denied, your background check (that we didn't do because we pocketed the money) didn't work out.

@Starfury: EXACTLY! Same here... I have a nice tech job thanks to CL! :)

@MrEvil: I've hired bunches of people from Craigslist ads. Of course, they charge now in certain cities, so it eliminates the scams (mostly) in the job section anyway.

I've done some legit job hunting recently and here are my tips:

If they want you to go to training before you start, as in you have to pay for it or invest time in it that they are not paying you for, it's not legit.

If they want to meet you at a public place for an interview or even your house, it's not legit. Hotel conference rooms or schools are ok.

If they come on super strong selling their company even before the 1st interview, it might be because it's a pyramid scheme and they need to recruit you to make money.

@shorty63136: Yeah, but I think almost anyone would pay $7 without thinking to ask The Consumerist as that's a pretty paltry sum to part with. I'm assuming that the fee they are asking for is a bit more hefty.

The only time I've had to pay for any kind of background check I was mailed a fingerprint kit by my contracting company and told to go to the local police station and get official copies of my fingerprints. I had to pay out of pocket, but at that point, I had a job offer and the prints were the only thing standing in my way of starting. Yes, it was a government position.

FRUAD! Dont do it.

Any company that wants YOU to pay to apply is a obvious scam.

Yeah, I would be really careful about this, since when you take a job you have to give them all your personal info including SS number, and sometimes bank account info for direct deposit. I wouldn't even look into any job that sounded the least bit fishy, the last thing you need to do is to get yourself into more trouble when your unemployed.

We need a list of well known pyramid schemes for that reason, you could probably find out easily if you were being recruited for one through some internet searches, but if someone was just starting up a pyramid scheme it may be more difficult to track down what they are up to.

I would do a bit of internet research on the company you are applying for a job with before you actually apply.

More then likely a scam as doing a background check is not the first step in hiring practice, it's usually the last step before they make you a job offer (due diligence).

If they are pre-screening, it's generally after a phone-screen and before a "live in person" interview and it's generally a lexus-nexus search which is pretty darned cheap.

Ugh, this is a scam. As is any recruiting agency that wants you to pay them to represent you. Agencies get their fees from the companies they source for, not the candidate.

@MrEvil: Actually, craigslist only charges for posting job ads in certain cities. They're still free in most of the flyover states (and outside the U.S., I guess.)

I don't know about other cities, but Detroit craiglist's job board is a loathsome pit of MLM scams, paid-surveys, and shifty sales jobs. It's been improving as more real companies find out about craigslist, but I still warn friends using it to be careful.

Facebook's "Marketplace" job boards are even worse. It's like craigslist before Craig got standards.

Well for NYC City jobs you DO have to pay money to start the process of applying for the job. You also pay for a background check and fingerprinting costs.

@darkoline: I had the same experience and wasn't worried about it at all. Because I was paying the clerk at the police station, not the company hiring me.

@smurph0404: Not necessarily. If you work in IT a lot of the smaller recruiters will take you out to lunch to interview you. I've done that dozens of times as my first interview, most of which resulted in follow up meetings and offers.

@revmatty:

Agreed Smurph. I meet people at coffee shops all the time. It assists in the process and allows me to be flexible with candidates schedules.

I will add, however, I certainly would not recommend anyone ever let someone come to their home. Thats a scam/mlm/sales scheme.

The fact that you even have to ask this means that you'd be a lot better off sending all of your money to me so I can keep it safe for you, as you're obviously incapable of doing so yourself.

[Note: this is a scam.]

@Dead Wrestlers Society: Heh. My boss recently had to resort to Craigslist in order to fill an open position. This is after posting the job in the local community college's job board for over a month, which is how I found my current position. It only took three days to find someone.

My rule of thumb would be give it a chance. If it sounds legit, or if its for a local business that actually exists, give it a shot. If things start sounding shady, run away. Now that I think about it, that's basically the summary of Craigslist as a whole.

A loud and resounding "YES" on the scam'ometer.

No legitimate company in the world makes you PAY them to WORK for THEM...and if you happen to find one that does it's either a pyramid marketing scheme or a scam...so in both cases...a scam.

I got my current job on craigslist.

But in general, if they want anything other than a credentials, aresume and an interview...leave.

@Dead Wrestlers Society: agreed. However, in this instance Alexis could potentially ask what company the check is being done through and offer to pay them directly.

That's what I would do if I would be able to ignore the klaxons my logic would be sounding.

Yes, it is legit for companies to ask for you to pay for your own background check. Many state jobs require this. However, you shouldn't do this unless you've been to the location at least once for an interview. Even then, I'd check to make sure they're a legitimate business.

Run, do no walk, in the opposite direction. Every background check I've ever had done was commissioned by the company I worked for (or was in the process of being hired for). It's part of the cost of doing business. Hiring an employee is expensive, but background checks are cheap. ($5-30 per individual, depending on who it's done through and how comprehensive it is.) Now, I live in California, which is extremely pro-employee. This may vary somewhat in your state. But there are some other things about what the "employer" told you that are just too suspicious.

Your key phrase is right there in front of you: "demonstrate that you are serious about this position and that what you have submitted so far is correct". Complete BS. Have you interviewed in-person yet? If so, if you weren't serious, you wouldn't have made it this far in the process. If not, it's to early to do a background check anyway, because you might not even be qualified/a good fit for for the position, and they'd have no way of knowing that yet. This is either a] a scam, or b] a company that is too cheap ("Sorry your paycheck bounced... we'll fix it next time.") or c] too clueless ("Employment laws? What employment laws? You work when and how we tell you to!") to work for.

All of that aside, no amount of money will ensure that "what you have submitted so far is correct". Otherwise, why bother doing the background check? What, are you *gambling* the money that you're paying for it? Do you get double your money back if you didn't lie? It's possible this employer just doesn't know what they're doing (enough of a reason to stay away, in my book), but it sure sounds like a straight-up scam. I know it's rough when you're unemployed, and it's tempting to go for any job that seems like you're able to land. But stay as far away from this company as possible. It's bad news all over.

The short answer is yes. The long answer is YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Yep, it's a scam. This kind of crap was run in newspaper want-ads back in the early 90's. They were bold enough to insist on sending the money by Western Union (thankfully, I didn't fall for it). Lots of these crooks used to be based out of Orlando and Tampa, so be extra-wary of "job finder" ads from that area.