Scammers impersonating as Scribd Recruiters Thread poster: Oliver Simões
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Oliver Simões 
United States
Local time: 06:29
English to Portuguese
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I was contacted via text message by a "Jessica Dotch", who identified herself as a "temporary recruiter for Scribd Inc. Company". She said she was contacting me in regard to my resume posted through Indeed and made an upfront offer of $35 USD an hour to work for them as a translator. In her next message, she explained that this was a "remote position" and that the job interview would be via Skype, Telegram, or WhasApp. Once I told her I had Skype, she gave me the user id for "interviewer Peckard... See more I was contacted via text message by a "Jessica Dotch", who identified herself as a "temporary recruiter for Scribd Inc. Company". She said she was contacting me in regard to my resume posted through Indeed and made an upfront offer of $35 USD an hour to work for them as a translator. In her next message, she explained that this was a "remote position" and that the job interview would be via Skype, Telegram, or WhasApp. Once I told her I had Skype, she gave me the user id for "interviewer Peckard Aaron" and encouraged me to contact him ASAP for "the comprehensive job details". I sent the guy a message expressing my interest in the position, but he didn't reply. The next thing he skypes me at 5 in the morning (when I happened to be online), asking me if I was ready for the interview. I told him yes. He asked me a few preliminary questions then simply disappeared. After waiting for a while, I sent him a message asking to contact me when he had dedicated time for the interview. I came back later and there was a message from him apologizing for his "slow internet connection". We resumed the interview, he asked me a set of 10 questions, the last of which was asking who I banked with. Apparently, he wanted to know if my bank was compatible with their payment platform. I didn't see any problem and naively answered the question. Then there was another long wait. Right when I was ready to leave, he came back, apologized, and gave me another set of questions. One of them contained a list of the different kinds of software that supposedly were required for the job. He wanted to know if I was familiar with any of them. I told him the one I was familiar with. After reading my answers (I suppose), he came back and asked if I was sure that I really wanted this job, more specifically whether I would be able to "catch up" with the unfamiliar software. I asked if the company would provide the software or if I would have to buy them. He said the company would provide the software, but then he said something that triggered a red light: "I will help you when you are ready to place the order" or something along those lines. Really? "If the company will provide the software, why do I have to use my credit card?", I thought. You have to feel sorry for these scammers, they think they are too smart. Another red light was his offering meager $9/hour for the training. No reputable company in the US, I hope, would offer anything below the minimum wage, it's illegal (or maybe I should take it back; yesterday I saw a job ad on ProZ from a company offering 0.01-0.03 per word. Good grief, what are we going to do with so much money?) Anyway, after the red light went on, I did a quick search on Google and found out there's a scam going on in which they pose as Scribd recruiters (see link below). According to the company, a legitimate recruiter will always contact applicants from a scribd.com email address, never by texting or telephone. It's no wonder that when I asked Mr. "Peckard" to email me the scheduled time for the interview, he never replied. Once I found out about this scam, I sent both "recruiters" a message warning them that I would not hesitate to report them to the FBI if they used my information for any illegal purposes. Then I blocked both from all my communication channels. Later I searched Skype for "Pckard Aaron's" id, but his profile had vanished. Bottom line: don't be intimidated by these stupid scammers and always make sure to report them in as many channels as you possibly can. https://support.scribd.com/hc/es/articles/4411778326932-Avoiding-Fake-Scribd-Recruiters
[Edited at 2021-12-04 19:52 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-12-04 19:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jessica Noyes
United States
Local time: 09:29
Member
Spanish to English
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Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I want to respond to your point about the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25. (!) Some states, such as the one I live in, have considerably higher minimums, and employees living in such states must be paid the higher state rate.
| | | | Oliver Simões
United States
Local time: 06:29
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Scribd is headquartered in California | Dec 5, 2021 |
Jessica Noyes wrote:
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I want to respond to your point about the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25. (!) Some states, such as the one I live in, have considerably higher minimums, and employees living in such states must be paid the higher state rate.
You're welcome. Indeed some states (namely Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennesse, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) have a $7.25 minimum wage, to my surprise. It turns out that Scribd is headquartered in California. According to fool.com, California's minimum wage is $13 to $14: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/heres-the-current-minimum-wage-in-each-of-the-50-us-states/
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To me this looks very much like all those fake interviews from people claiming to represent some well-known organizations (mostly medical) against which Proz has been warning us for some time…
[Edited at 2021-12-06 12:33 GMT]
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