I feel I am surrounded in spam. Not only do I get it in my email, snail mail and on my phone, but now I get it from the recruiting sites I use (monster.com, careerbuilder.com and other random sites) and also on my Wii! Now I expected to get a few fake emails here and there from the recruiting sites as evil people always prey on the vulnerable, but I am getting at least one spam email that may seem kind of real to some people, daily.
The emails usually start off sounding legit. Something like “We are constantly on the look out for professionals to fulfill the staffing needs of our clients, and we currently have a job opening that may interest you” so you get all excited thinking this may be the opportunity you are looking for. But NO! you keep reading and realize that something is amiss. While it may be from a legit sounding company, perhaps Prudential or Aflac, it is instead a spam email recruiting you for a fake sales job. Or perhaps that sales job is real, but you have to pay money to take classes to be a salesperson, etc. I have also gotten spam messages from a company called Princeton Information, Chubb, Primerica among others.
Today I got spam in a completely new way (for me, anyway). The blue light on my Wii kept blinking even when it was off. It really annoyed me as I figured it was wasting electricity – even though probably not much. I googled the issue as usual and found it that was Wii’s way of telling me I had a message. Again, I thought “Oh cool! A friend must have found me (even though no one really have my Wii id number). But NO! Wii was just spamming me with some generic message about something stupid the Wii does or now has or some other crap.
Another 45 seconds of my life wasted!
To end on a positive note, a great way to stop receiving so many catalogs in the mail is to sign up with catalogchoice.org This is a legit site that actually is able to stop senders of catalogs you are not interested in to stop sending them. Great time saver for you and great way to become more “green”
PS computerknowall.com was the latest one to send me spam. How did I know it was spam? This was the signature: Best of luck in the new year,
Evelyn Cook
HR Director
I think perhaps the new year was 5 months ago……just sayin’
PPS Careerbuilder reached out to me to look into the spam I was receiving; however, they didn’t actually care to fix the problem. After sending them the spam messages, this is what I received in return:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting CareerBuilder’s Trust and Site Security Team.
The company referenced below is a registered Employer with CareerBuilder. However, the original email message you received was not sent through the CareerBuilder network. As with any employment opportunity, I do recommend researching the company to see if the opportunity or position offered is right for you.
Regards,
Trust and Site Security Team
CareerBuilder.com | Experience Better
www.ic3.gov | FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
BPID010
See if a company who spams is right for me? I think not! JERKS!
Aimee Knows 
I also got an email from computerknowitall and something about it made my BS detector go off. Your blog was one of the hits in my checking them out. I hadn’t even noticed the “new year” sig line. Thanks.
Almost six months later, and the computerknowitall.com scam continues. Again, CareerBuilder is the common denominator in career search spam. I had not had a problem with job-related spam until signing up with CareerBuilder only about a month ago. Even after deleting my profile from CareerBuilder’s site barely two days later, the spam e-mail keeps coming. CareerBuilder is putting the blame for the spam on their job seekers and are unwilling to verify whether a paid subscriber is truly an employer, even after receiving complaints. Obviously, the only requirement to be listed as a verified “employer” on CareerBuilder is to be able to give them money. JOB-SEEKERS, CREATE A PROFILE WITH CAREERBUILDER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Thanks for the confirmations!!
I just got a similar email, this time from “Beverly Watson” but the email address said denise.brooks@computerknowall.com I googled the domain, and your blog came up. I, too, have been using careerbuilder.com, and they are a huge source of spam.
I got a couple from computerknowall.com just today. I noticed it was odd because I received 3 messages from the same person from this company. One was at 4:23, another at 4:33 and the last at 4:42. I also hovered over the links in the emails and one went to computerknowitall.com and another one went to a mouseandstuff.com site. Same name of the person sending it and the same email content. I also saw the “Best of luck in the new year” ending line. A lot of the job offerings I have received since signing up have seemed to be a little off. The one I asked a question about and another I asked who the company was for and never heard back.
It’s all so frustrating to have to deal with scammers when we are just trying to find a job! Best of luck to you in your search.
Well just got this email myself:
Best of luck in the new year,
Katharine Bennett
HR Director
It was pretty obvious when it said click “here” without showing the actual link. It actually had a few of those including a “unsubscribe link” that said “press here”. Looked them up, and the website didn’t come up and found this blog. It’s still going and it’s good to know where it’s coming from. Looks like Career builder will be losing me as a user.
I’ve tried a few job searches including career builder. I received one today…
“Hi Drew
Recently I came across your resume for an accounting position our company was looking to fill. Your resume appears to be a good match for some of the accounting employers who regularly use our recruiting services in Los Angeles. If you are still actively looking for a job in your field, press here. If you are looking for a site specific to Los Angeles, try here. Remember that it is important to keep your online resume up to date.
Best of luck in the new year,
Nicole Morris
HR Director”
Be careful with these job search sites.
Hi Drew!
Searching for a job is tough enough without these spam bots harassing us. Best of luck to you with your search. I’m back in the job market as well so hopefully things start looking up.