Jul 16, 2009 7:14 am US/Eastern
Job Hunters Targeted By email Spam
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
It adds insult to injury. People who have lost their jobs are being targeted while looking for work. It starts when they post their resume online and WBZ found it is happening on reputable web sites that many people have come to rely on.
"When I see an e-mail with potential opportunity come in, I light up," job hunter John O'Rourke told WBZ's Beth Germano.
The former Fidelity project manager has been job hunting for six months, sending his resume directly to nearly 50 targeted companies.
In his email inbox he now finds messages titled "Open Opportunity."
"There's nothing that looks legitimate about that," says John.
The messages are spam that started when he branched out and posted his resume on sites like CareerBuilder and Monster.
The email comes with a personal touch such as "Hi John" from an HR director without a last name. They're hoping he'll click on their job match so they can legitimize his email address and get more personal information.
"It could be a phishing scam for identity theft," John said. "Who knows what they could get from someone going to these sites."
Even though his phone number is on the national Do-Not-Call registry to ward off telemarketers, several calls a week are getting through.
"This is the wrong time for people to be taking advantage of the unemployed," said John.
But he says it is happening and he is wondering how well these career web sites are monitoring potential employers who use them.
In a written statement, CareerBuilder said it would have to investigate this case further, but it has a team dedicated to monitoring job postings and has a screening process for all potential employers. It also warns job seekers not to give out personal information.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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