h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Since I have been looking for a job, my resume with only email contact info has been online. The result is a growing collection of emails that proport to offer jobs but are actually scam attempts.

The scams offer good pay for work for which I'm either qualified or over-qualified, but close scrutiny reveals some problems, and a search online reveals numerous complaints from other job-seekers.

Some of these are work at home schemes where the job applicant is being asked to supply bank account and other info so that he can get paid electronically. This comes at a point in one's life when one is vulnerable and in many cases desparately needs a real paying job, and doesn't need to have the remainder of one's dwindling savings stolen electronically using the information in a job application.

I can't lose track of the fact that my main goal is to be in a position where I can keep a roof over my head before the money runs out, but I'd really like to cause these scammers a little heart-ache. After I go for the one interview I have today, I'll check with the employment office.

I'm not sure if it is named the Better Business Bureau in the UK but a call to whatever it's called is a good start. That and emailing them the entire Encylopedia Britanica (or faxing it if they have a fax machine).

It's not the same scam, but sites like these give me hope (and a chuckle):

Warning, rude words in the second one.

http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

Thank you, cl zoomer. That cheered me immensely.

It vexes me that I have to waste time sorting the few real jobs from the many bogus ones.

So it's nice to know there are options to report these rotten eggs.

Scambaiting faq:

http://www.419eater.com/html/baiting.htm