Dog Rescue Job - Scammed, please help!

A friend of mine sent me this because I've been out of work for a while and she knows I want to work with animals. She herself works with animals, so I trusted this without question because it was supposedly for a position at PAWS, which is an animal rescue organization. I didn't bat an eye when I had to pay for a test because I have absolutely no qualifications. I’ve never even cared for a dog before. I paid through Paypal $14.47 to take this test. Paypal only disclosed my email address and name. On the test they did not ask for anything except my name and email address.

How worried should I be about identity theft? I contacted paypal and they were not concerned because they said none of my information was given out besides my name and email and there isn't anything they can do with just a name and email address. Is this true? I had a panic attack last night once I realized it was a scam. Thoughts of the worst case scenarios were flying through my head. I'm still incredibly worried. I do have fraud alerts on my credit reports if that helps any in this situation. I received an email today stating that I passed the test. I'll include that below the original information.

Here is the original information:

Received your inquiry, let me tell you a little about the positions. My client has a behaviorist associate position available and 2 kennel helper positions available. You'll be bathing the dogs, helping them rehabilitate from abusive pasts, feeding them, walking them, playing with them, cleaning up after them, etc, the normal stuff. The rescue is mainly for German Shepherds, Labs, and Rottweilers. As for the kennel side, the kennel accepts all types of dogs (and even cats). So please be comfortable with all types of dogs, big and small (even cats). This is a P.A.W.S. rescue/kennel and they do have a groomer, but not a clinic. FT and PT positions are available, a schedule will be made weekly where you and your co-workers will choose your hours. Pay is $12 an hour for the kennel helpers and up to $15/hour for the behaviorist. I've been told the clients tips as well

Since you will be working with special needs animals (animals who are disabled or have been previously abused) there are a few requirements. You'll need to be at least 17 years old, have good personal references, experience handling animals, and proof that you are knowledgeable in pet care and safety. Proof means that you will need some sort of certification, such as ACO license, Pet CPR cert, or certification from an animal handling course or similar. If you are without any of these and you still feel like you're knowledgeable in dog safety/handling, then you can take a pet care and safety skills test from MySkillsTest.net instead (we have a coupon/discount code for you to use).

Please understand that these requirements are not only for insurance reasons and grant money evaluations, but this is also for the safety of the animals. We all know references can be faked, so when it comes to the life of a living creature, my client can't take your "word for it", he needs proof. We have gotten a lot of responses in the past saying "why do you need this, they are just DOGS! It's easy to feed them and walk them!", well if you ask yourself that, then please DON'T apply. We don't think of these animals as "just dogs", we think of them as our companions and a member of the family. While one person believes that yelling at an animal and popping them on the nose is the right way to reprimand a misbehaving dog, another person may believe that "time-out" is the best course of action or perhaps taking away the dog's favorite toy. As you can see, these are both totally different courses of action, a perfect example of why the client needs proof that you share the same standard of care as his business does.

I'd like to reiterate that you need one or the other, either a certification/license OR the skills test from myskillstest.net . You do not need to take both and you are not required to take the test from myskillstest.net if you have a certification or license already that is less than 3 years old.

If you are still interested in this job and you'd like to apply for one of these positions, please read on to apply...


If you already have all requirements then please send your resume to [email protected] and make sure you put your full name and the word "cert" in the subject line. Be sure to attach a copy of your certification/license, etc to your email. If there is no attachment our system will automatically filter your resume out and you will not be considered for a position.

OR

If you do not have a certification/license and you'd like to get one from MySkillsTest.net then we have a coupon for you to use. Just go to myskillstest.net and enter Test ID 5910 . Once you see the test page make sure you enter discount code: favhires and it will give you a $30 discount. Once you get your skills test, myskillstest.net will give you a "trans id", then you may send your resume to [email protected] Be sure to put your full name and trans id in the subject of your email or your email will be filtered out and you will not be considered for a position. It takes a day or 2 for MySkillsTest.net to grade your test, but once they have graded it they will send me a notification of your passing and I will then forward your resume to the client.

+++++ NOTE +++++ Sending us PROOF of being knowledgeable in pet safety is a strict requirement. Resumes that have no attached certification or no trans id from MySkillsTest WILL NOT be considered and will be filtered out. As you can imagine, we are getting a pretty big response and so we will make no exceptions with the well being and safety of these animals.



Once your requirements are checked, I'll forwarded the resumes to our client. If chosen he will call you for an interview. I've been told it will be an in person interview, but he may consider doing interviews on the phone.

I'd also like to mention that the client has told me that he is looking for long term workers, so after working a total of 90 days, he will be giving a $100 "loyalty bonus". This is a great job opportunity for anyone who loves working with pets, and they are looking to hire ASAP, so get your test and resume in while you can. Please apply with confidence!

Talk to you soon,

Ryan Greene
[email protected]

And now here is the email stating I passed today that I received today:

Congratulations from MySkillsTest.net!

You have successfully completed and passed your Skills Test by MySkillsTest.net! A notification has been sent to your referrer (the employer) letting them know that you passed.

Employers at places like Monster.com, careerbuilder.com, SimplyHired.com, and indeed.com (and many more online job agencies) love it when a candidate can prove their expertise with a Skills Certification from MySkillsTest.net!

Simply add "MySkillsTest.net Certified" under your certifications or qualifications on your resume. Then note that employers can verify your Certification by emailing your name and qualification to [email protected] . It's that simple!

Special promotion available for 30 days: In addition to stating us as a certification/qualification, you may also request a free e-Certifcate that will state that you are skilled in your field! Simply email your Name, Transaction ID, and Test ID to [email protected] and you will receive your e-Certificate within 15 business days. Then you may attach it to your resume or even print it out.

If you have any questions or concerns please send an email to [email protected] .




Regards,
MySkillsTest.net

Hmm, both sites registered the same day, less than 6 weeks ago, and only for a year. Looks like we haves some fakers here. Our site killers will take a look at these to see if they can get them killed.

In the meantime, Paypal is right. You don't need to worry about the info they get from the Paypal. I work for a nonprofit that receives money by paypal, and can confirm that the receiver doesn't see any information that could compromise your identity. Assuming you didn't send them info such as your social security number, you should be fine.

If you have any reason to believe you have given enough information for identity theft, then you should have a fraud alert placed on your credit file.

However, it is very possible that you will see more scams targeting your email address, so just be extra vigilant in that concern.

Domain Name: MYSKILLSTEST.NET
Registrar: 1 & 1 INTERNET AG
Whois Server: whois.schlund.info
Referral URL: http://REGISTRAR.SCHLUND.INFO
Name Server: DNS.SITE5.COM
Name Server: DNS2.SITE5.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 23-mar-2011
Creation Date: 22-feb-2011
Expiration Date: 22-feb-2012

Domain Name: FAVHIRES.COM
Registrar: 1 & 1 INTERNET AG
Whois Server: whois.schlund.info
Referral URL: http://REGISTRAR.SCHLUND.INFO
Name Server: NS51.1AND1.COM
Name Server: NS52.1AND1.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 22-feb-2011
Creation Date: 22-feb-2011
Expiration Date: 22-feb-2012

Also own USAhires.com, same registration info.

Sites are being investigated - Michael

Thank you for responding so quickly. I greatly appreciate it.

I never gave any other information besides my name and my email address. That is all I gave them. No address, phone number, credit card information, nothing else. Even on the test sheet all they asked for was the test id number, my name and email address.

Considering that $14.47 isn't a lot of money when it comes to scamming, why would they set up something like this to scam people out a few dollars like that? Or is that pretty common and they'll just set up another scam business if/when this one shuts down?

ETA: I will most certainly watch out for emails. I never click on anything in emails as it is. Ironically, this morning when I checked my email I had what I thought was a phishing email disguised as a company. I called the company about it and it turned out to be a legitimate email. They were one of the companies that uses Epsilon.

It's not a whole lot of money, but multiply that by hundreds, maybe even thousands, and the profit is significant.

This type of scammer goes for low cost and high volume. They spam their ads all over the place, and respond to hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants with each attempt. They go for a smaller amount of money for a reason. If they asked for $50, for example, many people would either back out or start to question it. For example, they might start to consider why a company would use an online testing service that has no way to verify the identity of the person taking the exam. (Legitimate employers who use testing as part of the screening process will ensure that the testing is performed in a controlled location and the ID of the person taking the test is confirmed. They would not use some online service that would allow someone else to take the test for the applicant.)

But, because this is a relatively small amount of money, people will follow instructions without thinking too much about it. The smaller amount also means that law enforcement is not likely to investigate, even if they are reported. When they run out of victims, all they have to do is change their identity, rinse and repeat.

In the end, the scammers are likely to make more with the small amounts than they would if they raised the price.

Hi penned,
in your first post you said a friend sent you this.
Did you contact her to make sure she or he really did it? Or was the email address hijacked? If so, she or he should consider changing the address.

Dotti, that makes a lot of sense. I actually filed a complaint with the FTC but given how small the amount is in comparision to other scams I'm sure they won't pay any attention to this.

Katharina, it was definitely my friend. She got it off Craigslist and had replied to them and they sent her that. She then sent it on to me. Her email wasn't hacked or anything. She texted me about it after she forwarded it to me to let me know. Normally my warning bells would have gone off immediately, but since I knew it was from a friend who knows I'm looking for a job, I blindly trusted it. Lesson learned.

Penned, do happen to have the headers to go with those scam emails you received? It would really help us get those fraudulent sites closed down if you do have them.

If you need help finding them, just post back and someone can help.