I think this might be a job scam

I went on craigslist looking for jobs and I saw this job posting:

Receptionist Needed at Plastic Company (Downtown)

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Date: 2011-01-27, 9:37AM MST
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

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Qualified Receptionist

Plastics manufacturer seeking to hire an organised and well-spoken receptionist.
Job Description:

> Answer phone calls
> Overlook business stock and inventory
> Data entry
> Organize files and documents
> Organize deliveries

Hours are from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.
Starting pay will be $14 hourly.
To apply, please send us a copy of your resume.


Location: Downtown
Compensation: $14/hour
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.



PostingID: 2182959432

I replied to the posting and in the next week I got this email:
From: Julia Page <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 11:11:03 -0800
To: <snipped - Michael@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Receptionist


After reviewing countless resumes, we've decided to make you part of our staff.




We do need to take care of a couple things first. In order for us to interview you, we need background checks and credit checks on all prospective employees. The background check will be completed in person. The credit check can be easily done on your own, at home. It is safe, secure, and absolutely FREE.




Click here for your free credit report. Just send us the order #. DO NOT SEND US ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION. Once we verify that you have completed this step of the process, we can set you up for an interview time slot some time next week.




We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause--however, the policy protects our company and the information our employees are privy to.




Thanks,




Julia Page

Office Manager

WH Plastics MFG, LLP.

http://www.whplasticsmfg.com

I am not sure if this is a scam or the real thing, the link lead to creditreport.com. They also listed the job for Denver if that helps.

Yep, it's a scam.

Unfortunately, there is no job. This is a standard affiliate scam. The credit report is free but if you don't jump through hoops to cancel you will be signed up for their monthly monitoring service, and your credit card will be charged. Once your credit card is charged, the scammer gets an affiliate fee (it was $24 last I checked) because you entered through his link. The scammer just uses the lure of a nonexistent job to get people to follow his link. Each ad gets him hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Legitimate companies do not have prospective employees get their own credit reports--the companies do that themselves.

Can you post the address of the site the scammer sent you to? Our site killers would be interested in that information so they can get the site closed down.

Thank you! I figured it might be a scam, but I sent a reply email asking where they are located in Denver and that I wanted to know about the company. the website that the link leads to is:

http://www.creditreport.com/dni/default ... 671908&bcd

and the website about the company is:

www.whplasticsmfg.com

I googled the website and ended up finding out that the domain was created 1/22/11.

Hi jennierbts,

could you please provide me the headers of the mails? If you don't know what headers are or how to find them, just ask and one of us will be happy to explain They contain evidence which I'll need to get the site offline. Thanks for posting!

So I had to email it to myself because for some reason I could see the email on my blackberry but not my computer. I'm not sure if it works...I have no idea about this stuff!


header snipped - Michael

I have snipped out the headers you posted. The only thing to be found in the ones you posted were the details of you and where you sent that mail from. If you forward a mail, it gets a new set of headers so the ones you posted only had your info in them. Can you try and get the headers of the original mail? Thanks

I looked for the original email on my computer, but it is only on my blackberry. I have no idea if I can even view the header on it.