Newest Member of LifeLock

Just when I think life is getting dull and boring, something like this comes up and blindsides me. 
Hello my name is Erin and I'm here to talk to you about scams, craigslist and why you should pay attention to those warnings on the front page. 
I like to consider myself a very, computer savy person. I know better than to open certain emails, I can identify spammers a mile away. I never check my banking information on public computers, or on public wifi areas.
Common Sense stuff right?
So as I'm job hunting on craigslist, I have been very careful about the jobs I've applied for, checking for company names, googling them to see if they are indeed a legit company in my town, things like that. So far so good. Or at least I thought. 
When I got the email Wednesday morning from a company wanting to interview me for a receptionist position, you can imagine my excitement. All that hard work finally paying off.
Sure this may not be 'the" job, but finally it was a step in the right direction! 
Clue #1

"We would like to thank you for sending your resume to [Company Name].  After reviewing your initial credentials, I think you could possibly be a great fit for our company. 

 Our Human Resource manager would like to schedule an interview with you before she leaves for vacation early next week. You need to complete the pre-interview screening before we can schedule an interview....."

The initial email itself was well written, none of the obvious spelling errors you come to associate with scammers, though I did find it a bit strange, that the link back to the craigslist post had been flagged for removal; but in my state of delirium it didn't occur to me that if the company was taking down a post they wouldn't have FLAGGED it. However I found what I thought was the same post, and the company was legit so I went ahead with the screening.


Feel free to say a prayer for me now. 


Clue #2 
The questions seemed legit and I filled the answers out in a professional an courteous manner. I have this job in the bag people! After submitting that part of the application, it tells me they need me to fill out a credit report as the government needed something, blah, blah, blah. This gave me pause for a second, since they credit company wanted my credit card number..not to mention my SS#. The website itself was VeriSigned Trusted and after some hesitation (aka making sure the links they gave me, and that website were one and the same) I filled it out. 


"I'm sorry we are unable to process your request". 


I got this message a couple of times, before I backed off and started looking around a little more closely at the website. I emailed Customer Support (of the credit report website) and then emailed the "HR" people to let them know I was having problems. 


And I waited. 


And waited.. 


And. Waited..


And checked craigslist home page and felt my heart sink.

"SCAM ALERT - affiliate scammers are posting bogus ads promising (nonexistent!) employment, paid research trials, or other compensation, but then notifying repliers that they'll need to jump through a hoop first, directing them to:

• background checking services

• credit checking or reporting sites..........

Lots of variations on this scam, but each generally involves dangling (nonexistent!) compensation, and then directing you to a website where you are asked to sign up for something, use your credit card, or input personal information such as your email address."

Are you serious? Did I just fall for a scam? Really? You're kidding right. PLEASE BE KIDDING! 


Then I get an email back from the credit report company. 

"We apologize for any inconvenience, but we could not process the application for your credit report. This is most probably due to an interruption in the transfer of information from the Bureau to our system.
Let us assure you, we did not charge your credit card; you may confirm this with your credit card company."

OMGoodness! I do NOT care about my credit card, what do you MEAN THERE WAS AN INTERRUPTION IN THE TRANSFER OF MY INFORMATION!!!??!? 

At this point, I went back to the website, and begin looking at it a bit more closely. First things first was the red line through the https: . Which means, in layman terms, all the info on this site is unsecured and can be viewed by other parties. 

Cue Freak out. 

At this point, I decided to check out LifeLock.com, my parents have it, and at this point, I know I need to do something to protect myself. $10 a month? You know...., its better than having my identity stolen. 

"Where do you want my credit card number?"

You can be sure, I made sure the site was secured before entering ANYTHING in. 

So. Now I really need additional work. 

The moral of this story is, be smart. be careful. Learn from my mistakes. 

The End. 

P.S. (I have not heard back from the supposed company who wanted to hire me. So I think it's safe to say they are fake.) 

To: Whatever is trying to twist my stomach into a knot...

Please stop. It hurts and I kind of like having my food inside me verses, well, other places. That is all.