Suspicion rises.
He reads the instructions and notes that the writer was EXCEPTIONALLY careful to make sure all references to google and gmail, etc. are made in a way not to ping any of the warning flags that automatically pop up asking you to keep your conversations in Upwork.
The request is to hold the interview in google hangouts. With an email that is all numbers and a gmail account, without any sign of whatever company the person is supposed to represent.
...
Going to code yellow.
He proceeds, being willing to see where it goes, but is incredibly wary. The conversation starts off well and good. Good grammar and punctuation, good business manner.
He asks about the company and its location.
He is told to research it online, after being given a name. He does so, and finds multiple results for companies by that name. He returns and asks which one is being talked about, along with other points he seeks clarification on.
...
And that’s when things start to fall apart.
Grammar, punctuation, and spelling take a nose dive. The English is incredibly broken as the person struggles to answer the questions that have clearly taken him off script.
...
Going code blue.
...
The person claims they have other interviews waiting and must go tend them, asking our protagonist to stand by. He agrees, but is fairly certain this is a scammer now. He leaves for a time, discusses the situation with his family, and compares it to the last time someone tried to scam him in this manner.
After enough pondering, he decides to pray, then flag the initial Upwork account for suspicious activity, only to find that by the time he gets back to the initial chatroom, that the account has already been barred. Someone else has already beaten him to the punch.
He proceeds to explain this to the person on google hangouts.
Guess what happened next?
That’s right, instant ping of a message with a big CONGRATULATIONS! Basically, the message says that they have “closed” the Upwork account, the one that claimed to have been REPRESENTING a company, which means the two should not have been related, and this scammer should not have had the authority to end that account or close it in the first place. The message said those who received it were hired for the job.
...
Skeptical self goes “Woohoo... Yay. I’m totally not convinced.”
Our hero says as much to the chatter. Oh, and by the way, he signed out, after calling said scammer out earlier. Then, the instant he signed back in again to add a few final words, the message box pinged again with that message of congratulations.
When our hero brings up his concerns in dishonesty, the scammer proceeds to say he is a grandfather with five children and ten grandchildren (at least I think it was ten. Some large number). Again, grammar errors.
At this point, our hero is done. He says so, and that he’s not comfortable movin forward. The man claims he will “remove the information” taken from the hero. Yes, the nonexistent information that was never given. Just the name from the original application and the email used to open the contact.
Once again, clear evidence of script.
The departure was civil, and the protagonist tells the chatter if he is, indeed, the legitimate and honest man he claims to be, he should actually answer the questions and be upfront with the details. No HR representative would have brushed off those questions in an interview.
I admit, I probably shouldn’t have said that, since I technically would have been giving advice to a scammer on how to improve, but I can’t help it. I like to think the best in people, unless I have enough evidence saying otherwise.
So, yeah. I’m pissed at this.
And I’m pissed Google Hangouts doesn’t have a flag or report function that LETS you report scammers. It’s why so many scammers try to get you on hangouts, in the first place. Watch yourselves, people. If someone asks you to interview on Hangouts, it’s probably a scam.
Be very cautious, and look for the usual earmarks. I’ll include them in a separate post for you guys to use as you wish.
