Possible Spam: Articlebat.org's New vacancy for you
Posted by Greg Bulmash in Techno ThoughtsGot this in my inbox today. It actually looks somewhat legit. It was sent through vresp.com, which has been around for over 11 years and does not seem to be spoofing its source (unlike many scam e-mails that pretend they came through CareerBuilder).
Job Title Article Writers Type : Contract Salary / Rate : 2500 USD / month Job Duration : Not Specified No.Applicants : 5 Job Source : Direct from Employer. Job Requirements: We are looking for native English speakers, a high level of fluency is imperative. You should be creative, proactive, and capable of researching topics you may not have much previous experience in. You should be flexible with timing and quick. You should be capable of committing to a relatively long working relationship with us. You should write high quality articles, content that is both interesting and entertaining as well as relevant to readers on the web. You should have a basic understanding of Microsoft Word (although since you’re applying for a job online, I’m sure you do). Apply position Click to view this email in a browser If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe Boston Life 843 Mass Ave Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 US
So it's a contract article writer position, work from home, $2500 a month. None of it looks particularly overblown. It's not promising you a ridiculous amount or suggesting you'll be cashing checks or forwarding packages.
Still, it came unsolicited. I do not have a live resume on any job search site. Figuring that vresp.com was semi-legit, I clicked through to find out more details. There was a basic application form at articlebat.org.
First, a for-profit company should not be using a .org domain name. They are (or were) intended for non-ptofits. It's a bit dishonest to use a .org domain if you're not a non-profit.
Second, and more importantly, the domain has been in existence for ONE WEEK. It was registered on May 21st of this year. The address of the person registering it is a little house in the suburbs of Oslo, Norway (you can see a photo on Google maps), not Boston. And even more puzzling is the fact that it wasn't registered through a U.S. or Norwegian registrar, but through a Chinese registrar that ONLY offers their pages in Chinese (no English or Norwegian version). To add to the foreign flavor, the "about" page is full of grammar errors and OBVIOUSLY by someone who is not a native English speaker.
It is the disconnect... claiming to be affiliated with a company in Boston, but registered to an address in the Oslo suburbs, and registered through a Chinese registrar that doesn't cater to non-speakers of Chinese... that doesn't add up for me. I have a feeling that the company would never pay me for my work, and I'd have NO way of taking them to court if that happened. I'm not saying they're a scam. I'm just saying that there are enough oddities to put me (and you, if you've found this post) on guard.
Good luck.
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Thanks for doing the research Greg. I got a similar email today, and it was very tempting. Too good to be true, as usual...
I had the same email last week. Thanks for confirming my thoughts about the situation.
Got one today! Naturally hit search for "scam or not" and here is your comprehensive research! Thank you so much for doing all this work for the rest of us. SCAM!
Whenever something online appears to be the solution to my problem, it's probably not legit. Thanks for confirming.
Oh, c'mon. It's an obvious scam once you do the research. Although I do admit that except for the pidgin English, they did a better job of making it seem legitimate than most others.
What tipped me off was the impossibility of their paying a contract writer $2,500.00 a month while selling submissions to their clients at the rate of 550 submissions for $140.00. The numbers don't add up. Either it's an information-gathering scheme rather than a true employment offer, or they have no intention of actually paying their writers $2,500.00 month -- if anything at all.
What made it seem somewhat plausible to me, before I did the math, was that I received two emails from them, addressed to me as the webmaster of two of my highest-ranking, most popular, most well-written sites. If they were looking for an English-language writer whose style is liked by search engines, contacting the person who (presumably) authored a very popular, very well-ranked, English-language site would be a sensible approach.
I might even have overlooked the pidgin English. After all, they were looking for native English-speaking writers for a reason, right?
Again, it was the math that gave it away for me. Had I still any doubts after realizing that they could not possibly be making money by paying their writers more than they were charging their clients, the Chinese connection would have removed those doubts.
I received an identical email, although in my version the "Apply here" link took me to tikkawraps.com, and the address of the sender wasn't Cambridge, MA...it was Round Rock, TX.
I have been to both of those places in my life, but I doubt it would warrant a contract writing position......
This is a scam. It has been confirmed by the legitimate website as a copycat ripoff. It is being perpretrated by the same scammers who created a copycat site for Contentproz...which was another ripoff. Unless you have supplied detailed personal info they can not access your Paypal account.
Just 'cause we didn't fall for getting paid $2500 for editing $140 worth of product doesn't mean some other buffoon with an IQ around the freezing point of water won't!!! P.T. Barnum said it and I believe it! "There's a sucker born every minute!" I have gotten three in the last week with different names on them so they must have a reason to believe in a return. Like Rich said, Pidgin English aside it is excellent compared to the ones about lottery tickets and the estate of some Royal Uncle in Uzbekistan.
Thanks for doing this research for us. I love to write and have written articles before and was looking into this when it came across. You may have just saved me some trouble
Thanks for all of your information. How do you go about doing this research ? You said that the domain name has been in existence for only one week, what reliable source did you use to find this information ? I didn't even know that .org was mostly used for non-profit organizations. I understand the broken english "warning sign" and the more obvious signs of a scam, but can you give me a few of the finner or less obvious things to look for, like the ".org " sign and etc ?
Ed: "what reliable source did you use to find this information?"
Did a "whois" lookup. It looks up the domain record from the public domain name system (DNS). You can access a whois search at most registrars, or if you're on a Mac or Linux system, just open a terminal window and type "whois nameofdomain.com". You can hide your info as the registrant by providing fake info (your domain can be cancelled if it's found out you did so) or by using a proxy (GoDaddy and many other registrars will act as your agent for a fee), but you can't hide when the domain was registered, which registrar was used, and what your name servers are.
The "created-on" date for the Articlebat.org domain is 5/21/12, a week before I got the e-mail.
If I responded to their email which contains my name & phone number, is there any reason for concern? I have not sent any kind of financial information such as bank/routing/acct number or paypal. I don't believe i'm in jeopardy of any sort, but just want to be sure.
Thanks all, i've found a great deal of information about this company on this site. Good job!
I too responded with the "pilot" submission, then balked when they asked for paypal info. Prior emails however, do show my website and social media links.