How to Spot a Telecommute Job Posting Scam

In my daily job hunt, I sometimes come across ads that scream, “Can you say scam boys and girls?” Today I’d like to share an ad with you that may show you what I mean:

Web Copywriter Gig – with profit share (sunnyvale)
Date: 2009-12-09, 9:55PM PST
Reply to: gigs-ams5x-1503340286@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Hello!

Our online media company owns an online marketplace that is looking to populate more product listings. Now, we already have the products on hand, as these are sold via e-commerce. However, we need a talented writer who understands both sales ad copy as well as how to get around the web and be able to write up ad copy for the products so they sell to customers on the web.

We are willing to even offer you to keep all the profits made from the sales of these products. Yes, you can keep all the profits and we’ll guide you on how to do this so it’s very simple. We provide the products and delivery – all you are doing is the front-end webpage for each product listing on the marketplace. We only require that you would do this only for our marketplace.

This is a tele-commute gig or you may come into the office of ours here in Sunnyvale.

Please include any sample work you’ve done before as a direct-response web copywriter to maximize your chances of joining this gig.

Thanks

Seems like a good deal right? Here’s what looks fishy on this posting:

1. Keep all the profits made from the sales of these products

Why would any business give away their profits? Either the profit margin is exceptionally low or they get your copy and run

2. Yes, you can keep all the profits and we’ll guide you on how to do this so it’s very simple.

Here the ad is selling you the job. No legitimate job offer needs to sell you the job. C’mon. They’re offering all the profit from the products plus giving free training? What exactly do they mean by “we’ll guide you on how to do this so it’s very simple?” Sounds very much like one of those “How to Make Money on Ebay” scams, doesn’t it?

This ad is a little sneaky by offering workers to come into their offices to make them look more legitimate. Anytime you see an ad that needs to convince you to apply for them, there is a problem. If this ad spelled out exactly what that profit was or offered pay per word or per piece, I’d be much less suspicious. Watch out for ads like this. When you see them, don’t walk…run!