SnagAJob.com Review — Is it a Scam?

In today’s economy, it’s hard to ignore any way of finding work.

Legitimate work from home jobs are really hard to come by.

If you’re unemployed, you can become desperate in your search.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who are willing to take advantage of you and can do so easily because you’re in a vulnerable state.

We see new fake job ads up pop up by the thousands.

These scams can cost you a lot of money, your personal information, and in some cases, even your identity.

Scammers know you’re trying to find work and an “open position” is an easy way to get unsuspecting individuals to send in their private information by the thousands.

Is SnagAJob.com Legit or a Scam?

One such company that has come under fire as of late is SnagAJob.com.

A quick search on their name will yield hundreds of complaints against the company.

I’ve been reading through quite a few these past couple of days and want to give you an overview of what to look out for.

I won’t be signing up for this personally because I don’t agree with how they handle private information.

Keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

Complaints Against SnagAJob

They May Sell Your Personal Information

By and large, the most complaints regarding SnagAJob are the unwanted phone calls and emails.

In order to apply for jobs, you need to supply SnagAJob with a lot of your personal information.

There are also questionnaires and short surveys to fill out to see if you qualify for the position.

Among the questions asked are offers from 3rd party companies for career advancement opportunities like online schooling.

If you aren’t careful with your answers, your name and phone number could find it’s way into the hands of a number of different telemarketing companies.

It’s not uncommon to see other SnagAJob.com users complaining about the number of unwanted emails and phone calls that come in after creating an account and applying for jobs.

A common complaint…

Snagajob is NOT a place if you are looking for a job. They will ask you hundred questions, and offers they make, you have to uncheck one by one, after you spend an hour and hit submit application, all you see, “your application can not be submitted”. But interestingly you will receive thousands of different offers just because you forgot to uncheck one of their hundred offers. I have serious doubts about the number of opening they show on the search results. If you go to the stores they show there are openings, most of them will tell you “No, there are no openings here”.

Unwanted Sales Pitches

Among the phone calls are company sales pitches.

There are quite a few comments from users who have received telemarketing calls trying to sell them an education to the University of Phoenix or an online art institute.

Granted, these same people may have signed up and left the box checked that very clearly states “Yes, I am interested in furthering my education and would like to learn about opportunities.”

A common complaint…

After completing the application, I hit submit. But instead of giving me a verification page or email, it sent me to a page on Phoenix Online trying to get me to take classes through a program. I was extremely frustrated that all I had done was sold my information to a bunch of third parties, and now for the past 4 weeks we’ve been harassed by telemarketers and Phoenix University reps.

Outdated Job Postings/Non-Existent Jobs

The biggest offender in this list is the fact that a lot of the job postings may not even be real.

I compared a few of the job ads on SnagAJob to the ‘Careers’ section directly on the company’s web site and found about half the time, they weren’t hiring for the job that’s being advertised.

I even saw a job posting for a business that shut down a month ago. I can’t reasonably expect SnagAJob to police every job ad, but an expiration date on postings and a little moderation would be nice.

A common complaint…

On several of the applications that i had sent out in my area it stated not to contact the employer, i would receive an email back saying i was not qualified for the position. Hard to believe that a Food and Beverage Manager of 5 years is not qualified to be a barista at Starbucks! So, i decided to go to the Starbucks, at the location that Snag a job assured was hiring baristas and management, only to find out that they WERE NOT hiring nor are they affiliated, in any way, with Snagajob.com. I then decided to visit some of the other companies that i was deemed not qualified, and received the same answer.

Ad or job lead?

SnagAJob also lists ads among their job listings.

Take for example this ad for Uber:

snagajob fake jobs

They should at least mark ads as such.

Praise for SnagAJob

Not all comments regarding SnagAJob are negative.

There are legitimate job postings there and this is backed up by people claiming to have found jobs through the service.

Employers themselves have chimed in to say that they’ve posted job ads and received large lists of qualified candidates. After all, the focus of the site IS connecting employers with prospective employees.

From an employer…

I am part of a legitimate restaurant franchise using snagajob.com to hire hourly employees. For this purpose, it is very effective. I receive far more qualified applicants via snagajob than say a posting on Craigslist. Yes, there are a lot of surplus opportunities to sign up for on snagajob which becomes a bit of a nuisance to applicants. However you can simply hit the skip button at the bottom of these ads and continue on with the application. Ulitmately, it’s all about getting a job. We have hired many people from this service, so don’t worry about using it if that is what your intentions are.

A Trusted Alternative

The problem with SnagaJob is there are too many advertisements masquerading as legitimate job offers.

I’d suggest looking at a site like FlexJobs where they personally examine every single posting and make sure only legitimate jobs come through.

You can pay as little as $5 per month for a subscription.

Yes, it’s a paid option, but you are paying someone to basically do thousands of hours of research on your behalf.

Plus a membership is tax-deductible and they offer a 100% satisfaction refund guarantee. If you are unable to find a job, or just don’t like it, you can cancel and get your money back at any time.

The mantra of “never pay for a job” still holds true. This is more like paying someone to filter through the piles of garbage to find you something worthwhile instead.

The Bottom Line

It’s a mixed bag. SnagAJob appears to feature both legitimate job positions and ones that are a little less legitimate or even non-existent.

My advice: take SnagAJob with a healthy grain of salt. Use the site to browse open positions and then go directly to the employers website to see if a position is actually available and apply right through them.

With this method, you’ll keep your personal information private, you’ll be applying to jobs you KNOW exist, and you won’t have to worry about getting bombarded with unwanted messages.

Do you have any experience with SnagAJob.com? Please leave a comment below and let us know about it.

Weekly Scam Roundup – 3/8/2012

Here are the latest submissions for my weekly scam roundup. If you have received any similar emails, PLEASE post them in the comments below. By posting the emails, you will directly be helping other people by exposing scam artists!

Scam Email #1

Good morning,

Last week Your attention was caught by our company’s advertisement about Purchasing Manager/Supply Chain Manager Job. I have great pleasure in sending you full information about this position and our organization.

CB International Products and Trading is going to expand and offers Full- and Part – time positions.

To find more about salary, work schedule and hours, base commissions and benefits, location and other, please read over the Job Description file. There is NO relocation required. There is NO fee to apply. There is NO fee to start. The purpose of the position is to perform a variety of duties in connection with customer service and logistics. You may have experience from a different field than small business or technology, sales or customer service but must to have an ability to work under direct control and guidance of supervisor.

HOW TO APPLY: If you are interested, please complete the Application Form and return it to current email or by fax number listed below:
1) by mail: you may simply download the Application Form, complete the Application Form by required information and send it back to my email.
2) by Fax: you may simply download the Application Form, print it and complete by required information to send back at fax number listed below.

If you need more information, please contact us via email or by phone indicated below.

CB International Products and Trading ,
Sandra Adrian
Phone: (646)7559284
Fax: (888)6815806

Scam Email #2

Good day, Employee
In response to your submitted CV/Resume for the Vacant position that was advertise online, we would like to inform you that, your submitted CV have being screened and verify properly, and we see that your qualification will suit the vacant position needed to be fixed up her in the company.

Attach above are some question raise by the HR Department, you are to answer the question asked on the attach file, and get back to us on this mail with the rightful information needed, within the next 24 hours of receiving.

Please ensure that all information provided is true and correct, we reserves the right to investigate on all information and details given. Falsification of documents, incomplete data and or In-correct information is subject for Refusal or Termination of Employment.

Best of Luck.
Hr Department
ABI Electronics Ltd.

Abi Electronics Limited Job Application Form
DATE:06/03/2012.
Attention;Employee

We Have Successfully gone through your Submitted Online Questionnaire,Which has been examine fully by the Management,and its being confirm by them that,due to your respond on the submitted online interview, we should proceed with your application with out any delay.
You are required to go through the attach application form,fill and sign with pen,and send back to us with a neat scan copy of application form within the next 48 hours of filling and receiving the form.

NOTE:
Please ensure that all information provided is true and correct, we reserves the right to investigate on all information and details given. Falsification of documents, incomplete data and or In-correct information is subject for Refusal or Termination of Employment.

Best of Luck.
Hr Department
ABI Electronics Ltd.

Copyright 2012 ABI Electronics Limited – Registered in England – No 1824588

Scam Email #3

Tuesday 6TH March 2012:

I trust you are okay.

I came across your profile while going through my database in search of a competent candidate to represent my company as a letter dispatcher in the States.

The job will involve the receiving of packaged payments which you will receive via various couriers and having them dispatched to customers in different locations in the states.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

· The receiving of packages containing payments to my employees

· Dispatching letters to my employees via 1st class mail

· This is a work at home job, therefore, it’s not required of you to leave you current employment.

· No funds in under any circumstance, will be required from you

HERE’S JUST SOME OF THE CRITERIA THAT YOU WOULD MEET;

· Your own computer and high speed Internet connection.

· Speak, Read, and Write good English.

· Can work from home without distractions.

· Can use Yahoo mail and Yahoo messenger

· Are willing to learn new things.

Due to the difference in location, interviews will take place online between myself and you via yahoo messenger and mail.

We will not at any point request for your banking details.

I will pay a good rate of $950 for each processed order. We process an average of 3 orders/packages monthly.

*Please note that the above mentioned amount will increase depending on the time and preciseness of your work.

This job take to only 15 to 22 hours a week, therefore you needn’t leave your current job.

I require you to be honest, professional and must have good qualities. As a qualified applicant, you must submit a Photo ID. You are to protect and maintain the integrity of all our customers’ information. Any breach of this rule will result in automatic dismissal.

If you’re interested in this unique opportunity, please fill in the following…

I. Your Full name:

II. Full Home Address:

III. Cell phone:

IV. Home Phone:

V. Current Occupation:

VI. Alternative Email:

When I get your email reply I will immediately send you more information about the job.

I look forward to possibly having you as a member of my awesome team.

Thanks.

David Evans

Scam Email #4

GSD Financial Investments LTD is pleased to offer you a job
position of Account Manager Assistant / Data Entry Support. Both
positions are available as full-time and part-time employment.

We trust that your knowledge, skills and experience will be among
our most valuable assets.

Should you accept this job offer, per company policy you’ll be
eligible to receive the following beginning on your hire date.

– Free training course with all training materials provided.

– Salary: Annual gross starting salary of
?23,000 for Account Manager Assistant
?17,000 for Data Entry Support;
paid in biweekly installments by your choice of check or direct
deposit.

– Performance Bonuses: Up to three percent of your annual
gross salary, paid quarterly by your choice of check or
direct deposit.

– Benefits.

To accept this job offer, please submit your application for
mentioned above job positions

We hope that you’ll accept this job offer and look forward to
welcoming you in our Company.
If you have any questions or clarifications on this invitation,
please don’t hesitate to contact us – we look forward to your
feedback!

Sincerely,

Kristen Rogers
Human Resource Manager
GSD Financial Investments LTD
www.gsdinvestments.com