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My job seeking story
Fraud, Fraud Alerts and easily manipulated systems, including BambooHR:

(I'm the suckah...)

Recruiting Fraud Alert
12:38 PM (5 minutes ago)
to me
Thanks for contacting us about this. As an HR software company, we have over 30,000 companies that use our product for their hiring and application processes; this message appears to have come from one of those. While the majority of our customers are legitimate businesses using our software for legitimate hiring purposes, there are always a few bad actors attempting to phish and defraud–as is unfortunately the case with any online tool these days.

As such, we can’t necessarily confirm the legitimacy of this message or its content. First, we encourage you to follow up directly with the company to which you applied to confirm the legitimacy of the email you received. Second, please consider the following with regards to any suspicious messages as they are common signs of fraud:

-Spelling or punctuation errors
-Requiring you to download anything
-Asking for money to be sent
-The time stamp the email was sent (domestic companies typically don’t send emails after midnight or at odd hours)
-The company name seems too generic or can’t be found online (eg. LinkedIn)
-The person sending the email can’t be found online (eg. LinkedIn)

As always, use your best judgment when considering any kind of engagement with messages that contain one or more of the above. It’s likely not safe.

Best regards,
BambooHR

Funny, I had to provide an ID, a picture of the purchasing credit card, and had to verify 2 emails to get this server. And google still flags my mail as spam because of bad actors.

Jannette Guzman
Mon, Mar 11, 5:50 AM (1 day ago)
to me
##- Yes! You can reply directly to this email and Jannette will get it. Just make sure it’s above this line so we can read it right. -##
Hi Brian,
Thank you for applying for the Data Entry Operator position at Firmas Rep. We appreciate your interest and the time you took to submit your resume through Indeed.
To move forward in the recruitment process, please take note of the following information:
The position offers a competitive hourly pay of $25, as well as benefits such as health, life, disability, and dental insurance, as well as AD&D coverage, a flexible paid time-off plan, and 401K options.
The interview will be conducted via Signal, a messaging platform. Please download Signal from the Google Play/App Store or directly from the web. You can then reach out to our Hiring Manager, Karen Duvor, at (213) 646-6309 to schedule your interview with her.
Thank you again for considering a career with Firmas Rep. We look forward to potentially working with you.
(I should have known no one would be double excited to work with me)
We look forward to meeting you, Brian.

Regards,

Firmas Rep Inc

Return the hero from Bank of America.

Honey, if this check doesn't fly and you are party to it, it could cause problems for you. I recommend going accross the street to the issuing bank.

This check was seized by the "issuing" Bank as evidence. Be careful!

FAQ:

What sets your technology consultancy apart from others in the industry?

At Z BACKSLASH, we pride ourselves on doing things a bit differently. Our approach is founded on the principle that informed customers make the best decisions. We aim to empower you with knowledge, so your choices are driven by understanding and insight, rather than fear-based reactions.

Why do you trust the Post Office with your secure delivery?

Any package shipped via USPS is FEDERALLY protected for any tampering including ANY form of opening it. Anyone who steals it is FEDERALLY prosecuted. So I feel this is the best option, as any private is bound by no such statutes.
And, as we found out in the tale at the top of this story: you can't commit mail fraud using UPS ;)

(see: UPS DHL Fedex find: )

How does your pricing and billing work?

We believe in transparency, which is why we charge prior to delivering our services. Rest assured, we're committed to providing you with efficient and effective solutions; you won't be taken on an unnecessarily long journey to find answers to your technological issues. We strive to give you direct, straightforward solutions that address your needs right at the outset.

What resources do you provide for customers who want to understand more about the services they might need?

Part of how we keep our customers informed is through posting DIY guides. Our goal is to equip you with the understanding of what is technically feasible on your own. These guides are designed to educate you on what you can accomplish yourself, helping you make educated decisions about when to seek professional help.

Why should we trust you to handle our tech needs?

We've built our business on a foundation of trust and expertise. While we give you the tools to understand what's possible, we also offer our professional services to efficiently meet your tech needs. This balanced approach ensures that you're not just a client, but an informed participant in the solutions we provide. We want you to know what you can do, but trust us to do it for you when the need arises. By focusing on customer education and straightforward solutions, we create a service experience that you can not only trust but also understand. This philosophy distinguishes us as a technology consultancy committed to informed customer participation and professional reliability.

What is the cloud? How does it affect me and my website?

The cloud refers to servers that store data and applications on the internet instead of your computer's hard drive. For your website, it offers scalable resources, backups, and global access, improving uptime and performance.

Why would I ever even need this help if I am using Amazon?

Everyone needs security, especially EC2 users as defined in the
User Agreement

2.3 Your Security and Backup. You are responsible for properly configuring and using the Services and otherwise taking appropriate action to secure, protect and backup your accounts and Your Content in a manner that will provide appropriate security and protection, which might include use of encryption to protect Your Content from unauthorized access and routinely archiving Your Content.

This is also outlined in the
Shared Responsibility Model

But how is this different than GoDaddy or other hosting options?

GoDaddy and others lock you into contracts that typically renew for +30% or more of their starting price. GoDaddy shares resources. These are YOUR resources available for YOUR control. Just pay for what your server needs to handle. This site in it's first months was less than a dollar a month to run.

We never want to force you into a solution, we offer Wordpress, Wix and other integration with a note that exploits can exist with all services of this nature-- the big guy just get's hit the most:

CVE Details: Wordpress

We also try to use Amazon for the purpose of a base firewall, but we go futher and directly secure the server with Uncomplicated Firewall for server level control.
We can even have a custom SSH port for you!

How long should my passphrase be?