Music company Shock Entertainment’s new GM, Scot Crawford has revealed today he has been a victim of identity theft and has warned readers scammers are trying to steal personal information under the guise of employment for the company. We look at the details of this scam, how to recognise job and employment scams and how falling for them can lead to identity fraud and potentially a bad credit score for years to come.

By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Repars and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

themusic.com.au reports:

Shock sent out a media release today alerting that despite a lot of changes in the music company recently, “the current emails circulating from newly appointed General Manager Scot Crawford offering $1500 a month for a few hours work a day is an unfortunate case of on-line identity theft.”

The emails are coming from a bogus gmail account – by an individual pretending to be the General Manager.

The emails read, “This is Scot Crawford from Shock Entertainment, you have recently bought an item from us. I am recruiting a few people, from our recent customers for a payment processing team in Australia. The average income is around $1500 per month. Drop me a line if you’re interested and available 1 – 2 hours per day.”

The offer seems – and is – too good to be true.

The emails were circulating over the weekend and Shock have advised that police have been informed about them.

Crawford said today, “It’s a pretty lousy situation to be in, but is being addressed by the police and we are expect a speedy resolution.”

How job and employment scams operate:

The ACCC’s SCAMWatch website warns against job and employment scams:

“Job and employment scams target people looking for a new job or a change of job. They often promise a lot of income (sometimes they even guarantee it) for not a lot of work.

You should be very careful of someone who uses spam email or ads posted in the street to employ people. They are often only interested in earning money from you!”

SCAMWatch encourage job seekers to do their homework before responding to an advertisement guaranteeing employment or a certain income:

“ask yourself why somebody would use spam emails to recruit people? Is the company reputable and well-known? Could the offer be part of a scam?   Very few, if any, reputable businesses offer guaranteed jobs or income through spam emails. Any job offer you receive through a spam email is likely to be a scam. For other types of advertising, you should still be very careful.”

They also warn job hunters to do their homework on even seemingly legitimate job advertisements:

Find out what the job actually involves and what evidence they have to support their claim that you are guaranteed a certain level of income. You should check with your fair trading agency who might be able to help you decide if the offer is legitimate.”

Job and employment scams – how falling for them can damage your clear credit file:

When a person falls for a job and employment scam, they have generally answered a ‘job ad’ possibly giving over a resume containing a significant amount of personal information to fraudsters – including potentially the victim’s full name, date of birth, address and past employment history.

Personal information which could allow fraudsters to commit identity theft. There is no telling how much credit the fraudster could then take out in the victim’s name.

For any damage to a person’s credit rating, whether instigated by the credit file holder themselves through late payments or a bad credit score from identity fraud, recovering a clear credit file and fixing credit problems is never easy for the individual to undertake.

The identity theft victim’s clear credit file is even more difficult to restore, simply because there is the burden of proof. First the victim has to prove they didn’t initiate the credit themselves. This would require documentary evidence and Police reports. But the identity theft victim would be virtually banned from obtaining credit until they are able to wade through the mess that has been created for them on their credit report, and clear their good name.  Until such time they are unable to take out a home loan, get a credit card or even take out a mobile phone plan. A bad credit score can be very debilitating on top of all the other dangers and costs associated with fraudsters committing identity theft.

If you have been a victim of a job and employment scam and suspect identity theft, it is important to contact Police immediately. It is also important to alert your financial institutions and even the credit reporting agencies so they can ‘flag’ your credit file and bank accounts and be alert to any suspicious activity.

If you find out your credit rating has been affected, get professional credit repair. You may do more harm than good to your case trying to fix credit problems without a good strong knowledge of credit reporting law and procedures.

Contact MyCRA Credit Repairs on 1300 667 218 or visit the main website www.mycra.com.au, we can review your credit report, help in negotiations with creditors and get you on your way to a clear credit file once again.

Image: Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net