Company name was Hanford Pharmaceuticals, though that probably doesn't matter since they'll probably switch it up.
I've applied to a lot of positions over these past few months, so I'm used to hearing back from places that I might have forgotten applying to. There is a legit company that shares the same name, and while I couldn't find the original job posting (Red Flag #1 for the folks at home!), I figured they probably took it down now that they started interviewing candidates.
It was a great opportunity though! $40.75 hourly rate for a remote IT Support role? (Red Flag #2, obviously) Lucky me! I'll put my best foot forward here.
Communication was done through Microsoft Teams, and in both the original email and the "interview" process they did a decent job sounding professional at first. They talked about their company values and the requirements for the role.
However, all this communication was over text. (Red Flag #3!) I never encountered something like that, so I was confused but I proceeded like normal to make sure I could get this golden opportunity.
The quality of the interview quickly degraded and several more red flags were raised:
- An offer would be made the next day, should the hiring team like my qualifications (Red Flag #4)
- The interviewer would frequently go inactive for 5-10 minutes (Red Flag #5)
- The name of the guy I'm interviewing doesn't have a LinkedIn profile (Red Flag #6)
- They dodged my question clarifying if there would be a written contract going over the terms of employment sent out with the offer (Red Flag #7)
Eventually, I started researching while awaiting the next message in the interview and sure enough—I found a couple reports about scams using the same company name (Red Flag #8) and learned how no legitimate company will conduct an interview over text.
I called the actual company number and sure enough they affirmed that there had been a scam going around using their name. (Red Flag #9)
Sure enough, that was when the interview slipped in questions about my payment preferences and details about which bank I use between general softball IT inquiries. (Red Flag #10)
Shut the interview down at that point and deleted all my answers to previous questions. Luckily, I did not download any programs, click suspicious links, or offer sensitive personal information. But I did take several of their questions about my qualifications and work experience seriously in my previous answers.
So now they'll probably hurl more scam offers my way with more tailored details using the information I provided, oh joy! Hell—if they're bold enough maybe they'll try to go for identity theft with the little bits of info they got.
Don't be a fool and wait for 10 red flags like me. Stay smart, y'all.