Job posting scam uncovered

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A West Michigan unemployment agency tipped 24 Hour News 8 off to a man posing as a nun -- just part of a scheme to take your money.

The job posting on Craigslist.org is for an administrative assistant in Grand Rapids. It boosts a $50,000 - $60,000 salary with full benefits.

A worker at the unemployment agency, who didn't want to be identified, said he decided to see if the job was worth passing along to people on the hunt.

However, he said the e-mail exchange between a Sister Mary Joseph of a company called Career Experts was a bit off. So the agency worker decided to do a little legwork on the company.

What he found were numerous rip-off reports and news reports from Canada, and the name Harris Black. He said it was all part of a scam that ended with the jobseeker forking over a hundred bucks for help on sprucing up his resume.

24 Hour News 8 did some digging of our own.

The Better Business Bureau gives the company an unsatisfactory rating.

Customers complain that they responded to jobs posted on Craisglist.org, and the person who posted the jobs then requested fees for a resume service rather than the advertised employment opportunity.

Under government actions, Harris Black faced charges in Canada, from misleading customers in 2003 to sexual assault in 1999.

The Web site HarrisBlackWatch.com shows many people, from past to present, claiming that Black has ripped them off.

24 Hour News 8 e-mailed the company in question but did not get a response. However, within an hour of sending the e-mail, the person who posted the job opening on Craigslist.org removed the online listing.