Job scams: ads that don't add up.

• Position: Fraud - Brief Article

The ad in the help wanted section of his local newspaper looked like the opportunity of a lifetime: high-paying wildlife jobs with the Federal government. The Delaware man called the toll-free telephone number listed to get more information about Federal jobs being filled in his area. Instead, he got a high-pressure sales pitch that convinced him to shell out almost $80 for job-related information. He thought he was buying a list of available jobs in his area, as well as practice tests to help him pass the Civil Service exam. He was persuaded to buy similar materials for jobs with the U.S. Postal Service.

What the man wasn't told was that no Civil Service exam is required for most government wildlife jobs; the company was selling a list of job descriptions, not of actual local job openings; very few wildlife jobs--and none at the advertised salary--hire at the entry level; although a test is required for most entry-level postal jobs, the tests are given infrequently; and all the information the company sold is available free of charge. When the caller realized that he'd been duped, he tried repeatedly to get his money back--without success. His story is hardly an isolated incident. Federal and postal job scams are among the biggest rackets on the employment front, preying on consumers who are unemployed or underemployed and who can least afford to be "taken."

The Federal Trade Commission is taking steps toward protecting consumers against these scams. It is tracking down and putting the brakes on companies that make deceptive claims about the availability of Federal and postal jobs, the procedures required to apply for them, and the materials sold to help people identify and land those...