After the session I received a call from a CEO in our industry, who runs a legit operation, thanking me for how we had the nerve to go after the bad apples in our ‘space.’  I appreciated the call.

Toby does a much better job of addressing some of these issues than me.  His post yesterday on Diggings explained the Money Mules concept running rampant on typical job boards.  All I can say is:  Pass It On.  Please.  Here is part of his post, but jump over and read the entire article if you have a moment.

Lest anyone accuse us of hyperbole, I thought I’d write a post about ‘Money Mules.’

Money mules are people that unwittingly use their bank accounts to help criminals launder money. Money mules are recruited through work-at home job postings on Monster and Careerbuilder with titles such as ‘Financial Manager’ and a job description that involves ‘moving money for an international company.’ These new recruits then provide their bank account information to their ‘employer’ and are told to withdraw cash that has been deposited into their account at a specific time and wire it abroad via Western Union or Moneygram.

Brian Krebs, a reporter at The Washington Post from 1994 to 2009 has written extensively on this issue and has exposed hundreds of these scams. I would strongly recommend that anyone looking for a job online as well as those offering advice for job seekers take some time to read his outstanding work highlighting this fraudulent activity. A few of his blog posts can be found here and here and here. I’ve also included portions of those posts below that relate to the scam listings on Monster and Careerbuilder:

“…Money mules are recruited through work-at-home job offers that arrive via e-mail, usually claiming that the prospective employer found the recipient’s resume’ on careerbuilder.com, monster.com, or some other job search site. Recruits are told they will be helping to move money for international companies, and are asked to provide their bank account and routing numbers so that they can receive incoming transfers.”

“…The Sanford mule — who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals by the hacked company and perhaps by the hackers themselves — said the Scope Group approached her via e-mail, saying it had found her resume on Careerbuilder.com, and would she be interested in a work-at-home job acting as a “financial manager”? Having worked as a payroll manager in a previous job, the mule said she thought it was a perfect fit. Besides, she said, she’d been out of work since March.”

“…This type of crime is impossible without the cooperation of so-called “money mules,” willing or unwitting individuals typically hired via Internet job search Web sites to act as “local agents” or “financial agents” responsible for moving money on behalf of a generic-sounding international corporation, legal experts say.The mules are then instructed to withdraw the cash and wire it via Western Union or Moneygram to fraud gangs overseas, typically in Eastern Europe. It is not uncommon for a single cyber robbery to depend on the help of dozens of money mules…”

Fraudulent job listings on traditional pay-to-post job sites are a serious risk, and the industry has to be more vocal about educating the public about using sites such as Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed, and Simplyhired.

by JT O’Donnell of Careerealism, special for WWDS

I was trading e-mails with a colleague, Thomas Parry, founder of a very innovative new local networking program in Greenville, SC called Linking the Upstate. We were discussing new trends in networking and he said, “It’s not who you know.it’s who knows YOU,” which suddenly made me want to explain what that really means.

Once upon a time.
There was a job seeker who was accomplished, smart and very professional. He had so much to offer. He had a wonderful personality, had been very involved in various activities, and thus, knew lots of people. Yet, he could not find a job. Why? Because nobody knew him.
I’m sure you are thinking: “What is she talking about? She said he knew lots of people.”
Ahh, but there is a difference between the two. You can know thousands of people, and yet, if you aren’t connecting with them and making sure they are aware of your unique career identity, then the hard truth is they don’t know you and can’t help you find a job.

Why does this matter?
Well, if you are job seeking right now, then you’ve surely heard the industry statistic that says currently 80% of all jobs are being landed via referral. That means, someone you know most likely knows about a job that would be a fit for you. BUT, they may not know you well enough to connect the two.
If you want to find a job, you need to market your ‘company-of-one.’ And every good marketer knows, when times are tough and sales are down, you must do the following:
. Get real clear on who your target audience is.
. Build a strong, positive message they won’t forget.
. Get out there and spread the message as much as you can.
Most job seekers have #1 and #2 covered. Their resume is polished, their cover letters are well-written and they even have their Facebook and LinkedIn accounts up and running. But, it’s #3 where the majority of job seekers grind to a halt. This is where the excuses come in: “I can’t call employers,” and “I’ll feel stupid asking my friends for help. Besides, they know I’m looking for a job.” And my all-time favorite, “I don’t want to seem desperate.”
If this is how you feel, then it sends a strong message about how little you actually value the professional services you provide. I’m not asking you to be pushy and overly confident. In fact, there are many people who are overdoing it in that department right now. All I am asking is for you to be proud of your skills enough to want to effectively spread the word about them.
I realize your mind is racing right now. The idea of putting yourself in the position to be judged by others has the appeal of eating worms. But trust me, like anything in life, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Besides, for you those of you that watch Man vs. Wild, you know when food is scarce, you eat what will sustain you. (Actually, that guy has eaten some crazy stuff!)

And here’s some good news:
Unlike the marketing of most products and services, there are two things in this situation that work in your favor:
. The people you are contacting recognize they could be in the same position as you one day.
. Helping a person find a job is a great feeling and doesn’t require much more than a recommendation by e-mail or phone. You are still going to have to make it through the interview and get the job on your own.

So, here’s what you need to do:
Logistically, job seekers need to be connecting and promoting their career identity to at least 10 people per day. Otherwise, they can expect their job search process to be drawn out. If you are having trouble reaching that number on a daily basis, then besides the traditional forms of networking, here are two additional ways:
. Build your personal brand on Twitter. (You can sign up to receive step-by-step instructions on how to do this.)
. Create an Interview Bucket List. (Watch video that explains this concept.)

In Summary
Finding your next job is going to boil down to making a good, lasting impression on as many people as you can. It’s the best way to ensure they think of you when they hear about an opportunity that might match your skills and experience. At the end of your next job search day, the only thing that should be assessed is the quality of the connections you’ve made.
So, I ask you. How many people know YOU as a result of what you did today?

Ed.Note: J.T. O’Donnell is a nationally syndicated career strategist and founder of the career news and perspective site, CAREEREALISM, where free tools and resources for the savvy professional are made available daily. O’Donnell can be reached via Twitter at twitter.com/jtodonnell and by e-mail at info@careerealism.com.

My friend J.T. O’Donnell is a recognized career coach, nationally syndicated career columnist and genuine thought leader in the career coaching space. The kicker text or slogan to her blog Careerealism is genius. Hers: Because every job is temporary. JobDig’s: Because Everyone Should Dig Their Job. Both are lots better than Monster’s slogan: We Will Overwhelm You With Un-Qualified Resumes. That is another story.

She had an interesting post the other day about escapism at work. Her point is that escapism is alive and well as evidenced by our fascination with all things reality on TV and the rise our unique ability to mind-escape our often tedious and thankless jobs. An excerpt:

The definition even goes on to attribute escapism with the creation of a whole host of industries including, fiction literature, music, sports, films, television, role-playing games, pornography, religion, recreational drugs, the internet and computer games. Yep, escapism is alive and well in America, just look at this article by the satirical genius over at The Onion, or the fact that Dancing With the Stars got the highest ratings last week with a whopping 21M+ viewers. (FYI – I was one of them.) It’s a fact: escapism is on the rise.

I guess the good news (and potentially a strategic bit career advice) is that jobs in escapism industries will be in good shape. So, if you are looking for a career with growth potential, I suggest targeting one of the fields above.

I have never thought of my own mindless wanderings as being something close to escapism, but now I have a better name than A-D-D for it. Instead of not being able to focus, I am using this “skill” to figure out new creative solutions to as-yet ill-defined problems.

Since we all do this…tell me YOU don’t daydream at work!!…JT is asking us for our best escapism career choice. In other words, if you could, what would you do? She is holding a contest here and is soliciting ideas. (I smell another book, JT) The winner gets $1,000 worth of JT’s coaching.