Potential employer requesting personal copies of credit report

[Rabid Renaissance]

My better half is applying for jobs and recently received the same form letter response, signed by the same person, for two different job postings that did not appear to be related based on their descriptions. Both of these form letters include a request for her to send in a copy of her credit report (along with suggestions for her to obfuscate her social security number and account numbers) for the next round of screening. Not a request to sign a waiver so that they can run a report on her. They want her to send her own copy in.

So some red flags are certainly going up for me, as investigating internet fraud is a lot of what I do for a living, but this employer or the firm that they've hired to screen applicants could just be ignorant, lazy, or too cheap to pay to run their own employment reports on their applicants.

In this economy, we may not have the luxury of passing over ignorant/lazy/cheap potential employers, but I would like to make sure we pass over any criminally fraudulent ones. My concern is that if she expresses concern about their credit report screening practices, she may end up sabotaging her chances to get hired. On the other hand, by providing some constructive criticism about the practice, she may impress them and end up improving her chances.

Is this a common practice these days for legit employers? It seriously makes my paranoid skin crawl, and the potential for applicants to forge or tamper with the reports that they submit makes them pretty much useless. The employer would need to run their own report anyway to make sure the information was accurate. If they're going to do that, why ask for a copy from the applicants?

[wring]

It's becomming more the rage. Same w/background checks, too (asking the applicant to purchase it). the only scam I heard of was an "employer" who asked the applicant to give him the $10 for the background check (it was off Craigs list, which to me was a red flag in the first place). Other scams I know of include the deal where they offer you a sales position, but you must purchase the 'training supplies' or whatever to the tune of several hundred bucks.

One thing that makes me less concerned is that they're suggesting that she obliterate the SS #s and Account numbers, (I'd obliterate, then make a copy of it to give them, myself).
Can you do a search of the co?

[Radical Edward]

A bill collector for one of my credit cards told me this summer that some employers will check your credit history, and if you haven't paid they won't hire you because they'll think you're irresponsible. I told her that they'd understand when they saw how long I'd been unemployed, but it didn't really make me feel any better. For my new job I had to submit to a full background check and drug screens and such, and it all came out ok. So I assume I was right. But no, they didn't ask me to provide it or pay for it. I would have refused if they had.

[Rabid Renaissance]

She since arrived home from work so I've been able to read the email and check out two "companies" that appear to be involved. I now have no doubt it is a scam.

I was mistaken about the instructions included, and they do not specifically suggest obfuscating any account numbers:

Hi,

Thank you for inquiring about our recent job opening. I have overlooked your resume briefly and I actually think we could use you for this position. However before we continue could you forward me over a credit report and reference? You can blank out sensitive information such as your SSN or DOB with the credit report. If you need a free credit report, visit the freecreditreport website and just print it out and email it to us. If you would like to send your report via fax, send it to <number snipped>. Your credit score is slightly factored into you getting the job, as it is used as an outlined for responsibility. If potential employees are not responsible with their credit, what else aren't they responsible with? Those are the type of questions we ask ourselves when looking over resumes and applications. If you don't have the best credit in the world that is completely fine, as we simply look for improvement over the past couple of years and we offer ways to help our employees improve their financial situation during this tough economic time. Again you can blank out your sensitive information such as your social security number and date of birth, but we need to be able to see any type of delinquencies on the report. I would love to bring you in for an interview as there is a good possibility I could hire you on the spot, so be sure to get this information to me as soon as possible. For your reference, please give me the number of someone I can call and just ask a couple of questions about you regarding character and work ethic. A close friend or relative is fine. Thanks!

Two company names were listed in the email, one of which was also referenced in the domain of the email address used in the response. Both of the web sites are identical, and both have only one functional page thanking the visitor for their interest in a job posting, listing a jobs@ contact address and asking visitors to upload their resume. Every other sub-page on their page is "under construction".

Further, the quoted email above included a "freecreditreport" hyperlink which redirected through one of the suspect domains, then bounces through what looks to be a third fraudulent/compromised domain, and then dumps you on what appears to be the legit freecreditreport dot com website.

I shall now be spending the next hour or so submitting abuse reports to Craigs List and their hosting providers.

[wring]

Yea, that letter is highly suspicious. Sounds to me like they're one of the bazillion or so companies that want to 'help' you fix your credit. I susp[ect that had you given it to them they would have been highly suggesting services to 'help' you with that and then they'd hire you.

And it was on Craigs list? bwhahahahaaha.

[DogMom]

I've gotten those too, and every single one of them advises me to go to "freecreditreport" or some other company wherein I have to PAY for a credit report. No, thank you so much, I won't. I can get an ABSOLUTELY FREE credit report at annualcreditreport.com, and when I emailed the company back to tell them I already had one and would they like to see it, they tried to tell me that I had to get a NEW one from THEIR site.

Another vote for SCAM.

[Rabid Renaissance]

We're looking to relocate to a relatively rural part of the state with a very small job market compared to Silicon Valley. Unfortunately that requires navigating CraigsList as one of the handful of sources for possible leads.

[wring]

Well, set your scam meter on extremely high, then. Every state has a FREE job posting service where legit employers can post jobs, scan resumes etc, connected w/the unemployment service - it probably is listed as "California Works!" or something like that. Even there, it's not a guarentee that there isn't some scummy aspect/

[nonny too]

As someone involved in the hiring process, I would highly recommend that you do not authorise background checks, credit checks, etc until you have been short-listed for the job. That information is not the advertiser's business until they are seriously considering offering you the position, and you should not be asked to authorise its collection until you've progressed beyond the first interview.

[Dragonlady]

If you're relocating to Northern California, maybe I can help. I'm near Redding. About 2 hours north of Sacramento on I-5. If you'll be within a couple hundred miles of here, I may be able to hook you up with other resources.

[The Superhero]

Originally Posted by Radical Edward

A bill collector for one of my credit cards told me this summer that some employers will check your credit history, and if you haven't paid they won't hire you because they'll think you're irresponsible. I told her that they'd understand when they saw how long I'd been unemployed, but it didn't really make me feel any better. For my new job I had to submit to a full background check and drug screens and such, and it all came out ok. So I assume I was right. But no, they didn't ask me to provide it or pay for it. I would have refused if they had.

Yeah, but a bill collector would say that if you don't pay them, honest-to-God Martians will beam down to your bedroom, cut off six of your toes and shove an 18-inch cucumber up your butt.

Bill collectors aren't interested in giving you meaningful, reliable or sensible information or advice - they just want to use any tactic they can think of, including harrassment, threats and outright lies to get you to pay them. That's all they care about.

[Muskrat Love]

Originally Posted by nonny too

As someone involved in the hiring process, I would highly recommend that you do not authorise background checks, credit checks, etc until you have been short-listed for the job. That information is not the advertiser's business until they are seriously considering offering you the position, and you should not be asked to authorise its collection until you've progressed beyond the first interview.

I was in the background check business, and a number of our clients did very basic background checks on everybody who applied - there was one check that was around $3 or so that would confirm that your name matched your social security and tell where you had lived over the last several years, and another that was around $5-$10 or so that did a very basic instant background check that would miss a lot of information (they only had records from about 2/3 of the counties in the USA, and felonies at the state level from around 47 states). I don't think it would hurt consent to a check at the application level, and many places won't consider you if you won't.

[wring]

Originally Posted by Badtz Maru

another that was around $5-$10 or so that did a very basic instant background check that would miss a lot of information (they only had records from about 2/3 of the counties in the USA, and felonies at the state level from around 47 states). I don't think it would hurt consent to a check at the application level, and many places won't consider you if you won't.

See, this doesn't make sense to me - I run background checks all the damn time on my clients, but just for our state. I've checked into several other states records and discovered:

1. Our State (MI) has much, much more info available on folks for free (though that's changed a tad in the past year or so)

2. Our State has very complete records available for a $10 fee.

3. Rarely do other states allow for a free check

4. Some require quite a bit of money and/or quite a bit of specific info (one, can't remember which, you had to specify which county you wanted checked).

So, I have always assumed that the advertised background checks aren't very complete and/or accurate.

[FilmGeek]

Originally Posted by The Superhero

Yeah, but a bill collector would say that if you don't pay them, honest-to-God Martians will beam down to your bedroom, cut off six of your toes and shove an 18-inch cucumber up your butt.

Which six toes? Need answer fast!

[nonny too]

Originally Posted by Badtz Maru

I was in the background check business, and a number of our clients did very basic background checks on everybody who applied - there was one check that was around $3 or so that would confirm that your name matched your social security and tell where you had lived over the last several years, and another that was around $5-$10 or so that did a very basic instant background check that would miss a lot of information (they only had records from about 2/3 of the counties in the USA, and felonies at the state level from around 47 states). I don't think it would hurt consent to a check at the application level, and many places won't consider you if you won't.

I don't trust organisations to protect my private data that much, I'm afraid. As things stand here, there are strict legal limits on the purposes for which unique Commonwealth identifiers (such as tax file numbers) can be collected and on the circumstances under which a police check can be run.

I'm not at all happy with the idea of any organisation being able to collect and retain highly confidential information about a couple of hundred candidates who didn't even get an interview, let alone with the idea of dozens of organisations having that money. By all means allow it to be collected from candidates who have a serious shot at getting the job, but not from the hundreds who do not.

As things stand, recruitment agencies do pre-screen their registered candidates - while that's less than ideal, they have a higher stake in keeping confidential information properly protected than your average small business does and most do remove that information from their system after a few months.

Almost every large employer here requires a health check before employment is confirmed. I'd be unhappy with people being required to disclose that information at the application stage, too.

[Radical Edward]

Originally Posted by The Superhero

Yeah, but a bill collector would say that if you don't pay them, honest-to-God Martians will beam down to your bedroom, cut off six of your toes and shove an 18-inch cucumber up your butt.

Bill collectors aren't interested in giving you meaningful, reliable or sensible information or advice - they just want to use any tactic they can think of, including harrassment, threats and outright lies to get you to pay them. That's all they care about.

Yeah, I know. What I don't understand is why they all ask you the same goddamn question every goddamn day. One particular card place would call me multiple times a day and ask, "Why has your account fallen behind?" Um, because I haven't had a job for 5 months, dipshit, just like I told you this morning, and last night, and three times the day before. Do they not make a note of it? Is it just a tactic to keep you talking for longer, thereby increasing your chances of committing to a payment? What they don't seem to understand is that when I say I don't have 14 dollars, I actually don't have 14 dollars. Not, I have 14 dollars but I"m going to spend it on something else. I DO NOT HAVE IT. If I did, I would probably put it toward my utilities because taking cold showers all the time sucks ass.

/END RANT

[BarbarianAtTheGate]

Originally Posted by wring

See, this doesn't make sense to me - I run background checks all the damn time on my clients, but just for our state. I've checked into several other states records and discovered:

1. Our State (MI) has much, much more info available on folks for free (though that's changed a tad in the past year or so)

2. Our State has very complete records available for a $10 fee.

Wring, can you point me to the web site where I could get this information on myself? Or, is it only available to State employees (I think I remember that you work for the State)?

I live in Michigan, and I'd like to see what turns up on my report. Mostly idle curiosity, but I'll be retiring next year and I may want to look for a part-time job just to force me out of bed in the mornings. Thanks.

[wring]

Don't work for the state, but a small non profit. here's teh site you'll need to 'register' (if you think you'd EVER use it again, write donw the info), I've never gotten spam from them (they've answered questions when I had 'em). and need to charge $10 toa credit card for EACH search, so make sure you don't do any stupid typos (like I'd have any ex[erience with that....) Anyone can access it, they just need to pay.

Word to the wise, however, it's a data bank, that searches first by last name (exact match) close match to first name and year of birth. One of the (imho) problems is that if you have a common name like John Smith, it's likely to return some one else's record, and you'd need some additional identifiers (no, it doesn't use social security number). It is especially important for those who have common names to find out what will pop up 'cause although employers are supposed to review it w./you, I suspect that many don't/won't.

[BarbarianAtTheGate]

Thanks, Wring. I'm off to see if I'm a felon or a deadbeat or...worse.

[wring]

No problem - let me know if there;s something there that shouldn't be. I know how to deal w./it.

[Baldwin]

RR, you're a good person to know. Glad your SO didn't get taken in.

So I start off being filled with rage just at the thought of corporations running credit checks on me before they even give me a job interview, then the scam angle crams a little more in there. God damn it. How the hell is that shit legal? Obviously the drug tests should be illegal, but so should the credit checks. Do the credit report companies just give that information to anybody who asks for it?

That makes me want to apply for a job, go through an interview process (knowing that the company is running a credit report on me), be offered the job, and then refuse it, showing my would-be boss the credit report I ran on him and pointing out the areas that give me concern that he's not sufficiently responsible to be acceptable to me.

[Rabid Renaissance]

These are some pretty good articles I found on the topic:

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm#7
http://www.esrcheck.com/articles/Cre...ob-Hunting.php

As a delayed update, my partner continued to receive a small rash of scam mails all with the same MO. Once her address had been shared/sold off as a target known to be looking for work and submitting resumes it got pretty thick but has gone quiet now. There was also one incident of harassment from a gmail address that I'm fairly sure was related. Using a name that we didn't recognize, someone wrote to her by name saying "Watch out, they are coming to get you.... Thats all I can say. Play it safe and you might make it. Good luck."

Needless to say, every craigslist account, email address, mail network, and domain implicated in this little cluster of crap has been tracked down and reported with full headers and all available evidence. It probably didn't slow them down at all, but it made me feel better.

[anson2995]

I'd be curious to hear from any people with HR experience why/how a credit report is useful for screening applicants. I can understand it for some jobs where someone is handling money, perhaps. But how do late payments when someone was out of work (like Radical Edward's case) or even a years old bankrupcy reflect on your suitability for employment?

I have worked for fortune 500 companies, startups, and a small family-owned business. Only the latter requested a credit report, which I consented to. They did hire me for a job as an advertising copywriter, but I'm stumped to imagine what they might have found there that would have caused them to pass me over.

I'm positive the old man who owned the business just did it because he was nosy.

[Dragonlady]

Mind the spam bot!

[SmartAleq]

It's only a problem if you're walking through the cornfield!

[KidVermicious]

What happened to the zombie smiley?

[Clothahump]

No legit company will ever ask a candidate to provide a credit report. They are phishing. The people who send them credit reports are in for a world of shit.

[ulfhjorr]

I'm sure there's a joke here about the turtle taking nearly 4 years to answer the OP...

[BJMoose]

Well, the phone kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing . . .

[severe delays]

Knock it off, Clothahump. *I'll* do the severe delays around here.