Job Discussion Forums

[Samantha]

Same old tune, slightly different song.... Who is this relentless person that keeps making new websites and asking for money to be sent ahead to a Paypal account in exchange for job leads? (See the job advert forum, don't make me say it. )

The previous website disappears and a new website is built. (Go Bravenet!) The first red flag of several, is that the bottom of the webpage claims they/he/she have been registered since 2001. WRONG. Upon checking the dot com registration, they actually registered it less than 2 weeks ago. Hmmm. May I make another suggestion if you have $20.00 to throw away?

[ls650]

I've wondered how many people fall for these scams. I suppose it takes just a few suckers to pay for the scammer's expenses.

[Guy Courchesne]

http://www.teachermexconnect.com/ in case anyone is wondering.

I've never heard of these guys before. Samantha, you say that this something ongoing? What other sites have been created?

[Samantha]

That's my point, nobody has heard of it. The last one as you must recall, wanted $20.00 for a SEP test that doesn't exist, so that applicants could be considered for all those really high paying jobs we who work here know rarely exist. After recent discussion on this board, and a new poster briefly joining to defend them, that particular webpage vanished.

This particular "connect" didn't exist two weeks ago. It shows registered to a woman in Ontario, Canada. The common theme seems to be use of the word "connect", Canada and need for $20.00 to be sent, this time to a YAHOO.ca account. Wonder if Revenue Canada knows about this long-time, upstanding business?

Please.. nothing adds up on this website. The site was registered two weeks ago, the bottom of the jobs page says registered in 2001, while the text in the page claims they have been doing this in Mexico since 1999.

I will spend my $20.00 on an evening out while watching the glorious sun set on the Pacific ocean. Guaranteed a better return for the money. I will bet you $20.00 though that this latest is a come-on to grab $20.00. Anyone up for losing $40.00?

[Guy Courchesne]

I'm game. I've got 20 bucks in a paypal account to spend just to find out. Hey, you never know...maybe I'll find a better job. Now where'd I put my resume?

I'll report back later this week

[Samantha]

Oh fun! Right! Okay so please keep a time-line for us as to responses, job lists etc or we may have to assume the worst, knowing you are from Ontario, Canada... LOL..

[Julieanne]

Well Samantha,
I know some people from the group of teachers that put this company together and you completely ASS-U-ME everything.
I can give you some insight and next time maybe you will not be so quick to judge.
1 They had to change their email because there were many viruses coming in
2 They have not registered another site before so you are wrong in saying the site changes, only their email
3 They have been a company since 2001, it is only the site that is new
4 Yes, the owner is from Ontario, so? But they are located in Monterrey.
5 They do find jobs for people, that is a fact, just like teachmexico.com but they charge $300
6 Guy? You are making comment, that is funny. Arent you in the same business, claiming the same things

[Samantha]

Amongst other things, one thing I did assume correctly is that we would hear from you again. In fact I should have bet on it.

[Julieanne]

Looks like you may have a similiar business and you try to stir up trouble.
Of course you would hear from me again. They got me a job and I have kept in touch. Something wrong with that? I dont like when people spread bad things about people they dont know about.
Nobody is doing it with whomever you are representing, Samantha.

[Samantha]

I am a teacher in Mexico and perfectly capable of finding my own jobs after living here for several years. Not everyone is, however, since it takes time to become established. I do, most certainly, feel bad for the companies conducting legitimate business in this area or the unsuspecting, prospective teachers who are affected by opportunistic behavior of others. I am sure I am not alone in that. In fact, thank you for confirming that this latest $20.00 scheme is connected to the previous one. Big surprise.

Furthermore, there IS NO similar business which advertises all these high-paying jobs and requests $20.00 to be prepaid in order to write an online test that your buddies claimed on the website as being required by SEP. That was bizarre, and when red flags quickly went up that website disappeared as fast as it had appeared (not before people sent money).

I can tell you that those of us teaching in Mexico know there is no such test for English teachers required by SEP. but how were prospective teachers to know this? How can you continue to tell us that this was on the up and up, sounding as if you were an insider and not just "keeping in touch" as you claim. The website would still be there touting those supposed high paying jobs, if that in fact had been the case. e.g. Guy's website is still there, the Guadalajara site is still there. the Teach English Mexico site is still there, etc....all complete with addresses and phone numbers. This latest "send $20.00" has no location or phone number listed on it, but I`m sure you are well aware of that.

So, all I can say is thanks again for confirming that this is the same operation. I am awaiting Guys confirmation to the forum that he actually received a job vacancy list in exchange for his $20.00, and I am then going to offer my time to check out the validity of each and every job vacancy listed and report that back to the forum. I hope you will have no problem with that, in light of your comments, and in fact you should probably welcome it in order to clear things up.

[Julieanne]

Samantha,
I spoke with Alison about your thread, and she told me feel free to write her about specific information regarding any of the posts on her site.
[email protected] They are all legit and can be proven.
She is unimpressed however by Guy, who is in the same business, playing games and wasting her time by sending her a false Resume, just to see if he gets a job. It is not fair to the real applicants. I dont think he would like someone to that with his company. Then he is supposed to report back to this forum and say whether he got the job or not? What would be the proof of that I ask, especially coming from someone in the competition. There must be a better way to see if their jobs exist.

[Samantha]

This is getting quite hilarious. Sales 101: $20.00 is $20.00 no matter who sends it. Odd she would consider anyone sending money to be a waste of her time. Hello? Isn't that the name of the game...we send you $20.00 and you send us job information as promised on the website?

So you are telling this forum that asking for prepayment of $20.00 over the internet for a "government test" was legit?

None of these other businesses, including Guy's, appear to operate in this manner, so that's a very thin smokescreen to throw up. Good grief, already.

[Julieanne]

I suggest you write her directly. I am not going to get into the details about the Government test, but in short anybody from this forum that paid for it was returned their money. The wrong posting went to this Website. It was a specific school for a specific group of teachers requesting the test. It was not meant for this site but accidents happen and it was stopped within a few days, pulled from the site by Alison and money was returned. That can all be proven.
It is not the point of fee but the principal. The owner and reps. are aware of it and are shrugging it off to bad tactics by the competition, and so they are reviewing the current Resumes to weed out the false one. That is, Samantha, wasting their time, $20 or not and is not fair to the applicants.
Nobody ever said that Guys company is not legit, you are turning the accusation around. I am sure his company is wonderful but you do not know anything, about Alisons company and you are very misinformed and I dont understand why dont you write her directly with your concerns.

[Samantha]

1. If what you say is true, then why did you not post that very information about the refunds to this forum instead of defending that situation as legitimate at the time? Or when I first posted this query? See your past posts to refresh your memory.

2. Your theory of false resumes remains to be seen. It didn't sound as if Guy was going to send anything other than his own resume. You really do seem to be close to the source here. I actually think Guy was trying to do you (or whoever) a favor by proving MY theory wrong. Attacking him was probably not the best PR tactic you could have used at this stage.


3. Please don't assume that I know nothing of this mysterious operation because you are wrong. Also, suffice it to say that I (and others) did try to get a response from whoever the real person is on numerous occasions, to no avail. That led me to do some checking on those very tall promises of wonderful high paying jobs. When the site was removed, I let it go, however this latest round of "send $20.00" has resurrected the whole issue of ethics or lack thereof. (And FYI, I know of no school that charges for any kind of Spanish test administered when hiring a qualified English teacher. Please let us know which school or system does this, because I guarantee you from futile attempts that this won't be answered privately.)

[Julieanne]

Samantha,
You seem to find everything a conspiracy, like that the owner is from Ontario big mystery I am going to call Revenue Canada, I mean come on, and that I am close to the source, yes they are my friends so? You should never post untrue things that emails dont get answered, that cant be true because I know that Alison is glued to the computer as we chat all the time. Maybe your email was very aggressive, it wouldnt surprise me you seem to be certainly set in your opinion no matter what someone would say to tell you the sky is blue.
The last thing I will say is that you are being unfair to the company.