islandwanderlust-blog - Tumblr blog

islandwanderlust-blog · 5 years

Text

Scams scams scams!

Just in the latest news on my “trying to get the fuck out of Dodge” .... As a quick warning, the VI Department of Labor isn’t without its bullshit scams and fake job opportunities. So please be weary.

Received a text (yes, a phone text) concerning a job. They stated they saw my resume posted on the VI Department of Labor website and thought I was a great fit. The lady stated she was from the company “Eastman Chemicals”, gave her name, said the job was an admin/data entry position paying $30.75/hour, full employee with benefits, not contract.

I laughed at first. When does data entry pay that much?!?! I searched her name on LinkedIn and surprisingly it came up, along with working at Eastman. .... OK She then said to message this gentleman on Google Hangouts, so they could conduct an online interview. .... OK I messaged him. I also looked him up on LinkedIn, too, and his name came up and matched. He told me about the company, asked me questions, then verified my name/email/address and said to message him the next day and wait for an email from the HR department so they could look over everything and possibly send me new hire paperwork. .... OK

Too many red flags. Google Hangouts? Hm, no. I also looked up the Eastman email format and everything they gave me either ended in the wrong @ or they were gmail accounts made to look professional. A quick Google search also indicated that the Eastman interviewing process is quite lengthy, as its a HUGE company. I even asked the “interviewer” why the email addresses were completely different and he stated for privacy reasons until the person is actually hired. Which was a lie as you can easily do a search and find all the Eastman employees company emails online. So whats with the “privacy”? LOL

So, following instructions, I messaged the gentleman at the time he specified and I did receive the email. It was two forms to sign and send back to them. One, a privacy statement, and another accepting the position. Both looked incredibly legit, I won’t lie. But there were red flags I noticed, such as different sized fonts, large spaces between paragraphs that were uneven, lack of important personal details like my address, etc. However aside from that, they made everything look realistic.

I was “assigned” an online supervisor and was to message him at, yet another, made up supervisor gmail address on Hangouts. He was straight and to the point, obviously cut and pasting instructions and was seemingly rude. I said I would look over the forms and email them back ASAP.

All of this left a bad taste in my mouth. Too many signs of being a scam, no real personal interview, and all in all, too much bullshit.

In order to find out for myself, I basically just emailed the company. I sent them a message on their website and mentioned the ladies name who supposedly text me and then the gentleman who supposedly interviewed me. The lady actually called me and left me a voicemail. Remember - she was the one who “text” me about the job. She said that she did not contact me about a job, that the gentleman was not the one who interviewed me and that they do not do any interviews online, especially in Google Hangouts.

*BOOM*

I know the ending of this whole job scam would have been them sending me a W2 form, saying to please fill this out and send it back and .... low and behold.... some twats in another country have my social security number!

Part of me wants to fill shit out, or at least fake it, and see how far they go. The rude “supervisor” stated something about meeting in order to go through training. Um... meeting? Wha??

Anyways.

Just a lesson learned. Scammers will take shit insanely far in order to get your information.

.................................. but in better news

One of the places who contacted me earlier last week finally emailed back and wants to do a phone interview this weekend.

Fuck yes.

And a best friend might make the trek with me in a couple weeks to check it all out.

Fingers crossed!

#usvi #st thomas #st john #virgin islands #vacation #islands #trip #scammer #fake

0 notes

islandwanderlust-blog · 5 years

Text

I moved to Texas for a job almost 3 years ago. I was excited to get out of Idaho after my last real relationship didn’t work out. I was a Detroit chick stuck in a hick town where everyone new that I met made a joke about “potatoes”.

Unexpectedly, I ended up in the gun related field and thats how I ended up in the gun-friendly state of Texas (go figure). Its not my perfect cup of tea, but it got me out of I-Duh-hoe and I happily packed my shit and drove 3 days to (yet again) start a new life in a new state.

Its been almost 3 years and I’m antsy again, and to be honest, I’ve been like this for over a year now.

In April, while abroad on a vacation to Ireland, my employer decided to do the asshole thing and fire me while I was on my trip. ... in an email. I always knew that the workplace was toxic, but I didn’t expect them to stoop so low and be that shitty to an employee. But then again, I didn’t really expect much else from a company where the owner would be completely lost if all the employees up and left - he knew nothing about our positions. We had to fight for vacation time and when I finally got to take a REAL vacation, it ended up with me on unemployment.

Awesome.

But maybe its for the best. I’m now applying to jobs in the US Virgin Islands and this blog will be my struggles with, well, all of it. The searching, the bitching, the research, the learning, the dreams and wishes, and hopefully the move.

So I’ve been unemployed since the end of April and its now the end of July. Since July rolled around, I’ve started to search for jobs on Craigslist, Facebook, and then I was lucky enough to find the Virgin Islands Dept of Labor, where a ton of jobs are listed. Take note! Jobs do legally have to be advertised there, so its a great spot to upload your resume and also apply.

Facebook also has quite a few groups for those looking for jobs and apartments.

Speaking of....

Apartments are hell to find. Won’t lie.

Everything is super expensive and the lack of selection is alarming, but Facebook is a great spot for looking... and SeaGlass, which is especially great if you have the option to buy. But buying isn’t on the top of my list, and it really never is. I move so much that purchasing a home has never been something that I WANT to do in life. Everyone grows up wanting to get married, have kids, and buy a home. I just want to find someone to settle down with and travel.

In Texas, I finally had to purchase actual furniture. Now, I’m hoping to move and will basically start all over again, fresh, and sell all that I’ve accumulated - because I’m sick of talking about living a stress free life. Sick of dreaming of living in the islands, away from the bullshit, and crap jobs.

I’ll be 39 next weekend and I’m back to looking for a roomate, how funny is that?

St Thomas is first on my list. St John being second due to the close proximity to Thomas. St Croix being third as its the furthest away from anything else and less touristy. I rather love the idea of always meeting new people, them asking “So where do you live?” as they assume I’m also on vacation. I want to wake up to a gorgeous view (preferrably in the hills as I have a paranoia of some Tsunami blasting thru and flooding the lower beaches) and have a job where it pays the bills but lets me just wear flip flops and see the beach on a daily basis.

So.... the job hunt has started. I received 1 reply asking about my (now expired) knowledge of CPR and water activities, and then received 1 reply today, inquiring on my living situation and if moving, when. I tried to sound upbeat, as me and a friend are currently planning on taking a short 4/5 day trip down in the next couple weeks, but things are obviously dependent on if I can find employment. Employment while stateside, not the easiest. Some employers are expecting you to -come- fill out applications while there, so even if I fill out one during my trip, the finding out IF I got a job offer seems almost impossible unless they can fit me into an interview within those few days.

Scams, I’m finding, area also popular with sites like FB And Craigslist. I received the same reply from two different job postings, asking for my information. Both were from different names, but they stated the same stuff. I looked up the companies they listed but were no where to be found on Google so if you think theres a red flag - 99% of the time, listen to your instinct. It probably IS a scam. This goes with apartments and places to rent also. I placed a Craigslist ad for a room/apt but did NOT state I was a single female and DID state that I would like to see a website, if not that, I’ll need references to speak to in order to make sure its legitimate.

People post in forums that its expensive to live down there, so I’ve got my Google spreadsheet started with what I’ll need to make in order to pay what bills I’ll still have, a list of items to take and what I’ll need to buy, a list of what I’ve read I’ll need (from other expats and reading about their learning curves) and possibly what vehicle payment I can afford after I’m over the whole taxi/bus situation.

Honestly, my biggest obstacle is everything thats here in Texas. I still have an apartment, lease is not up until March. I still have my car, lease is not up until April. The apartment complex will not let me out of my lease early for any reason, so subletting will be my only choice. The car, well, I can give the lease up to someone most likely, if a friend would like to take over payments. Otherwise, I have no issue selling everything I own and taking whats just needed with me, shipping the larger important things. I figure selling things would also give me a bit of money to pay bills or get to USVI in the meantime.

.... thats it for my first blog post and rambling. I’ll try and keep everyone posted and up to date on this insane move if I can keep the momentum going and get out there asap :)

#usvi #expat #moving #virgin islands #st thomas #st john #wanderlust

1 note · View note