WORKING

OF AND
RELATING TO
LABOR




How To Get Rich Quick
Newspapers, Rather Than Job Seekers, Make a Fast Buck from Irresponsible Help-Wanted Ads

by Doug Collins
The Free Press

Lotto is not the only way to make easy money. In the help-wanted ads in most newspapers, you can find glowing promises of independence, interesting work and easy megabucks. If you are young, unemployed or professionless, such ads can seem very attractive.
A survey of a few local newspapers, however, reveals help-wanted ads shadier than an old-growth forest that offer no actual employment.
One recent ad in the Employment Paper, a Puget Sound area job-hunter's weekly, challenged readers with the words "BE YOUR OWN BOSS" and gave an in-state address to contact for information. Here is an excerpt from the information received:
"Each person who joins our association commits to sending only $4 every month to six other associates, as well as a $6 monthly processing fee. Networking principles are then used to enroll new associates who will, in turn, send you monthly gifts."
Local postal inspection official Norman Green terms this a "chain-letter/pyramid scheme, the oldest type of mail fraud," and called it "relatively harmless." Even if they are located, the pharaohs of the pyramid schemes are almost never prosecuted.
Other ads seem to offer specific types of work, but in fact do not. Another Employment Paper ad claimed "$1,000 Per Week Possible ... Process Mail at Home!" If you responded to the ad, you probably received a sales brochure for a $19.95 how-to book.
According to the Better Business Bureau, people who pay for such books often simply receive instructions on how they themselves can place bogus employment ads in other newspapers. Money-back guarantees mean little, since organizations can change addresses easily.
Taken to its absurd extreme, a "process mail at home" scam continues until everyone is placing bogus ads in every possible newspaper. To increase their ad revenues, many newspapers will certainly turn a blind eye to numerous scams and other exaggerated or vague job offers.
The Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer help-wanted classifieds list a number of questionable ads under the heading of Independent Agents/ Employment Alternatives.
My recent favorite: "SPEAK AND GROW RICH - National human potential firm offers long term careers to aggressive sales professionals." The ad includes no mention of the company name nor of the product to be sold. Vague ads for sales jobs are often of the "multilevel marketing" variety such as Amway, in which people are recruited to buy a load of a product and then resell it to acquaintances or through other connections. Recruits not uncommonly find themselves stuck with a basement full of water purifiers, home security alarms or the next hot item.
To duck responsibility for dishonest schemes, most newspapers print some form of disclaimer. The Capitol Hill Times, which prints ads comparable to those mentioned above, writes wishy-washily, "Some advertisers in this section are promoting opportunities leading to work positions. Pacific Media Group [the publisher] encourages readers to evaluate all details."
Newspapers are not the only source of scam advertising. In modern years, the same types of ads have appeared on computer bulletin boards. One job seeker told the Free Press that of the job ads seen on the Compuserve network, in his estimate "probably 30-to-40 percent are come-ons."
He said large companies, especially long-distance carriers, are behind some pyramid-like schemes which involve recruiting people to sign up for a specific carrier, and in exchange receiving long-distance discounts. These schemes are advertised on computer networks as fast-cash employment opportunities, yet will yield little income, even in the way of long-distance savings.
On the bright side, no paper is wasted in printing these computer ads.
Some people may be quick to call for tougher legal measures against employment ad scams. However, it would be much more effective if newspapers and other media were held responsible to refuse questionable ads.







NAFTA Faces Judicial Hurdle
A federal judge has ruled that an environmental impact statement is necessary before the North American Free Trade Agreement can become law. The Clinton Administration, hoping to pass NAFTA quickly, has appealed the ruling.
One problem with NAFTA is that it will put downward pressure on wages in the U.S. and Canada, as the average manufacturing wage in Mexico is only $1.85. Even more frightening is the probable environmental effect of NAFTA, the reason for the federal ruling. Dumping of untreated toxic waste is widespread in Mexico.
According to a report by the AFL-CIO, there have been 50 cases of anencephaly - babies born with no brain - since 1989 in the Brownsville/Matamoros area, the largest cluster ever recorded. In addition to increasing environmental damage in Mexico, NAFTA would put pressure on the U.S. and Canada to ease environmental regulations.
Various labor and environmental organizations are urging citizens to write to U.S. Congress members and President Clinton asking for a "no" vote on NAFTA.







Talk About Work!
Are you feeling jaded by the soft-porn topics seen on the Geraldo and Montel shows? As an antidote, the PBS affiliate KBTC of Tacoma will put out a weekly audience-participation talk show on labor issues. The half-hour program, Shoptalk, will be available free of charge to all PBS stations beginning in January 1994 (although the decision to carry the program is made by each individual station).
Issues to be discussed during the first season include health care reform, economic conversion (changing from a military to a peacetime economy) and toxic chemicals in the workplace. Contact the Washington State Labor Council at 206-281-8901 for more information.

NEXT MONTH: Genes on the Job

If you have concerns about your work environment, contact Doug Collins c/o WAfreepress@gmail.com. Please include your phone number. Your identity will be kept confidential in any published report, unless you request otherwise.



[Home] [This Issue's Directory] [WFP Index] [WFP Back Issues] [E-Mail WFP]

Contents on this page were published in the September , 1993 edition of the Washington Free Press.
WFP, 1463 E. Republican #178, Seattle, WA -USA, 98112. -- WAfreepress@gmail.com
Copyright © 1993 WFP Collective, Inc.