the e-bay scam thread got me thinking about an Internet listing for an unbelievable job offer: a three month sailing expedition in the Caribbean. bear with me here, I'm going to explain how I came across this listing and what I have done so far in response. here was the original ad, posted on http://houston.craigslist.org "Crew/staff needed for our sailing/filming expedition. We will film remote, uninhabited islands in the south Caribbean for preservation work. A film and book will be published. Safest boats: complete with email, sat-phones and licensed captains. POSITIONS AVAILABLE: Deck hands, videographers, cooks, photographers, writers, students, medical personnel, climbers, general labor, office personnel, teachers….... (Traveling support staff will fly commercial airlines to supply crew at various islands along the route.) Three month commitment required. Avg. Pay: $3,000/Month plus all expenses and travel. We are an educational and research institute. Positions are funded through grants and scholarships. We look forward to hearing from you Historic Sailing Institute PO Box 32 Maple Valley, WA 98038 or email: crew@historicsailing.net www.historicsailing.net Please include your mailing address with email or mail. Compensation: $3000/month I checked out their website and it seems pretty simple, not an extravagant site, but then again I'm no web designer. I went ahead and sent my resume, and this was their reply: Historic Sailing Institute, Inc. Federal ID #05-0599753 Education/Research/Exploration Thank you for your interest in applying for a position with Historic Sailing Institute, Inc. Please allow us to tell you about our company and about our job opportunities for the 2005 sailing season. HSII has two divisions: a for profit division and a not for profit division. Historic Sailing Foundation, Inc. is the “Not For Profit” division. The “Institute” creates the income stream to support the Foundation through charter sailing trips, sales of research information, and dozens of other commercial activities. The “Institution” (for profit) to keeps the “Foundation” funded. The Foundation does the fun work. As crew and staff, you will be working for the Foundation. Although, the application package says, “Historic Sailing Institute, Inc.” on the cover page, you will receive your pay checks from the Foundation. We fund these positions through grants and scholarships. WE believe that we offer a unique employment opportunity. We sail beautifully restored sailing vessels (and a few new boats) from which we conduct research in the most pristine areas on the planet. We have developed a hiring process which ensures that we match the right applicant to the positions we need to fill. We also believe in offering this opportunity to as many people as possible in a given sailing season. One of our missions, is to teach sailing, history and preservation. Offering positions to a wide variety of people helps achieve this goal. We are looking for a wide variety of people. Offering this opportunity to older and younger, skilled and unskilled, and to formally educated and informally educated people might help our global community. As more people become involved with our work and our causes, they will carry the torch and champion causes that are important to them. We also believe that giving many people the opportunity to crew, or provide support to the crew, will help us gain momentum in our work and causes. We believe that it is important to preserve sailing history as it relates how the world was explored and populated. We further believe that we should assist in the preservation of a few uninhabited islands and fragile reefs. THIS Season we will be working on two projects: Filming a documentary of the Island of Nevis(in the Caribbean) and following the sailing routes of Captain George Vancouver through Puget Sound up to Alaska. The Institute was founded by David Long. David has been an intrepid explorer throughout his lifetime. He has climbed numerous mountains, participating in projects funded by the National Geographic and the National Science Foundation. He is a revered firefighter, receiving recognition from congressional leaders. He is a successful entrepreneur, and he has championed many causes. David was featured in the August 2001 issue of Reader’s Digest, and has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine and several other publications. We have written an information booklet that describes our company and explains the application process. If you emailed us your mailing address, we will send you a booklet in a few days. If you did not send us your mailing address, Jill Jackson will email you asking that you send it. We look forward to reviewing your application. Please understand that it takes several weeks to process an application. It is time consuming to read them, conduct background and reference checks and compare the applications to job openings. We ask for your patience, we will notify you as soon we have thoroughly evaluated your application. Thank you for your interest! The crew and staff of Historical Sailing Institute, Inc. they sent me the package, which means they opened my resume because that is where my mailing address could be found. so I know SOMEONE has seen my resume. there are two reasons why I am still skeptical: 1. they have PO Box in Montana, a mailing address in Seattle, and they are posting on Craigslist Houston 2. they want $15 with the APPLICATION REQUEST form and once I receive the official app, THEN I pay a $25 application processing fee. do I trust this company? they insure that the $25 covers background checks and medical insurance is provided by the company if selected. I have already expressed interest through e-mail. i now have to fill out a request form only to have to wait for an app, then send it back and wait for GOD Knows to contact me for an "interview in Seattle" this is one manifesto, but I can't decide what to do, this dream job is calling me! help me out BBSers 110
I did a WhoIs lookup for HISTORICSAILING.NET: Contact this person to find out more: historicsailing.net Back-order this name Registrant: JillJackson (PLGGQGBBCD) 1264 Othello sw Seallte, WA 98106 US Domain Name: HISTORICSAILING.NET Administrative Contact, Technical Contact: Internet Domain Administrator (ID4616-ORG) domains@COVAD.NET 2330 Central Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95050-2516 US 800-462-6823 fax: 408-844-7501 Record expires on 11-Jan-2005. Record created on 11-Jan-2004. Database last updated on 6-May-2004 21:09:16 EDT. Domain servers in listed order: NS1.COVAD.NET 216.251.45.139 NS2.COVAD.NET 64.29.158.54
If it is the same Jill Jackson in Seattle with the phone number 206-658-8181, she is also a lesbian: http://www.lrc.net/calend.htm
talk about resourceful, MEOWGI, you're full of info! not sure if it helps, but it's a start. thanks for the lookup
Could be a two-fold scam - the information you put in your application could get them enough personal info to steal your identity. The small amounts for processing fees might just be a side benefit for them. Sounds too fishy for me.
They may be totally legit, but the whole "processing fee" stuff would really cut into my enthusiasm. Use common sense, and you'll be fine. Good luck!
I could not find an entry for them at the Better Business Bureau, nor at snopes. It all sounds very nice except this: how is it that can pay their crew so well but are not willing to take on overhead in application costs which are standard in every business? Not to mention the fact that no company would bother with background and reference checks until they were actually interested in hiring. Scam.
It could be that they want to make sure you are serious about applying. It helps weed out folks who would otherwise apply.
Positions are funded through grants and scholarships. Ask them to identify who's providing the grants and contact those people to see if its legit.
Has anybody ever had to give a "processing fee" to allow you to apply for a job? Never heard of that.
I tried googling them and all I get hits for are their job ads and that's under Historic Sailing Institute. Searching for the Foundation, I get nothing at all. Supposedly, they have a for-profit side that does charter sailing trips and dozens of other commercial activities. Why does the commerical side have no web presence? Their home website is not set up yet. Why doesn't anybody talk about them? I assume they just take your $40 and send you a rejection letter.
I thought I saw an investigation on channel 13 in regards to a company making you pay for processing and/or supplies to do the job they are offering you. I recall them saying something like that being against the law.... Sound familiar to any one else?
thanks for the suggestions you guys. this looks way too shady and some guy is probably sailing around the world with peoples money as we speak. ...still looking for that dream job, the one that will take me to exotic ends of the earth in the name of goodwill and education, or the Rockets would do fine. 110
