New Name Same Old Tricks
Three Stars is both a marketing and Web design company that utilizes cutting-edge technology to best identify and operate advertising strategies that are well-suited to a client’s needs.
Three Stars offers online marketing solutions that create brand awareness to help raise sales, lead generation and search engine optimization. A solid advertising and marketing plan is the key to gaining quality leads and business contacts.
The company also provides Web site design options for its clients. In today’s Internet-based business world, a well-designed Web site is essential for a company’s image and overall success.
They are calling themselves ThreeStarsInc on NowPublic, and they have recently registered another two domains at
- www.3StarsInc.com
- www.ThreeStarsInc.com
- www.ThreeStarsCommunity.com
- www.ThreeStarsCommunity.org,
- www.ThreeStarsEvents.com,
- www.ThreeStarsForums.com,
- www.ThreeStarsFoundation.com,
- www.ThreeStarsFoundation.org,
- www.ThreeStarsMedia.com,
- www.ThreeStarsPromotions.com,
- www.ThreeStarsTeam.com,
- www.3StarsTeam.com
- www.3StarsMedia.com
would have been enough, but no. Previously all these domains were pointed at the same site, but at the moment they all redirect to www.ThreeStarsInc.com
scamFRAUDalert™ Report 
I received an email very similar to those posted before. I remember filling out an application at instantemploymentonline.com in response to a craigslist posting by Danny Carignan. The email was received by valuable-employment.com which is registered to a company in VA with a phone number 570-708-8780 which apparently has been used in numerous scams. Here is what the email said:
We are currently seeking a personable HR Assistant to join our team. Candidate will assist with benefits enrollment, general admin duties, and miscellaneous filing. he or she must be a self-governed individual with the ability to handle multiple simultaneous deadlines.. This position offers $17.00 hourly and includes full benefits, which we will discuss at the time of your interview.
My Name, to avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few people. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am looking forward to hearing from you today, if at all possible. By selecting the hyperlink below, you can view more information about the position, benefits offered, our company, and send in your application as an interested applicant.
I would like to learn more about the Human Resources Assistant opening.
I hope to receive your application later today!
Best Regards,
L. Barclay
HR Director
Definitely a scam!!!
These people are so stupid that they have sent me several job offers under different company names and varied positions.
They are disgusting individuals scamming people in an economically uncertain time, and should be stopped.
MY emails came from C. Benn Human. Not C. Benn, Human resources. That made me suspicious first. It’s tough to respond because yes, they have your information from on line. I am not on Craigslist, I am on Yahoo.jobs.
I am going to cut, paste and email this page to these losers.
I hope karma get’s them, big time.
I recieved a e-mai l from careers@valuableemployment.com which said they are looking for receptionist and I am the chosed one. Offering a link to fill a lot of information like education, references and phone number. It looks scam exactly and I hate it.
This is a total scam preying on us who are looking for work sorry to say!!! Its a shame really how low some will stoop to get your information I got the same email: Hello William,
Our company contacted you last week to invite you to interview for the Flight Attendant position we currently have available. I have not yet received a response from you, and wanted to touch base to see if you were interested in setting up an interview.
This is a great opportunity. Our company provides $47, 000/year plus excellent benefits, including paid sick days and holidays, medical and dental insurance, tuition reimbursement plans, and a 401k retirement plan.
Please click below to fill out the application and submit your resume.
Flight Attendant – $47, 000/year
I hope to hear back from you later today, William.
With Regards,
Kathleen Phillips
Assistant to the HR Coordinator
If you cannot access the webpage through the link above, you can copy and paste the link at the bottom of this email into your browser.
http://thevaluableemployment.com/cmanager3.aspx?em=mcginnis440@aol.com&id=oaswqwq7_lil51_Airlines_03302009_WED_NON_0408 &rd=99781&gs=6&ro=2&j=21680210
I-wish_to be taken_off your_mailing list.
Career Network, Inc., P.O. Box 618305, Orlando, FL 32861-8305
http://www.threestarsinc.biz
http://www.threestarsinc.info
http://www.threestarsinc.net
http://www.threestarsinc.org
http://www.threestarsinc.us
Orlando, FL (1888PressRelease) November 21, 2008 – Internet marketing company Three Stars Media has merged with the Web based job board Career Network, and will now serve as the Web site’s parent company. The move by Three Stars Media is but one of many acquisitions the company has been involved with recently.
Three Stars Media, an industry leader in their field, collects marketing leads through their online job boards with the simple philosophy that an individual is more open to considering advertising offers while applying for a job than at any other time in his or her life. With advertising offers that are of keen interest to job seekers built into the application process, Three Stars Media is able to offer listing services to employers – via Career Network – throughout the country at no cost. In addition, the advertising enables Three Stars Media to never have to charge applicants, keeping them in step with competitors.
For employers, Career Network lists open employment positions on its site for free, and then networks those job ads by reprinting them in other media, such as newspapers and Craig’s List, to increase exposure and attract more applications than a typical employment listing will. This effectively multiplies the scope of each job ad to reach deeper into the base of applicants in the employers’ respective areas. These services are offered free because Career Network earns its revenue entirely through associated advertising just the same as all of Three Stars Media’s sites.
Three Stars Media, an international marketing company with offices around the globe, is headquartered in Orlando. The company and its corporate services can be further explored on the Internet at http://www.threestarsmedia.com or 3starsmedia.com. Career Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Three Stars Media, can be found on the Web at http://www.career-network.com.
http://www.1888pressrelease.com/three-stars-media-completes-merger-career-network-pr-85780.html
http://www.aboutus.org/ThreeStarsInc.com
Employment Screening Network Hires Verification Specialists
Our Employment Screening Network is a pre-screening service utilized by thousands of employers nationwide. Verification Specialists conduct brief interviews with job seekers who have applied for a specific job. The purpose of the interview is four fold:
To verify information already received on the application such as name, address and e-mail.
To ask for additional information as required by the employer that may have not been on the application. For example, the amount of expected income, specific licenses or awards received, and the reason for leaving previous position.
Provide information to the applicant as directed by the employer. Information may range from job details, to scheduling interviews, or directing the applicant to another Web site.
To make offers to qualified individuals. The Employment Screening Network’s model is advertising supported so part of the process is at the conclusion of the interview to ask the applicant if they would like to receive information from an advertising partner.
Independent Verification Specialists may work from home and may set their own hours within our hours of operation (9am – 9pm Monday – Friday eastern time). A Verification Specialist simply plugs a headset into his or her computer and they are set to begin working. Some details about the position are highlighted below:
All calls are inbound; Verification Specialists make no outbound calls.
All “offers” are simply asking the applicants if they want more information about a product or service. Verification Specialists do not sell.
Verification Specialists set their own hours and are paid by performance. Typically a Verification Specialist can expect to earn $18 – $25 per hour.
To become a Verification Specialist you must have the following requirements:
A computer with a high speed Internet connection
A USB port headset (These may be purchased for about $20 – $30 at any Best Buy or Office Depot type stores. No phone is needed as headset plugs directly into your computer)
A quiet place to work from at home
A professional speaking voice
The ability to pay attention to detail
A strong work ethic and the ability to work unsupervised
Company information:
Three Stars Media
2295 S. Hiawassee Rd.
Orlando, Florida
United States
My personal experience:
I was offered an interview from Three Stars Media for an Administrative Assistant. The salary was ranging from $15 to $25 an hour. I received an email requesting that I go to the Three Stars Media website to upload my resume and answer a few questions. Nothing out of the ordinary – standard information. Name, Address, Telephone, Email. I then received a follow-up email with directions and an interview time.
Once I arrived, I inadvertantly went into the wrong suite. There were several people sitting around a table with an overhead projector and a young woman giving a presentation. She sent me and the woman that followed me in across the hall for the “first interview”. This suite was where “second” interviews were held.
Once across the hall, a receptionist asked for a hard copy of our resumes and took our pictures. She then handed us a lovely folder with laminated pages that detailed the hiring process as well as the job description of a “verification specialist”. After I finished reading about the process that consists of testing, a second and third interivew and roughly 3 hours over the course of the process prior to them making a decision about employment – I let the receptionist know that the folder she had given me didn’t outline the position that I was applying for. She asked what position that was and when I told her she spent a few seconds searching her desk and then went in to an explanation about the position having administrative duties, and that while it was confusing because they didn’t actually have any positions for Administrative Assistants or Customer Service Representative, or Human Resourse Assistants – all of those duties fell under the duties of a Verification Specialist. I then said “so the position available is for a Verification Specialist – not an Administrative Assitant?” And she responded “yes”. She then asked if I would like to get started and I thanked her for her time and let her know that I would not be interested. When I left, 6 other people were getting ready to start the same process.
While I can’t speak for the outcome because I didn’t stick around to invest my time – I believe that the guise of having these positions available when they are not is very disappointing. Professionals seeking employment in their field of choice and experience being led down a different path is unfortunate. I’m not sure why they don’t just advertise “Verification Specialist” instead; but I’m guessing that it is because to become a Verification Specialist you probably have to purchase something from them to be successful. Getting people in the door is half the battle, so maybe that’s the ploy to get people interested. A strong sales pitch can generate a lot of excitement. I’m not sure. What I am certain of is that I went on interview for an Administrative Assistant position that had an hourly wage attached to the description, not a Verification Specialist that sets their own hours, has the “potential” to make money and handles their own taxes. I’m sure there are plenty of sucessful Verification Specialist happily working for Three Stars Media – but I didn’t seek out a sales pitch – I just wanted to regular job and they didn’t have that to offer.
Shipping and Receiving Clerk opening – $15 per hour Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:14 AM
From: “Careers Pathway – Shipping and Receiving Clerk”
Add sender to Contacts To: xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com
Dear xxxxxxx,
Our company is currently seeking a hard working Shipping and Receiving to join our team, and, after looking at your resume I would like to speak with you about this opportunity. Based on your qualifications I feel that you would be a teriffic candidate for this opening.
The ideal candidate will be career minded and have a “can do” attitude! Candidate will work a Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm schedule. The Shipping and Receiving position provides competitive pay beginning at $15/hour plus outstanding benefits to match!
Richard, I have only extended this opportunity to a few qualified individuals as I would like this position to be filled soon. Please visit our website through the link below to complete an online application and to view a more detailed description of this position regarding requirements, benefits, and more!
http://careers-pathway.com/cmanager3.aspx?em=roadstar22002@yahoo.com&id=gxcdx7_FKF51big_TransportationandWarehousesbig01152009_1ser1_2&rd=100157&gs=11&ro=21&j=14927943
I am beginning the interview process shortly so I look forward to speaking with you today and hopefully working more closely with you!
Best Wishes,
C. Benn
Hiring Manager
Wow…same thing here. I registered with CareerBuilder, Monster, ect. One day I get an email like this:
I am seeking a Cash Application Representative to start as soon as possible. This position requires data entry skills, some cash handling experience, intermediate computer skills, and Microsoft Office knowledge. This position offers competitive pay plus benefits, which we can discuss at the time you decide to interview.
To avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few people. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am looking forward to hearing from you today, if at all possible. By clicking the hyperlink below, you can view more information about the position, benefits offered, our company, and send in your application as an available candidate.
I hope to receive your application later today!
Best of Luck,
C. Benn
HR Specialist
Once you click on the link it takes you to impeccablecareers.com. That’s where they want your personal info. including your cell number and carrier. I even uploaded my resume (not a good thing). Once you fill out all that, they ask for at least 3 references. Personal and/or professional. You have to include their phone numbers and email address, otherwise, you will not be able to continue. That’s where I stopped.
Can they be reported for this? If so, what agency?
I just got this today.
First thing that got my attention was “Secretary.” I am NOT a secretary.
Then I saw the “name” of the firm: Exemplory Careers. An obvious misspelling. I checked the dictionary. Sure enough, it is “exemplary.” They need a secretary alright! One who can spell.
Then I Googled the firm. None found with that name.
The Googled “Career Network, Inc.” and came up with a list of complaints and fraud reports. I knew it smelled phishy. Now I KNOW it IS phishy!
Has this been turned into the FTC? The Labor Dept.? The Justice Dept.? The Postal Inspector? This is illegal. And in this economy, they are seeking to defraud those who are looking for work.
**************
Hi Wesley,
I am currently seeking a motivated Secretary to join our team as soon as possible. Secretary will be responsible for office duties such as answering phones, sending and receiving all faxes, sending and receiving all mail, and ordering office supplies. We offer $25/hour plus great benefits, which we will discuss during your interview.
Wesley, to avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a select number of qualified individuals. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am eager to hear back from you today, if at all possible. By selecting the hyperlink below, you can view more information about the position, benefits offered, our company, and send in your application as an interested applicant.
I am interested in applying for the Secretary position.
I hope to receive your application later today!
Best of Luck,
C. Garner
HR Director
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/109214/page/2
I’ve signed up with the standard employment websites, including a couple I haven’t heard of before. I think it’s just a way to put you in touch with people who will feed off your desperation and try to sell you on-line colleges or resume services or something. Here’s what I got today:
Original email:
From: Exemplory Careers [mailto:careers@exemplorycareers.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:42 AM
To: me.com
Subject: Great company needs Clerical Assistant
Hi me,
Our company is looking to hire a Clerical Assistant. We are willing to train a motivated individual to support one of our managers. We offer $15.00-$20.00/hour plus great benefits, which we will discuss during your interview.
Me, to avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few qualified individuals. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am eager to hear back from you today, if at all possible. By clicking the hyperlink below, you can view more information about the position, benefits offered, our company, and send in your application as an interested candidate.
I would like to apply for the Clerical Assistant position.
I hope to receive your application later today!
Best of Luck,
C. Garner
Executive Assistant
If you cannot access the webpage through the link above, you can copy and paste the link at the bottom of this email into your browser.
http://goexemplorycareers.com/cmanager3.aspx?em=me.com&id=lacvdre5_lil51_AdministrativeClerical_02232009_WED&rd=99777&gs=2&ro=17&j=20775044
Take_my_name out of future_employment_considerations.
Career-Network, Inc.– P.O. Box 618305– Orlando, FL 32861-8305
I Googled them as a matter of research, and found these complaint sites, so I’m going to add to them. I also decided to see if they would write me back if I emailed them with a response to their original email. Oh, BTW, it appears C. Garner had a demotion because he/she is no longer a HR manager, but an Executive Asst instead. Too bad!
My reply:
Dear C. Garner:
Thank you for the inquiry. I would need some more information on the position, however, before committing to giving you a great deal of my personal information. Could you please:
• Tell me the location (state and town, please) of this job.
• The nature of the business.
• Is selling anything part of the job description?
• The qualifications the your company is looking for in a Clerical Assistant.
I do evaluate each and every opportunity given, and I do not want to waste my time nor yours and send in unnecessary applications when I am not interested in or I am unqualified/overqualified for the position.
I am sure you can appreciate my position, and I hope to hear from you soon with regard to the above questions.
Yours truly,
Yes, I think it is trying to see if you are looking to further your education. On the first page of the “application” it asks a few questions regarding this. If you are applying for a job that you are qualified for already, why do they want to know if you want to go back to school? Somebody is taking the time to read through something because I have gotten a few of these and they are tailored to some of my interests. This is what I got today. I am very much into vitamins, and holistic ideas…
Hello,
I am looking for a Nutrition Clerk to assist customers with vitamin supplements and other nutritional needs. Knowledge of vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies and other related products is preferred, but we would be willing to train an individual who has a strong passion for the nutritional field. We offer $16.26/hour plus great benefits, which we will discuss during your interview.
To avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few qualified individuals. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am looking forward to hearing from you today, if at all possible. By selecting the hyperlink below, you can view more information about the position, benefits offered, our company, and send in your application as an available candidate.
I am interested in applying for the Nutrition Clerk position.
I hope to have your application later today!
Best of Luck,
L. Barclay
HR Coordinator
Darn, I really wish they were legit because I need a job and am willing to take $16 at this point LOL
Same deal here. Same letter with part of the body including “…to avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few qualified individuals. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am hoping to hear back from you today, if at all possible.”
We hadn’t even finished with the ‘Continue’ buttons before receiving a call from the Univ. of Phoenix. “We’re not interested” was our response and hung up.
Then I did a google search for emplorarycareers.com reviews and found this site, this very helpful site (and there are many others). Thank you so much to you smart ones out there who know how to use whois and take action. Thank you!!!
After realizing that, yep, our vibes that it’s a scam were correct, I called back the number who called us (the University of Phoenix) and asked to speak to someone in charge.
I told the supervisor the search parameter I used, (exemplorycareers.com reviews) and that I used google, and asked her to read what she finds. I told her that they were being called a fraud and that they were being hunted down and would soon be found out, that many different false ‘job opportunities’ were leading right to them instead of an actual job.
I talked to her about the power of word of mouth advertising, positive and negative, and how the internet now allows that word of mouth advertising to go global in minutes.
She seemed genuinely concerned about what’s going on (for real, she did) and said she was going to contact her marketing director as soon as she hung with me. I believe she will. She cares, it seems. Maybe HER bosses don’t and that’s what we want to find out, right?
Univ. of Phoenix has spent gazillions of dollars on advertising. What’s the first name that comes to mind when you think ‘coorespondence education?’ The University of Phoenix!
I told her the schools reputation was being tanked and quickly and how difficult it is to come out from under such a thing and to prey on people in this economic crisis who are so desperate for a job will really fuel the wrath and tanked reputation.
So, we’ll see if they do anything about it. If they do, I hope it’s as big, loud and expensive as their advertising budget has been because that’s what it’ll take once the damage is done…and I think that damage has already been done, personally. I hope to soon see public announcements and apologies and names of who was responsible.
If we don’t see such things, Univ. of Phoenix might as well close the doors right now and go home.
We are FED UP with corruption, aren’t we? We’re way too smart now and with the internet, good luck with getting away with that kind of crap for long.
So for all of you who have been called, call back and speak to the supervisor. Give her or him the urls that you’ve found the ‘fraud’ being discussed. Give them a chance to take it up the chain of command to find where the buck stops.
Good employees (like the supervisor I talked to who I believe is a good employee possibly, sounded that way to me) won’t want to remain with such a company, knowing it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be out of work, and will start looking elsewhere and Univ. of Phoenix will be out of commission..and rightly so if this is how they go about recruiting students!
One smuck CEO or whatever, who thinks the money he’ll make from selling personal information or thinks that the 3 actual enrollments they’ll get from this approach will be worth it, may just find himself regretting he ever had such a terrible idea.
ALL of the Univ. of Phoenix will be thought responsible by us and that may not be the case. Let’s help them help themselves if it’s just one smuck. The smuck can be canned, apologies made (and more) and maybe they can save their reputation, if it’s worth saving that is.
We’ll know if it is ALL of the Univ. of Phoenix or just a smuck or two or three. We’ll know because…we get around, don’t we? 🙂
(((Everyone)))
Power to the People!
I will be rereading this thread and taking action, more action than I have already.
P.S. Call them back. Tell them your search parameters and the engine you used. Let them see what’s happening, what’s being said. Let them take it to their bosses and let their bosses take it to their bosses and…let the chips fall where they may. Wouldn’t you want such calls if it was your company? I sure would
I’m sorry about the double posting! Wish I could delete one of them. In rereading all the posts here, carefully and fully this time, I haven’t noticed the Univ. of Phoenix mentioned except in my post and yet…
Our ‘get frauded here’ experience began at http://www.exemplorycareers.com (mentioned here in other posts)
And the body of the email we got contained ‘…to avoid being flooded with applications and responses, I have only extended this opportunity to a few qualified individuals. Your online resume caught my attention, and I would like to start the interview process as soon as I possibly can. I am hoping to hear back from you today, if at all possible.’ (mentioned here in other posts)
In a post here by Joe Vontz he mentioned, “wanting is for you to pick a University online” and in a post here by Murphy, he mentions, “Yes, I think it is trying to see if you are looking to further your education.”
Who would be hiring all these scam sites to collect information from us? If they’re pointing towards higher/more education, wouldn’t that mean that the University of Phoenix could be the, or at least one, of the initiators of all of this??
These websites must be getting paid to collect this information, right? By who? Univ of Phoenix?
I’m finding it odd that that school hasn’t been mentioned yet by others here yet. It’s the Univ. of Phoenix who called my boyfriend’s cell before he’d fully finished the application – but after giving his name and cell number.
They didn’t identify themselves, he had to ask, in the middle of their spiel. I was listening w/ear to phone because he doesn’t get many calls, hardly any, he kept thinking outloud – this is a scam – and – now they want references – and the timing seemed more than a coincidence.
When I called back the number about 10 minutes later, after searching google and finding this site and wanting to feel them out, they answered “Univerity of Phoenix.”
When I asked to speak to someone in charge the woman tried to get me to confirm if there was an at this number. I wouldn’t confirm and was transferred to the supervisor.
His name *does not* come up on caller id. I just called his cell from mine to be certain but already knew that it doesn’t and neither does mine. When he calls someone, just his number shows.
Univ. of Phoenix could have *only* known his name by being *the* company that exemplorycareers.com passed his information onto, right?
The supervisor had the phone number and had to have had a list matching his number to his name in front of her. Because I wouldn’t answer any questions from the one that answered, that person would have most likely brought her that list.
I did ask that his number be removed from that list of course and she said she would.
Only a couple of others have mentioned continued education but didn’t say by which school, if they were called by a school or if they called back, if they were called, to see who answered.
When I first got to this site today, I saw http://www.exemplorycareers.com mentioned and I saw the body of the email, exactly the same that we received, mentioned and because Univ. of Phoenix is who called us, I assumed they were the ones responsible for all the mess. Perhaps not all, but it seems they’ve gotten caught pulling a fast one with us so will be watching and looking for more validation on this.
It could easily be more than one school, especially with Obama’s stimulus bill giving so much towards education and making student loans easier to get. Maybe they think they’ve got an ‘in’ but like it doesn’t matter their approach!
I know of whois but don’t know how to use nor decipher the information. Can anyone else find out if the Univ. of Phoenix is behind some of this somehow? I’ll keep looking online and will come back and share what I find.
Yup…
http://threestarsmedia.blogg.se/2009/april/and-now-its-three-stars-inc.html