Defrawi does have a history, a felony fraud conviction for a federal jobs scam in the 1990’s where he took advance fees for non-existant jobs.
WFTV.COM Channel 9 Orlando, FL.
Dominion Enterprises Complaint
Small Business Loan Association
Company information:
Three Stars Media/Three Stars Inc.
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 inadvertently 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 interview 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 successful 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.
scamFRAUDalert™ Report 
Contact info for anyone that wants to get to the bottom is simple. Career Network that’s just one of many names, but the business is Three Stars Inc. out of Orlando, FL)
Call these two people up and ask to get the real information. THEY ARE AN AFFILIATE MARKETING SCAM. Google Affiliate Marketing to realize what they do.
Anyways, here are some contact info:
Kelly Weems (Operations/Job Board Manager) (407)803-4777 and that is a direct line to her.
ALSO
Keith Kress (lawyer for Three Stars) (407)803-4621
Dont let them fool you. YES they are a real business, but they will use the excuse they are a “national staffing company” and they “cannot give out their “clients” information”
One Orlando News report (on YouTube) was told 9 “clients” and the one they told was the United States Army!
But they won’t give you PROOF of an actual job. They tell me, they have people that post “generic” job postings in the area, so there are “clients” (or supposedly a local business in my area) that is needing that position they advertised.
But I still haven’t seen or read PROOF of a REAL JOB unless its in Orlando in their building! They will tell you elsewhere on the phone, and say as a staffing company they cannot give you that information.
The proof they have thousands of websites to “phish” your information is clear they are not legit. If they would then that’s fine. Put in the job postings A} a local number or address or business name of the job B} the fact they are an Affiliate Marketing Company that is a national Staffing company that is out of Orlando but is gonna get you a job in your area. With also information that is REAL about a REAL JOB!
Since they cannot do that either on their emails, or websites or phone calls, they have to be fake! They wont state elsewhere, and after reading more proof than two people on the phone its hard to believe them.
I filed with the FTC on this matter, the Better Business Bureau of Orlando, and the Internet Crimes complaints of the FBI.
Here is better information on the BBB website to use.
http://centralflorida.app.bbb.org/newsearch2.asp?ComID=073300123509898#Accred
Good luck, and lets get to the bottom of this and get rid of scum that use vulnerable unemployed people!
I have applied for jobs through different job boards and came across at least 3 that have linked back to this “Employment Request, Inc. ” site. I applied for jobs and got a call for solicitation for colleges, got a couple of emails for jobs that you have to apply/fill out the same “form” and attach your resume. Seemed like a scam, even though the site looks legit. Got another email today about applying for a Secretary job $25 per hour:
On Nov 3, 2009, at 5:41 AM, Employment Request wrote:
Hello again, Denise,
Our company contacted you in regards to a vacant Secretary position we are currently trying to fill. We have not yet received a response from you.
This is a great opportunity. The Secretary position offers $25/hour plus excellent benefits, including paid sick days and holidays, medical and dental insurance, tuition reimbursement plans, and a 401k retirement plan.
If you are interested, please click on the link below and follow it to the complete description and application.
Secretary
Respectfully Yours,
Susan Collins
Assistant to the Office Manager
I sent back an email requesting more information on the job, company, and the Career Network, Employment request organizations. In the about page of Employment request it links to the Three Stars company. Its a big circle of scams.
In this time of high unemployment and many of us without jobs and struggling these people are trash and should be stopped. Be careful, use whois to check legit sites and google the so-called company names, you’ll be surprised what you come up with. Good Luck everyone
I was also contacted by Roulette Careers after posting my resume on a job-seekers website. There was also one from a company called the Brain Group — I wonder if this is the same people? How can those of us who are seeking legitimate employment stop these leeches?!
Thank you so much for creating this blog. Times are tough, it’s disappointing to know these are scams. I just tried researching Roulette Careers and came across this site. Sad. I even was scammed by submitting my application to CareerNetwork as well. I can’t believe these people.
Good luck with your job search everyone…
I also got an e-mail from Roulette Careers. I am so glad I found this website. I new there was something odd about it because I couldn ‘t find any information on roulette careers. I have gotten 2 different e-mails from them.
Heres my first:
After reviewing your resume, we wanted to let you know about a vacant General Utility Worker position that may interest you. It offers $19.96 per hour plus benefits.
By selecting the link below, you can find out more about the position and apply:
I would like to learn more about the General Utility Worker opening.
Best Regards,
S. Levine
Director of HR
Heres my second:
I wanted to let you know that we have received your application for the General Utility Worker position with Roulette-Careers . You have been recommended as a potential candidate.
Follow the link below to the website. You will be able to confirm that you are available for this position.
They also made me a user name and password.
I used to live in Orlando and worked for another company for a year there. I got a two notice that I was being laid off and on a fluke responded to a similar job offer on Craigslist which turned out to be a Sr. ColdFusion Developer position with this company. I thought great! and immediately agreed to an interview as the recruiter said they company was very interested and had not problem with my 6 figure salary expectation which in Orlando is rare.
I have over twenty three years of experience as a primarily self employeed computer consultant and had at that time 8 years of experience in ColdFusion having designed, coded and hosted hundreds of CF websites including running my own dot.com startup durng the 90s bubble.
So I was a bit shocked at the interview process and even a little more shocked when the company never responded to my post interview followups. No response, no offers, no rejections…just silence.
To be honest when I did the interview on a Friday afternoon at 5pm I was too friggin tired to think much about it but then the fish began to smell and I started poking around. There was something definitely weird about the interview and then it just did not seem right that as a Certified CF developer with 8 years of experience that they did not have any interest in my services. Now I know that sounds egotistical but my experience level matched their requirements exactly even if they did not like me it just did not seem right. Ok, so enough said and I moved on.
Within weeks I was contacted again and again by recruiters via my Dice account asking me to apply for this same position with promises of great wages and great opportunity for advancement again and again. I blew them off…. Then six months later I was working for Ebay in Silicon Valley and more recruiters in Orlando contacted me again begging me to interview.
I told them I was not interested and they asked why…I played possum a bit and told them i had contact with 3 Stars and had no interest in having any future contact with them. They got all huffy and demanded to know why. I refused to comment so they sicked their lawyer on me how contacted me via email and demanded to know why I would not answer their questions and refuse to possible interviews.
At this point I went silent. There is something fishy in Orlando and it is not the sushi restaurants!
Stay away is my recom.
http://www.blastcareers.com
http://www.destiny-careers.com
http://www.destinyemployment.com
http://www.directcareerjobs.com
http://www.goodcompanyjobs.com
http://www.theemploymenthunters.com
http://www.ambercareers.com
http://www.blastcareers.com
http://www.destiny-careers.com
http://www.destinyemployment.com
http://www.ambercareers.com
http://www.blastcareers.com
http://www.boomingcareersnow.com
http://www.career-haven.com
http://www.careersitesource.com
http://www.extendyourcareers.com
http://www.goodcompanyjobs.com
http://www.meaningfulemployment.com
http://www.thecareerplaza.com
http://www.yourcareertab.com
Internet Solutions Corp (internetsolutionscorp.com)
Internet Solutions Corp (ISC) is a Nevada corporation operating out of a Florida address that has been behind several suspect job emails mentioned on fraudwatchers.org before.
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ad.php?t=13564
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ad.php?t=13341
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ead.php?t=8704
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ad.php?t=11717
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ad.php?t=10586
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ad.php?t=11613
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/…ead.php?t=9709
Internet Solutions Corp is run by lawyer Alex Finch along with ex-con Alec Defrawy who also used the names Ayman Achmed El-Difrawi, Michael El-Difrawi, Alex Simon, Phillip M Thomas and many other aliases.
Over the years they have operated under many different names, including Veriresume, USA Voice, Consumer Business Bureau, TooSpoiled, Impact 210, Instant Human Resources and many others. Many of these names are known to the BBB and you can check them out yourself if you wish. Internet Solutions Corp has also featured on WFTV and the Washington Post.
ISC has registered thousands of domain names, typically these are used for a few days and then abandoned as people start to post queries on boards such as this.
Where people do post complaints about ISC several things can happen. Sometimes someone “employed” by ISC will counter the claims, but more often than not ISC will start to make legal threats against posts and the people running the web sites with the posts. Where legal threats fail, other methods of persuasion are used. One example is Internet Solutions Corp vs Marshall which was dismissed.
In some cases, ISC gains control or limited administrative access to sites posting information. Two sites that formerly carried information on ISC but now appear to be compromised are scam.com and 419legal.org. In these cases, any posts critical to ISC are removed very quickly, clearly by someone with moderator access. These removals have never been explained.
Despite sending out millions of “job offers” to hundreds of thousands of people, it appears that the jobs offered do not exist. The only reported employment that ISC does is to recruit people to post on forums, bulletin boards, Yahoo Answers, SiteAdvisor and Wikipedia to either counter claims made by complainants or to spam or disrupt operations. A handful of people have been employed to handle phone calls or run the Florida operations, and one of them clearly identifies Alec Defrawy and Ralph Edward Bell in this WFTV report.
It is unclear what ISC does with the personal information that it gathers. Most likely it is being sold on to telemarketers, allegations of phishing and identity theft are not proven.
ISC also conceals its identity using anonymous domain registration details, virtual offices and drop boxes. In fact, ISC is based in Orlando rather than any of the fictional addresses it supplies.
There are over two thousand domains connected with ISC operations. If the moderators so permit, I would like to list them in this thread. I will post the most recent domains names shortly.
Author: Heather – Got Scammed Too!
Comment:
YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS ONE!
Now that I posted, I got what I can only perceive as a veiled threat from Career Network’s lawyer.
I never replied to him, but here it is, for you to see. These people are crooks and have a lawyer trying to squash our free speech is sickening. Nowhere in here have we said anything but our own opinion and experiences and read up, because that’s PROTECTED SPEECH.
Leave us alone, Mr. Scum-Representing Lawyer. We are NOT afraid to tell the truth!
“Dear Ms. XXX:
My name is Keith Kress and I serve as general counsel for Career Network. It has come to my attention that you recently applied for employment through www. career-network.com and were less than satisfied with your experience. I would appreciate if you would share with me any questions and concerns you have regarding your experience with Career Network at your earliest convenience so that I may address any problems that might exist with Career Network and also ease any concerns you may have as well.
I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Keith E. Kress
Attorney at Law
(321) 293-3236
KKress@kress-law. com”
ACK! I just want these crooks to go away. You WILL NOT win, so stop trying!
– Show quoted text –
Keith E. Kress
Attorney at Law
2295 South Hiawassee Ave.
Suite 310
Orlando, Florida 32835
P: (321) 293-3236
F: (321) 293-3203
Re: Defamatory and Legally Actionable Statements Posted on http://www.scamfraudalert.com
http://www.internetsolutionscorp.com
Dear Messrs:
My name is Keith Kress and I am the attorney representing Internet Solutions Corporation, its affiliates and Alec Defrawy. It has come to my clients’ attention that representatives, agents, administrators, moderators and members of your website, http://www.scamfraudalert.com, have made and continue to make and publish defamatory, libelous, disparaging, false, misleading and highly injurious and detrimental statements on your website regarding my clients’ business and personal practices. In particular, the “posters” state as fact that my clients and their affiliates engage in “phishing”, “identity theft”, fraud”, “scams” and other illegal and morally objectionable acts. Such patently false and misleading statements posted on your website have caused my clients substantial damages and will continue to cause damages as long as they remain posted and published to third parties on your website.
As a result of the foregoing, in order to prevent my clients from incurring any additional damages in the future, we hereby demand that you and your representatives, agents, administrators, moderators and members cease and desist all defamatory, tortious and false statements regarding Internet Solutions Corporation, its affiliates and Alec Defrawy. This includes immediately and permanently removing from http://www.scamfraudalert.com any and all links, including but not limited to the links listed in the attachment following this letter, references and statements regarding my clients as well as refraining from making or publishing any statements on any website, including but not limited to http://www.scamfraudalert.com, regarding my clients in the future.
We insist that you provide us with written confirmation by June 4, 2008 stating that you will immediately comply with the above demands. If we do not receive written confirmation by such date my clients will file a lawsuit in the appropriate court in order to protect their rights, recover their damages and prevent further damages in the future.
This letter is written without prejudice to any of my clients’ rights, remedies and actions at law which are hereby expressly reserved.
GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.
Author: Duped Too
Comment:
My Three Stars SCAM experience
I recently went for two interviews at Three Stars Media and this was my experience. I am hoping someone closes this company down !! It’s hard enough to find a job in this market but when you get scammed like this, it becomes VERY demoralizing.
I applied for TWO jobs on CareerBuilder.com : Administrative Assistant and Human Resources Assistant.
Click here to see the actual postings as they appeared on Careerbuilder.com : http://i44.tinypic.com/11rrxa9.jpg and http://i39.tinypic.com/jj5qgy.jpg . NOTE: CLICK the pics to make the image larger to be able to read it. This applies for all future photo links.
I received and automated e-mail back from Three Stars, Inc. the next day requesting to set up an “initial interview” : http://i42.tinypic.com/s4t6br.jpg .
I went to the website and registered for an initial interview. The ENTIRE interview set up process was automated.
I received a confirmation e-mail for the “initial interview” : http://i41.tinypic.com/6hi88n.jpg .
And a reminder e-mail : http://i43.tinypic.com/wbz5mp.jpg . This reminding cements the thinking that the job interview is important. They want to make sure you show up.
I put the words “initial interview” in quotes above because there was NO interview on my first visit to Three Stars. Here is how the first visit played out.
I arrived at Suite 211 and the receptionist asked for my resume. She then handed me a white binder with laminated pages to view information for a “Verification Specialist”. I quickly paged through this booklet because I already knew what was coming next. I have to admit, I didn’t pay attention much to the laminated pages because I had a friend who interviewed a few weeks prior for a Sales Manager position and she told me the first interview was just an assessment test.
After flipping through the laminated booklet, I then handed the book back to the receptionist. She told me I needed to take an assessment test (I think the binder info alluded to this too) and she told me she needed to take a picture of me as they “have so many people coming through their doors” and needed to take the photo for “identification purposes”. I complied and let her snap my photo. She then guided me through a door opening to a room with several computers and little cubicles dividing the individuals taking the test. She opened the test on a PC, told me I had 30 mins. to take it and she told me I could use a calculator and she opened the calculator on the desktop. She told me to log in to take the test using my e-mail address and my last name. I then saw all my person info (name, address , etc. as well as the pic she just snapped of me) and then was taken to the test. I don’t remember all the questions but I found a few questions quite odd. One asked “Are you over 24 years of age? ” another asked (not sure of exact wording) “We have part time work at home positions for individuals. Would you be interested in this position or would you like to stick with the position you applied for?” I selected to stick with my current job I applied for. And there were some questions on advertising: “What are advertising verticals?”, “What are five of the top 100 Internet websites?”. There was also three vocabulary questions (the only one I remember was the meaning of the word “CONVERGE”, there were two other vocab words used in sentences, I can’t remember, something about Freud). There were also some Math questions. From memory, I think there were three in total, two word problems (one something about cutting a piece of wood into three pieces and the other was an algebra question, I think it was “2x – 4 = 6”) and another odd question was “If you knew you would be fired for admitting a mistake would you lie to save your job?” . There were other questions on the test but these certain questions stood out to me.
I left the computer room and the receptionist handed me a business card (http://i44.tinypic.com/p7vus.jpg ) and told me to log on to their website with my e-mail address and last name after 10am the next day to check my application status :
When I logged on the next morning the website had a message (after I logged in) showing that my “aptitude test was impressive” and they wanted to meet with me for a second interview. I scheduled the second interview and got another confirmation e-mail : http://i40.tinypic.com/97440m.jpg .
And again, another reminder e-mail for the second interview : http://i43.tinypic.com/30cuc8o.jpg . They really wanted to make sure I showed up !
I arrived for my second interview at Suite 217 and walked into a foyer with dark lighting and no one to greet me. I saw a big conference table with better lighting and big leather chairs and a projector. I sat down next to two women who were waiting for their “interview”. One of the women asked me “what are we doing here? What’s going to go on I wonder ?” – the both laughed nervously. I told her that first we would get a presentation, then tour, then have individual interviews. This was the experience of my friend. In reality, I misunderstood my friend – there was no individual interview after the tour, it was a group interview telling everyone that they would be getting a phone call if they were interested. Again, my friend when there for a sales job, NOT the jobs I had applied to for Admin Asst. and Human Resources Asst.
Eventually, more people filtered in. We had 10 in our meeting. A woman named Crissy W (WAH Advisor Regional Manager – according to their website. Go to http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=9 and click on the little girl being hugged by Mickey Mouse to see her pic and info) was our cheerleader for the next couple of hours. She first asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves. She then told us about herself (she was a dancer and worked at Disney, although that didn’t pay the bills and then she spoke about the company. Started in 2004, now has over 500 employees and also a team in India. She explained the role of the Verification Specialist and explained that they don’t show the job name in their listings online because “no one would know what that job is and no one would apply for it”. So she admits up front that the jobs that brought all of us in DID NOT EXIST, but not in those exact words. My Human Resources Assistant and Administrative Assistant jobs were not real open jobs at the company! We were told that Three Stars also had a website called “Career Network” and that they are going after Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com. She said that it costs a company $ 400 to post a job on those websites while their Career Network offers postings for only $ 99 and they initially started out by posting those ads for FREE in the beginning. She also showed up a clip on News Channel 13 where the company donated toys for charity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxXZd0u0dOE&feature=channel_page ) and talked up how they give back to the community. She also talked about their free happy hour, dinners at the Executive Managers house, and their co-ed flag football (http://threestarsinc.com/fun/eventsIndex.cfm ) . She then proceeded to give us a tour of the company. We all piled in the elevator and headed up to the 4th floor (from the 2nd floor) and first toured an office of people posting jobs on Craigslist and other websites, according to Crissy. The workers pretty much ignored us, except for one guy who watched the whole show. All of us idiots, in suits, all there for fake jobs. I could only think as I saw them sitting at their desks that these people were creating the same fake jobs that brought us in. Crissy said they were creating jobs from “their business clients”. We were then lead to Human Resources and introduced to a manager named Dahlia who told us she has been with the company 7 months and LOVES it. She told us that “it’s a long interview process, but stick with it” and she wished us all good luck.
Next up was the division that we saw the people in action who were Verification Specialists. Basically an auto dialing system will call applicants to tell them that they need to verify information for a job they applied for. When they call back, they go to this department. These people follow a script, verify certain info and then plug at the end to try and sell school admissions. For some reason a select few people work here vs. the at home position we were offered at the end of the interview. See below.
Next we walked into the webmaster division. First Crissy proceeded to flirt with Darvin K. – Director of Operations – as he showed her a photo that they laughed over, then we were introduced to Kelly R. – Executive Vice President (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=1) and were told that she was the third person hired at the company when it was created out of someone’s apartment. Kelly was wearing a flag football jersey. She explained the department was broken down into four departments. I can’t remember all but one to come up with design ideas for a website, one to create the website, one to “break it” – quality control, and then it was released. Crissy proudly told us that Kelly created MANY websites. We were then lead to the next department “Employer Services” and met Scott D. – Career Network Director (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=7 ) . We heard him give his spiel. He basically stated that he talks to companies to find out more about the jobs to make sure they post the correct information to get a qualified individual and also to make sure that there employees ask the right questions when they do their verification to pre-qualify candidates for companies. A good story anyway.
Next up, we met Ben D. – Senior Business Analyst (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=1) . Ben told us that he handles SEO and making sure that the websites they create show up in the featured listings on search engines like Google and Yahoo!.
Lastly, we met Matt A. – WAH Advisor Regional Manager (http://threestarsinc.com/teams/corpTeams.cfm?dept=9 ) , who was located in Suite 211 in the back offices, behind the computer testing area, who told us what a great company they had because one woman (can’t recall her name) had a Mother that fell ill and she needed to move back up North (New Jersey I think?) and how great the company was because even though the woman had to move away she was still able to log on to a computer up there at 9am in NJ the following Monday and continue working. He said they had many employees talking about how expensive gas was and they realized it was a GREAT idea for their employees to work out of the home. Matt was planting the seed here.
And then we were lead across the hall again to Suite 217 and back to the conference room. Crissy’s tone TOTALLY changed. No longer a cheerleader and full of friendly energy, she was somber and matter of fact. We were then given two hand outs : one detailing the job outline for the Verification Specialist : and the other for the computer requirements to work at home and the script for the education spiel : . Crissy told us that training started us at $ 10 per hour and we could earn extra money from there, depending on how many people said YES to wanting more information on signing up for education. She claimed she made $ 600 in her first week. She said they like for you to receive 80 -100 calls a day but the record was 150 calls in one day. She estimated that in 15 minutes at least TWO people would say YES to wanting more information about education. She said we were not to push the education, only plant the seed, mentioning it twice, the second time to confirm it. She said they only wanted people who were serious about signing up for classes. She then told us that she realized this job – Verification Specialist – was not for everyone. If we didn’t think it was something we’d be interested in, we could leave now. Otherwise stay behind and she left the room to “get paperwork”. Everyone was like a deer in the headlights. No one moved. She came back and then asked “ok , we have openings for tomorrow for the phone interview, who is available tomorrow ?” So then, with the peer pressure of everyone watching, she proceeded to ask everyone. Many set up times, signing up by stating the time and then telling Crissy their First name and last initial. One person said “Well, can I have some time to think about it?” “Of course!” – Crissy replied. That was a snowball effect then. Others said they too wanted to think about it.
Here are links to view the Verification Specialist handout : http://i44.tinypic.com/2ishbm8.jpg , http://i39.tinypic.com/wbz5w5.jpg , http://i44.tinypic.com/23rtx8y.jpg , and http://i39.tinypic.com/1y7h8o.jpg .
Here are links to view the Computer requirements and the Education script : http://i44.tinypic.com/1zpqst5.jpg , http://i44.tinypic.com/15x71qp.jpg and http://i41.tinypic.com/n3kht0.jpg . This was what was to be covered in the phone interview. They wanted to hear you read the script and make sure your home did not have background distractions like “a baby crying or dog barking”.
I realize this is lengthy but I wanted to give you all a firsthand account for what the Three Stars interviews entail so you don’t have to waste your time like I did. If you want work at home job that pays $ 10 an hour plus commissions for planting a seed for education, then this job is for you. It’s just a shame they scam, as they say “600 people a week walk through our doors” , into thinking they are on REAL interviews for jobs they applied for online, only to learn it’s a telemarketing work at home position instead.
Does Three Stars offer job s? YES, but ONLY the Work at Home “Verification Specialist”. NOT the jobs that were posted online. Here is a listing of ALL the jobs supposedly available on the Three Stars website : http://threestarsinc.com/careers/jobIndex.cfm?type=1 . The jobs were the SAME, none were “filled” from the time frame that my friend applied weeks prior. Now I know it’s because they simply DO NOT EXIST.
Their claim is that once you master the Verification Specialist job they then like to move you up in the company, depending on what areas you would be best suited for. I wonder how many people are actually moved up. Of course Crissy said she started out (7 months ago, oddly the SAME time Dahlia started with the company) in the Verification Specialist position and worked her way up. Oh and Crissy did tell us all that we did really well on the aptitude test, we were the best of the best, which I now know is a load of bull. The whole thing was a HUGE sales pitch. They made the place look like a fun, young, energetic place to work..and hey ! They even give to charities ! How could they be bad. Forget that that LIED to us to get us all in there in the first place ! I found it odd though that most of the offices did not have fluorescent overhead lights…..only desk lamps. All offices were decorated very attractively. Staging here was key. Another odd thing ? NONE of the suites had the “Three Stars” name on the nameplates…….which was odd because ALL the other offices DID show their names on the nameplate with the Suite number. Their suites simply had the suite number listed on the nameplate.
I just saw on the news today that Channel 9 News WFTV will be showing ANOTHER piece on Three Stars and their false job listings. They even show footage, the room that had the Verification Specialists/Education Counselors in it. Should be interesting to watch. http://www.wftv.com/
Lastly, as I mentioned, my friend also went through this process. Why on earth would I want to go through this? Well, she again went for a Sales Manager position and her second interview included info about the company, the company tour, but then also a pitch to the individuals on the interview to partake in a website called Monkey Jar (http://www.monkeyjar.com/ ) where you create your own “online mall” and you make money supposedly if your friends shop your “mall” by clicking the links to visit the store websites. Interestingly enough, if you click the “About Us” link on Monkey Jar you will see cartoon caricatures of both Kelly and Darvin from Three Stars. So I went on this interview to see how well I would do on the aptitude test and to see if I would do well enough to get the second interview. My friend who went for her Sales Manager second interview was told if they were interested in her they would call her. It makes me wonder what Three Stars got out of her second interview. Maybe advertising to get people to use the Monkey Jar website. Or maybe the whole thing is just a scam to get our personal info : they have our home address, work numbers, employment history, aptitude ratings, heck even a photo of us – that they can use to sell to marketing companies. Here is info about this take on the whole scheme : http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/three-stars-media-new-name-same-scheme . I know this is long, but I hope it helps others from going through this.
Early on in my search, I also received these two e-mail (and many more – too many to post) from Career Network which I now know is also Three Stars : http://i41.tinypic.com/xqgaw3.jpg and http://i39.tinypic.com/2rgjm2o.jpg . I did not like the fact that the company name and phone number were not listed. I e-mailed back asking for this information and did not receive a response. I think these e-mails were generated off jobs I applied for on Craigslist.com. Once you click the link for the fake tech support job you are brought to this website: http://perfectcareercenter.com/JobOffer/Register.cfm?JobPositionID=92050 . Notice the questions at the bottom regarding education. You guessed it…this is so a Three Stars work at home Verification Rep. can call you back and ask if you are interested in furthering your education. The website is called : perfectcareercenter.com but if you click the about us link it shows that this is Three Stars. So when you search for a job online today you have NO IDEA if the job you are apply for is real or if it’s yet another Three Stars fake job website. I think networking to find a job today is best way to not get scammed. Happy job hunting everyone…be careful out there. At least Three Stars didn’t ask for my social security number at any point. I feel very sorry for job seekers that DO offer this information online. 😦
See all comments on this post here:
http://www.arwentaylor.com/craigslist-job-scam-internet-solutions-corporation/#comments
File an Internet complaint with the FBI at:
http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
See “My Three Stars SCAM experience” in the comments on this page for my experience interviewing with Three Stars….if you can call it interviewing !
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/three-stars-media-c177469.html
For the past couple of months I have either been looking for a second job or even one full time one because the one I have now hardly qualifies as a part time job.
So my mom told me about this grand company out in Orlando called Three Stars that are hiring a ridiculous amount of positions and how I should apply.
So I go on the site, send in my app and resume, followed by setting my my first interview the next day.
I get to my interview which is a tiny room filled with other hopefuls looking for a job. After several minutes of waiting, the girl asks for my resume, takes my pic, and hands e a binder to read about the job I applied for which was a Customer Service Rep. I was a lil dumbfounded because their def of the position was “Verification Specialist”.
Then they take me to the room in the back, sit me in front of the computer, and asks some questions about yourself, why you want to be employed to the company, blah blah blah.
The second page made me feel like I was back in school, They ask some college prep English and Math questions. After the “interview”, the girl at the desk hands me a card and tells me to login tomorrow to check the status of my application.
So that day I went home a bit upset because I knew all those answers couldn’t have been correct. But lo-and-behold I get my second interview.
I arrive to my interview in this large board room meeting-esque enivronment. Really nice blonde lady gives her little speech, some info on the company, followed by a tour around the building.
When we get back to the room, she passes out these stapled stack of papers to us which gives full depth description of our potential new job. My heart, at that point, sank. My “job” consisted of three “phases”.
*ahem*
ALL OF WHICH BEING AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, here I was, unaware that I was signing up to be one of those work-at-home people taking incoming calls and gathering people’s information on the internet. And after several weeks or maybe even MONTHS, they determine if you’re good enough to be employed into their physical offices.
A complete waste of time. Go on youtube and yahoo and look it up. It is this company’s goal to hire unknowingly desperate people and have them gather high risk information from other people just like themselves.
I may be desperate from a job, but I will not sink myself that low for one. I’d rather work the street corner.
My husband was several hours away from an interview with Three Stars Media this afternoon. It just so happened that on his way home to get ready for the interview, he stopped at UPS to drop off a package. He casually mentioned to the girl at UPS that he had interview at Three Stars Media and she actually warned him about it, saying she’d heard about the company and it was a scam. Prior to that, my husband had looked at their website, but did not really do any other research regarding the company. As soon as he left UPS, he googled it, and sure enough, this site and many other similar sites, popped up. Needless to say, he will not be attending the interview. I have to admit, in hindsight, the webiste did make the company seem to good to be true. It’s a shame, because he was really excited about it, but at least he didn’t waste his time or get his identity stolen or have anything bad come of it. I only hope that anyone else who is considering interviewing with this company reads this site, or another site, first. I don’t know how in the world this company still in business. Has anybody else out there reported them?
Thanks to this blog, I won’t be attending my Interview with Three Stars in Orlando today. I thought I might be up for a project management or media specialist position… then I read these and other similar complaints plus they are a not a member of the BBB in Orlando and have 3 complaints for false advertising against them. And the staff member pics on their website look setup. If I knew exactly where the scam is, I could report them to the DBPR in Florida or at least ask about them with The Attorney General. Yes, they offered myself a position too, found them initially on Monster which normally is pretty good at monitoring potential problem company’s. I think they are simply a so-called employment service masking as a media company or vice-versa. If there is a upfront fee for any reason, you know what to do… run away fast!
Thanks for the fair warnings…. John V. in Orlando
Yea, all above true, but the what they seek is your personal IP address to use in the marketplace so they don’t get blocked. So if you get the paper detailing the computer requirements, noticeable not on their letterhead, stop and remember the liabilities you’ll incur from someone suing you for whatever sent by this ‘company’ from ‘your computer at home’
I live in the Central Florida area and have been to the interview process.
What a joke! This place is a complete scam and they have hundreds of domain names. Anyone would estimate that they have over 10 to 20 job sites that are created specifically to generate leads.
A few days after my interview, my email box started to become jammed with fake job offers just like the one outlined in a previous post.
This is so pathetic that they are praying on people in an economy like this! Three Stars is the same as Internet Solution Corp. Internet Solutions Corp owner has been charged with fraud. His name is Alec Defrawy or Alex Defrawi (he goes by a few names). Search those terms and it will be a real eye opener.
Thank you so much for the info.!!!!! I too was to doing additional research on Three Stars, and I will not be attending any interview!!!
I applied at Three Stars and received an E-mail for an interview (or so I thought). The position I applied for was Promotions Director. I drove an hour an a half each way to go this “interview”, when I arrived my picture was taken and I was given a note book of laminated pages with an explanation that it was information about the company, but that the position I was applying for was so new that was not yet in the notebook.
As applicants left a room filled with computers, an assistant would usher in the next applicant, sit them down at a cubicle and very quickly explaine how to take this assesment test. The entire test was approximately one hour long and should have been done from home. There was no interview and no information was given concerning the future!
The next day I received another E-mail asking me to come in for a second “interview”. At least this time you could ask questions from the “Human Resources Director” after sitting through a film about Three Stars and visting many of the suites they occupy in a four story building. When the “interview” was completed we were informed that the Manager of the department we were applying for would contact us in three to five business days. Since my position is so “new” and I was seeking to be the director of that department I asked the “Human Resources Director” who would be contacting me? I never got a straight answer.
When two weeks had past, I called Three Stars and was told that they were only adding names to thier data base and that they probabley would not be hiring for the position I was seeking! Imagine that!!!!!
Be forwarned before wasting time with this scam of a company.
RV
Okay so, I actually got hired by this company. They explain it in the second interview. You start as a Verification Specialist. and do that for 2 months. Then after that you are promoted to the position applied for. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up. I now make a lovely salary of 20.65 and hour, and it only took two months.
I am in the same boat as Steadman and Bradley. I just finished filling out the application online for the HR Assistant position but being an HR and Business person, I always research a company I have not heard of before going in for an interview!
I am so thankful that I did my research this time as I definitely will not be attending the interview. Maybe some people succeed as a “Verification Specialist” but it seems like a scam for me.
It is sad though because I am trying to get into HR (I have done an internship as a HR Assistant) and thought I had finally found an HR position that I could get into and develop my skills. I had really gotten excited about it. Oh well. guess it was too good to be true, but at least I didn’t waste me time.
CareerNetwork, Inc. Secretary opening available – $25/hour? Orlando Florida
CareerNetwork, Inc.
P.O. Box 618305
Orlando, Florida, 32861-8305
U.S.A.
I received this email at a time when I really need a job. But it sounded too good to be true. Plus there was no address, city or state! How could they offer me a job? So I started looking on the internet and, voila, low and behold – here’s the company that was offering me a job. Beware, if it is too good to be true, it usually is. Here’s the email I received.
Secretary opening available – $25/hour?
From: Solid Jobs Now careers@solidjobsnow.com
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent: Mon 2/16/09 8:24 AM
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. This position offers $25/hour plus benefits, which we can discuss at the time you decide to interview.
Kathee, 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 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 would like to apply for the Secretary position.
I hope to receive your application later today!
Good Luck,
S. Levine
Executive Assistant
If you cannot access the webpage through the hyperlink, you can copy and paste the link at the bottom of this email into your browser.
http://solid-jobsnow.com/cmanager3.aspx?em=sonni1babe@hotmail.com&id=aeturut7_lil51_AdministrativeClerical_02162009_1_mon&rd=88262&gs=7&ro=26&j=20513539
Be very careful with your personal information. Hope this helps someone else.
Kathee
Carrollton, Texas
U.S.A.
http://www.solidjobsnow.com
Source: Ripoffreport.com
I just received an e-mail for a job offer. But this was through a company called Roulette Careers. I have been getting job scam e-mails for the last week and this one was very similar. Except that when I went search for information on the company Roulette Careers I couldn’t find anything. But after looking here I also found that my e-mail is from the same person that sent the e-mail to scamfraudalert . Here is the e-mail that I received. Notice that sender and the different title.
Clerical Assistant position
From: Roulette Careers email:careers@roulettecareers.com
Sent: Thu 10/22/09 8:30 AM
Hello,
We would like to let you know about an open Clerical Assistant position that may interest you. With $15-20 per hour plus benefits, we believe you may be a good fit.
By selecting the link below, you can find out more about the position and apply:
I would like to learn more about the Clerical Assistant opening.
Best of Luck,
S. Levine
HR Coordinator
Career Network, Inc., P.O. Box 618305, Orlando, FL 32861-8305
Always research a company that contacts you for a job. I have found that 99% of the time it is a scam.
The following is an e-mail I just received. Just the same, I’ve never heard of Roulette Careers, and needless to say, my Google search led me here. With little removed, here’s the e-mail.
—————-
Roulette Careers (to me)
Hello again, Marybeth,
Our company tried to reach you to invite you to view the Secretary position currently available. Unfortunately, we have not yet received your response
This is a great opportunity. This position offers $25/hour plus great benefits, including paid sick days and holidays, medical and dental insurance, tuition reimbursement plans, and a 401k retirement plan.
If you are interested, please click on the link below and follow it to the complete description and application.
Please accept my application for the Secretary opening.
Sincerely,
Samantha Towne
Assistant to the Human Resources Coordinator
Career Network, Inc., P.O. Box 618305, Orlando, FL 32861-8305
________________________
I’m currently looking for legitimate job offers. I’ll jump at the chance for a $25/hr secretary position, but only if I know the company and can verify the job will indeed be with said company.
Thank you to R Buzzard for mentioning Roulette, and anyone else who has commented thus far.
Same as C Steadman, thanks for saving me the trouble guys!
Oh wow, I am so thankful for people who take a few minutes to warn other people of dirty fraud like this. Although i just finished sending Three Stars my application and also made an appointment, something told me to Google it some more. I found this site and would like to thankyou SO VERY MUCH for saving me the time and the aggravation.
There really are good people out there, thanks for having my back, I hope that Three Stars goes belly up like they deserve!
I also applied for an HR Assistant position with Three Stars, Inc. and was offered an interview, which I subsequently scheduled for this Friday. Fortunately for me, I was researching the company in preparation for the trip (I live in Michigan and the interview is in Orlando) online and found this posting along with others that linked this company to Career Network. I had also applied for a similar position with Career Network and determined it to be a scam without having to do any research. How, because I received duplicate emails regarding the same HR position, from the same person – whose title changed from one email to the next, as did the salary which mysteriously went from $16 to $16.50 an hour. I also received emails for this position from other people. I finally got so annoyed I emailed them back and told them I had caught on and didn’t wish to receive any more job offers.
Shame on a company and on employees who would take advantage of those of us who are desperately seeking a job to replace the ones we have lost in the hard economic times.