SO... I saw an ad on Craig's List for an administrative position. I figured, how can an office position be a scam? What do I get for figuring?... it turns out that they want you to telecommute ( red flag #1 ).

They want you to submit an "employment contract" online and it must be "filled out in pen, in your handwriting"... hhhmmm ( red flag #2 ). They instruct you to do it quickly and get it back to them via fax or email. You don't speak with a "real" person EVER.

If suspecting a scam based on the above isn't enough... the telephone numbers they list on their website (complete w/ pics of fake employees)... for a corporation that is supposedly in Alaska are, in actuality, Cingular cell phone numbers from NYC. They have one "fax" number that has an AK area code.

Wanting even more verification that the guys are fakers, I contacted the Alaska Department of Agriculture. The Alaska AgroInvest folks claim to have thousands of hecta-acres under till in mixed agriculture. Their corporate "vision" is to develop small agricultural type businesses in Alaska. You'd think that the Dept of Agro would be their best buddy. I spoke with the Assistant Director at the AK DoA and he said that he'd never heard of them. He put me on hold and inquired of others in the department... no one else had heard of them either. Thank God for flat rate long distance!

...to take it yet another step further (I was really, really bored Wednesday)... I contacted the USPS about the bogus address they listed for Kenai, AK... as I figured, no such address is there. However, there is a McDonald's that is one digit off from their address. No one at the McDonald's knew of a business (that was supposedly RIGHT NEXT DOOR) by the name of Alaska AgroInvest.

It is probably a way to get your personal information as they don't ask for any bank information or credit card numbers... they just want you to fill out an application and send it to them sight unseen.

Applicant beware.