Conspiracy Theorists- Can you explain this ‘eerie’ job ad?

a reply to: Alhiaxa

Your correct but I would like to add one thing. The reason to spam someone's account is usually to get one to click on a link they shouldn't. The easiest way to do that, is to personalize the spam. A resume would have tons of information on it to create personalized spam.

a reply to: Shana91aus

Sorry I am so late to this thread, I am not sure this has been said...but:

This ad has actually be researched in the past and it appears to be part of an identity theft ring.

You: Hey, I saw the job ad, here is my resume

Them: Great, we will get back to you (They then sell any valuable information you have, phone #, email etc)

Them: Great news, you are one of our top candidates for the position, we just need to do background checks, please forward a copy of your drivers license and social security card and a voided check for direct deposit (They then steal your identity), this is usually done by creating an account on the companies site and uploading the files. They use the username/password you used to create an account and attempt to access your bank account or your email.

You never hear back from them at that point..

Source

Edit:

Source 2

Bogus job opportunities are usually posted on job websites. The scammer may use or sell your personal information provided in the job application.

Edit2: I feel like the article in the OP was being extremely disingenuous with how it wrote its article and directing it towards conspiracy theorists. This is a well researched and known scam, so it seems like they either didn't do their homework or are just trying to stir up site views...

a reply to: Shana91aus

Husband reckons it's the sciencetologists' lol
1%

seems like one of those pyramid scheme ads to me.. they're a dime a dozen

a reply to: raymundoko

That would certainly make sense! I guess given the amount they spent on advertising they would make triple that with identity theft! I can't seem to find anything on line of in your links though that refer to this specific ad as being a part of identity theft but I will have a good look when I have some spare time in awhile!

There are many news sites etc that have articles on this ad and there are also independent bloggers and regular people digging in to it also because they have noticed it and think if is fishy, so im not sure if I agree with your edit2 part and I wouldn't have brought it here if I thought that was the case.

a reply to: Alhiaxa

Well no one that has sent resumes to the email has reported spam, there's much cheaper ways for these spamming people to get it than with a long running expensive ad like this, they could set up random bogus ad's on free to advertise job sites with random job positions to get peoples emails or random sites where you enter the email and then it goes in their spam me database, its possible though I guess but they would have to be pretty cashed up spammers.

a reply to: Willtell

Honestly this is a theory I keep coming back too it has been mentioned numerous times now through out the thread and it could very well be that! I just want to figure it out but I keep getting dead ends very frustrating!

a reply to: my1percent

Yeah they are a bit shady I wouldn't put it past them lol.

a reply to: Shana91aus

Shana91aus , I followed the links through and ended up at monster and it said the job was no longer available .
Being nosey , seems to have made it disappear . cheers 1%

a reply to: my1percent

i can still see it on a couple sites, the ones I have checked anyway, including ones I linked too in this thread, and more people have applied on this link there was only a few that had applied when I added that link the first time now there is 38..

I feel like I have hit a dead end now though but I have ruled out a lot of things so I know what it isn't! Like the De Shaw theory it doesn't fit..

i have a link too one of the ones on the monster site that are tied in with this im trying to link it but the link wont come up as a link ugh!! te email right there on the ad is on the list on the previous page in this thread because it has posted the exact ad in the OP, so the wording is a tiny bit different though but it is still along the same lines and has that email that has posted the other one so maybe they have changed this one a little bit I really don't know.

this is what it says:

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
About the Job
Highly intelligent, resourceful individual with exceptional communication skills and organizational ability needed to support a successful entrepreneur. Primary responsibilities include coordinating a complex schedule, assisting with travel, and providing general office help in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. An active approach to problem-solving is essential. Prior experience assisting a high-level executive is a plus. We offer a casual atmosphere in a beautiful space, working as part of an extraordinary group of gifted, interesting individuals.Excellent compensation and benefits, with significant upside potential and management possibilities. Please email your resume to: [email protected]

originally posted by: Shana91aus
I checked if this was posted but couldn't find it my apologies if it has!

LINK

CONSPIRACY theorists, don your tinfoil hats. Cue spooky music. This is a weird one.

Someone in the US has been repeatedly posting the same mysterious job ad in publications for more than a decade, and no one can work out why. It claims to be seeking a “research associate/personal assistant” to work for one of Wall Street’s “most successful entrepreneurs”, for a cool starting salary of $US90-$110,000.

Not too bad. Unsurprisingly, the ad has attracted a fair share of attention and countless hopeful applicants over the years.The listing has appeared regularly in high-profile publications including the New York Review of Books and The New Republic magazine, as well as on websites such as Craigslist and Monster.com, since at least 2004 and possibly earlier, undergoing only minor changes over the years.

The (possibly) original text from a 2004 issue of The New Republic read:

“Research Associate/Personal Assistant: New York City — Highly intelligent, resourceful individuals with exceptional communication skills sought to undertake research projects and administrative tasks for one of Wall Street’s most successful entrepreneurs. We welcome applications from writers, musicians, artists or others who may be pursuing other professional goals in the balance of their time. 90K-110K to start (depending on qualifications). Resume to: [email protected].

Here’s the ad as it currently appears in the New York Review of Books:

It gets weirder..

The only problem is, it’s quite clearly bogus. So who is spending all this money?As blogger John Ettorre, who has been tracking the ad since August 2004, noted: “Just think for a moment about how much has been spent on all these ads in national pubs over the years. It’s a staggering number, perhaps now (I’m guessing a little) well into six figures.”

That was in 2008.So what is it?
Theories range from simple resume farming to statistical research to a secret plot by Google. No one knows.One sleuther on the Mr Ettorre’s Working With Words blog claimed the ad was a research program being run by New York hedge fund D.E. Shaw.Huffington Post journalist Carol Felsenthal wrote about it back in 2011 — she had sent the ad to her daughter in 2006 and saw it again in 2009.The people who could possibly answer the mystery, The New Republic advertising team, told her: “We cannot provide you with any further information regarding this ad or our client.”

As another blog poster wrote last year: “It is almost chilling to think that this ad has been circulating since 2004. Very eerie.”

My personal opinion of this is that it is some kind of data collection or possible spy operation! seems really suss whatever it is !

Anyone else have any ideas what it could be? I can not believe how much they would have spent on this so far! surely scammers do not have that kind of money!

This ad is for D.E. Shaw. There is no conspiracy, no creepiness, etc. If you want the job, you need impeccable references, sky-high SAT scores & a serious educational achievement background.

Mystery solved.

a reply to: Mensa180

Did you read the all the pages or atleast the one before this?? They have a email for recruiting on their own system they don't use all random gmail ones... Do you have any links to prove otherwise and that its definitely from them?

You know, I wonder if it might have anything at all to do with those other phony/strange job listings that one tends to see online mainly on those job hunting sites that are useless. Ones that offer a high starting amount and then offer an interview and then when you look up where it is, it is nowhere and the name of the phony company is the street name or something. Or maybe that's just random scams. But methinks the ad in question has to be a scam of some sort. *gulp* --or it's a lure from a serial killer or sumthin! dun dun dunnn


Attempts at humor aside, with everything considered, I'm feeling overall, that this method in practice would be a roundabout and outdated way of collecting data.

And if that is indeed the case, then this has to be something else. Whether a scam or something other than that--I don't know. Truly a mystery. I take it there is no contact info on the ad? sorry if that's been addressed already. I read this thread some time ago and have to catch up on a bit, I think. My bad /:

To add: "[email protected]" is the address that one is directed to respond to if interested in the ad. Number one, what in the world is a gen-eight-er? gen8r? Something to do with genes? It's a weird email address.

originally posted by: Shana91aus

originally posted by: Adamgeorgejones
Okay guys i believe ive possibly found it...

So i went onto this link for one of the job ads (www.jojari.com...) and went to the bottom of the page which gave me a loaction, now zooming in on the map showed me a pin where apparently this employer is.

now after you see where the pin is go to google and type "buisnesses on W 46th ST and switch to maps.

Cross reference and match up where the pin is and it directly matches up with a buisness consultancy office called penmarks.

Any good guys?

Hi

That zip code seems too come up on all the ad's but no actual address are on any of them so the map will show you the centre of that location that the zip code that's entered is located.. like this one here Link to Job Ad

The contact info seems suspect. I'd like to know if the company or whatever exists. It just might. But those comments do seem cheesy. Have you looked for it on other interview review places?

a reply to: rukia

I totally agree with you! it does seem like a outdated way to collect data, maybe back when it was first started it it might have been a decent way to do it because things were a lot different back then, but now there is much easier ways so why would they continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisement?

There is no contact info on the ad's but a email address, the email addresses all seem to be similar they started off with the spsfind one and then started using gmail accounts I assume around the time gmail came out and became popular from what I can tell. I agree the gen thing is very weird, it appears in more than one of their email addresses aswell! There is also the postcode that seems to pop up in most of them which is a NY one, which would have fitted the DE Shaw theory but I cant see it adding up to that, especially considering they have their own email addresses, and when I did search for DE Shaw job ad's I found ones with their contact info and their company name so we know they do put their company details on their advertisements and they do not use random email addresses and make all these crazy promises. Link to one advertisement of theirs so I personally can't see it being by them, but who knows.

I have looked at it on many sites and no one can seem to work out who it is exactly, except one site, that's where it was mentioned it was DE Shaw, and then they described this weird interview that just seemed a bit made up to me posted by an anonymous person.

This sounds very much like recruitment for spies. I went for a job as a spy once, the ad was like this one. I didn't find out what the job really was till later at which point I scuttled the interview. The ones that get responses are not going to tell you.