Fraud charges for Minnesota "recruiter"

[Wes Bucey]

From time to time we have comments in threads about "job counselors." My take has pretty much been that candidates should be doing most of the work that job counselors do, especially those job counselors who charge exorbitant fees.

Some of these job counselors cross the line in promising much more than they can deliver and it is rare when law enforcement actually bring charges against any for fraud or deceptive practices.

I note in Tuesday's NY Times that one of the more egregious operators has been charged. I have frequently fumed at the number of "executive wanted" ads placed by the subject of these charges on Monster and Career Builder. (My take is they use the wrong words in their ad - it should read "Gullible folks with cash wanted.")

This item is excerpted under Fair Use to illustrate an educational point for prospective job hunters.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/us/30search.html)

September 30, 2009
Minnesota Charges Headhunter With Fraud

By MICHAEL LUO
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against a Minneapolis-based headhunting company, charging that it deceived desperate job seekers who paid the company hefty fees in hopes of landing interviews for lucrative jobs that never materialized.

The company, the Arthur Group, along with its president, Barry Trimble, was the subject of a New York Times article in August in which several former employees said the company rarely placed anyone in jobs, even as dozens of people paid several thousand dollars every month for its services.

The majority of the online job listings posted by the company were no longer even active, the former workers said. The company, which boasted to job seekers that it had relationships with dozens of employers, had no special connections at all, they added.

The Arthur Group shut down its Web site on Aug. 17, the day the article was published, and it has since closed its doors. The job postings were also removed.

The lawsuit accused the Arthur Group of fraud and deceptive trade practices. It said clients were victimized by a “bait-and-switch,” in which job seekers were lured by the promise that they would gain access to numerous job openings and a “hidden job market,” but only if they paid as much as $4,500 for the company to improve their résumés and upgrade their interviewing skills.

“Consumers who paid for the Arthur Group’s services did not receive the interviews, or jobs, that they were promised,” the lawsuit said.
Attorney General Lori Swanson also used the opportunity to issue a warning to job seekers to beware of unscrupulous employment agencies and other scams.

Ben Wogsland, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the office had heard from “dozens” of former Arthur Group clients. Part of what the attorney general hopes to learn, he said, was whether the firm’s numerous postings were for actual jobs, or made up completely.

Mr. Trimble did not respond to a message requesting comment.
This is not the first time he has been connected to an accusation of fraud. Several years ago, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office filed suit against another job search firm, Bernard Haldane, making similar accusations of consumer fraud. Martin Carlson, the former assistant attorney general who handled the case, said in an interview that Mr. Trimble was the firm’s office manager. The firm and its owner were eventually barred from doing anything related to career counseling in the state and ordered to pay $225,000 in restitution to former customers.
At some point, however, Mr. Trimble, who agreed to make $75,000 in restitution in the Haldane case, left the firm. As a former employee, he was apparently not subject to the injunction, enabling him to buy the Arthur Group and get back into the job search business.

A while back, I wrote about Bernie Haldane, whose name appears in the article (he's dead, but folks still use his name.) When I knew Bernie, he was essentially running an ethical business, but even then, thirty years ago, he was charging folks a lot of money for services they could have gotten free if they had made a little effort to look. Lots of folks have left one or another of the Haldane offices (I'm not sure of they were franchises or licensees of the name and concept) and gone into business for themselves to reap the service fee the Haldane folks were charging to use the name and concept. The same thing happened with multi-level marketing programs (Mary Kay from Avon and others peddling everything from detergent [Amway] to vitamins (Shaklee) - it doesn't make the product bad [or the service] until the operators of the business decide to lie, cheat, and steal to increase their profit.

 

[Wes Bucey]

For the curious:

This "job ad" is brand new this week and is word for word [different contacts, of course, which I have deleted] identical to the wording the Arthur Group used in their ads. If you are tempted to follow up on such an ad, consider carefully what the NY Times has written about such an operation. Remember - the company names may change, but the pitch and the effort to extract money from the candidate remain the same.

Base Pay:$85,000 - $450,000 /Year
Employee Type:Full-Time
Industry:Manufacturing, Sales - Marketing, Transportation
Manages Others:Yes
Job Type:Executive, Management,Transportation
Education:2 Year Degree
Experience:At least 10 year(s)
Post Date:9/28/2009
Contact Information Contact:Bob [deleted]
Phone:[deleted](Toll Free)or [deleted]
Fax:[deleted] or [deleted] instantly fax your resume >>
Description Whether you are currently employed or not, are you:

· Concerned about the job market?
· Worried about your chances of finding something?
· Thinking that there is not much opportunity?
· Puzzled about how and where to look?

Do you want to be effective and find the right job?

Are you doing it alone?

If you answered “YES" to any of the questions above, TAKE ACTION NOW! GO TO www.[deleted].com/ and learn how you can improve your chances of success in your career. TAKE THE JOB SEARCH IQ TEST, paste in your resume, or call us at [deleted] (Toll Free) or [deleted] to schedule a free and confidential consultation. We will review your goals and your resume and share some insight about your career search.

[deleted] is an executive career consulting firm that works hand in hand with executives who are looking to improve their job prospects. We will provide you with the insight, the tools, the strategy, and the coaching necessary to make your efforts fruitful. (Our team consists of former Fortune 100 executives and educators who have developed people within Corporate America and offer many years of senior level experience in career consulting.)


Requirements Our clients gain a vital understanding of the capabilities and a particular confidence to pursue opportunities they might otherwise not see or seek. Our strategies will give you a distinct advantage over others when competing for jobs as well as help you find opportunities that others fail to discover.

We will provide you the:

• Insight you need to better understand what you have to offer the market
• The tools to create awareness and interest
• The strategies to help you get in front of employers,
• The interviewing tactics that will make you appealing, and
• The ongoing advice you would expect from seasoned top-level executives.

Our very high client success rate, even in this economy, testifies to the effectiveness of our concepts, practices, tools, and strategies.

If you are serious about your career, then you should take the next step and call or email us. Our fees, based on the type of service you select, are very competitive with much higher quality and depth of service, and would range between $3000 and $7500, depending on what is required.

TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT HOW YOU CAN OPEN DOORS TO OPPORTUNITY! CALL US AT [deleted] (Toll Free) or [deleted] or VISIT OUR WEBSITE at [deleted].com/ and SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION. WE WILL CALL YOU.

Note the fee range in big red letters
This ad appeared in careerbuilder.com under the heading
President / VP / Executive

They ran the identical ad for 6 locations in the past two weeks

1-6 of 6 JobsPage 1 of 1 |

President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: IL - Chicago Date Posted: 9/28/2009 President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: NY - New York Date Posted: 9/28/2009

President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: MI - Detroit Date Posted: 9/28/2009

President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: FL - Jacksonville Date Posted: 9/16/2009

President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: TX - Dallas Date Posted: 9/16/2009

President / VP / Executive
Whether you are currently employed or not, are you: · Concerned about the job market? · Worried about your chances of finding something......
Location: CA - Los Angeles Date Posted: 9/16/2009

What would your guess be about whether these folks are puffing the value of their service just a little bit [or a lot?]