The scammers are getting really good. I’ve been looking for a job for quite a while. And this shows up in my inbox today!

Dear Jen,

I'm Ashley Brian, Human resources manager at Love Classic Fashion.
We are currently seeking an innovative and dedicated graphic designer to work via a remote base that can work either part-time or full-time.

I saw your profile on Indeed.com and I was impressed by your experience.
Here at Love Classic, we are always looking to grow our teams with talented people and achieve great things together.

I think that your expertise in graphic design would help us in the project we’re working on. I’d love to tell you more about the opening position and learn a few things about you as well.

I am available anytime between 9:00am
5:00pm (EST), Monday through Friday.

Work hours or Shift: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am - 5: 30 pm.
Position Pay Range : $25 - $50/ hr
I hope you have a great day.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Ashley Brian, SHRM-SCP | Love Classic
Human Resources Manager
3760 Arlington, VA 22203

This email came from info@loveclassicjobs.store

Sounds legit, other than that graphic design thing, doesn’t it? Let’s go through how you can check on this.

a. info@loveclassicjobs.store – take the end of that email address and put it in a web browser. What do you get?

OK, well… maybe they use a different URL for job hunting?… because they get so many applications a regular email doesn’t work for them?… which is why they’re emailing me and asking me to work at a low rate?…

b. Love Classic is a clothing store with a basic website. No idea why they’d need a graphic designer. If you check their career page, there is no job listed.

c. SHRM-SCP is a HR certification, so this makes sense in the name. He/she is a Human Resources Manager. But in the first line of the email, she/he is a Human resources manager. Also, do HR managers do any recruiting these days? Maybe if the job is small enough, I guess?

d. If anyone is listed on LinkedIn, it’s a HR manager/recruiter. Put “Ashley Brian” in the search, and you turn up zero results. Zero! There are Ashley Bryans, but no Ashley Brians.

e. And did anyone else nearly miss the address line in the signature? “3760 Arlington, VA 22203” No street name. Cool cool.

For a long time, scammer emails were fairly identifiable. They didn’t write well, with lots of misspellings, odd phrasing, and strange requests.

Now with AI, scammers can sound perfectly legit. The problem is that they still might not know how a US address works, or how to check someone out on LinkedIn, or how to double-check the email address’s matching website.

What hasn’t changed is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And I assure you, no one has ever wanted to hire me for my graphic design skills. 🤣