How am I being scammed?
April 8, 2019 8:06 AM Subscribe
On LinkedIn, I’m getting crazy high offers that never follow through and have the same pattern. What’s the scam?
I’m in software and it goes as follows: Indian recruiter offers me ~150/hr. I ask who the client is and it ends up being a genuine client I know, price is well above what they are known to pay. They want an email stating I’d work for the price, I figure sure. Hourly rate seems to be the same amongst different end clients, regardless if it is Midwest or NYC/SF. None want remote. They’re extremely aggressive in wanting a response.
This feels like a visa scam, I can’t figure out their end goal. Despite poor English communication skills, their demands are crazy. I ask for a starting bonus as relocating to a new city within a month is costly. I get a hard no even with offers to reduce my hourly rate. I really can’t figure out what the end game is as I only give them a “rate confirmation” email and publically available information.
Unless I’m being crazy and there are droves of software developers willing to pack up and move to the suburbs of a city they don’t live in at a moments notice.
I’m in software and it goes as follows: Indian recruiter offers me ~150/hr. I ask who the client is and it ends up being a genuine client I know, price is well above what they are known to pay. They want an email stating I’d work for the price, I figure sure. Hourly rate seems to be the same amongst different end clients, regardless if it is Midwest or NYC/SF. None want remote. They’re extremely aggressive in wanting a response.
This feels like a visa scam, I can’t figure out their end goal. Despite poor English communication skills, their demands are crazy. I ask for a starting bonus as relocating to a new city within a month is costly. I get a hard no even with offers to reduce my hourly rate. I really can’t figure out what the end game is as I only give them a “rate confirmation” email and publically available information.
Unless I’m being crazy and there are droves of software developers willing to pack up and move to the suburbs of a city they don’t live in at a moments notice.
I worked for an IT staffing company and can confirm that yes, there are loads of developers willing to pick up and move depending on their skill set. Many of the ones that are willing to do that are here on visas and if the need to be employed to stay. A lot of these people don’t bring much but their suitcase. A fair amount would stay in long term hotels.
Relocation bonus was also something we did not often offer. As a contract employee, most of our clients could cut people at any point for any reason (including ooops, work dried up), so we had no way of knowing if we would get that money back on the rate.
I am not saying you won’t find a firm willing to do that, but it’s not common. You may have more luck going through the employee route for those clients if you want relocation assistance but usually the pay is less. That’s the trade off.
posted by polkadot at 8:52 AM on April 8, 2019
Relocation bonus was also something we did not often offer. As a contract employee, most of our clients could cut people at any point for any reason (including ooops, work dried up), so we had no way of knowing if we would get that money back on the rate.
I am not saying you won’t find a firm willing to do that, but it’s not common. You may have more luck going through the employee route for those clients if you want relocation assistance but usually the pay is less. That’s the trade off.
posted by polkadot at 8:52 AM on April 8, 2019
They may be using you for a comparable quote vs. someone else.
posted by nickggully at 8:55 AM on April 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by nickggully at 8:55 AM on April 8, 2019 [4 favorites]
Indian recruiter offers me ~150/hr... regardless if it is Midwest or NYC/SF. None want remote.
I don't know of any US companies using Indian recruitment companies for staffing inside the US. IMHO you should treat these approaches as spam.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:59 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
I don't know of any US companies using Indian recruitment companies for staffing inside the US. IMHO you should treat these approaches as spam.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:59 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
they're just sending your resume places (where they probably haven't even been retained to submit candidates) and hoping something sticks and then they'd get their cut. Anyone with a Linkedin account can do this.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:32 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:32 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
I get a lot of boiler-room recruiters calling me. I suspect they have quotas to hit.
posted by Ampersand692 at 10:46 AM on April 8, 2019
posted by Ampersand692 at 10:46 AM on April 8, 2019
Hey DarlingBri, I'm in the industry (on the buyer side!) and there are LOTS of Indian recruitment companies supporting clients in the US. It's cheaper for them to turn sourcing over to a hub in India, leaving their US staff clear to only work with the cream-of-the-crop.
Indian sourcing or Indian-owned is no longer a metric of (poor) reliability in recruitment.
posted by GamblingBlues at 11:58 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
Indian sourcing or Indian-owned is no longer a metric of (poor) reliability in recruitment.
posted by GamblingBlues at 11:58 AM on April 8, 2019 [5 favorites]
You'll only find out if it's a scam if you withdraw your bonus/relocation demand and they fade away from the above-market rate quote.
I'd say that there are very good reasons for clients to "hard no" sign-on bonuses and relocation in an above-market contracting offer. The gigs could be short-term and thus you can't amortize out that upfront cost the way you would. Their lawyers are VERY focused on policing the 1099 vs. W2 distinction and you don't give vendors sign-on bonuses or relocation...
posted by MattD at 1:03 PM on April 8, 2019
I'd say that there are very good reasons for clients to "hard no" sign-on bonuses and relocation in an above-market contracting offer. The gigs could be short-term and thus you can't amortize out that upfront cost the way you would. Their lawyers are VERY focused on policing the 1099 vs. W2 distinction and you don't give vendors sign-on bonuses or relocation...
posted by MattD at 1:03 PM on April 8, 2019
Possibly related to the visa issues discussed above : I was often sent similar emails (prior to LinkedIn) since I was considered an expert on certain software packages on a website. Thanks to a friend I learned it was because my account name - made up by me at registration - was very similar to the english version of a common Asian name.
Perhaps you have a similar issue in regards to your name?
posted by iStranger at 6:24 AM on April 9, 2019
Perhaps you have a similar issue in regards to your name?
posted by iStranger at 6:24 AM on April 9, 2019
They may be bidding for remote work claiming it will be performed by you, then actually farming it out to cheap foreign labor and pocketing the difference.
posted by w0mbat at 10:15 AM on April 9, 2019
posted by w0mbat at 10:15 AM on April 9, 2019
Response by poster: I'd say that there are very good reasons for clients to "hard no" sign-on bonuses and relocation in an above-market contracting offer.
I agree but I offered a more reasonable rate with relo compensation, or alternatively the firm pays for a long term hotel in compensation for a lower hourly rate. I realize the compensation on the recruiting firm is tied to my billable hours but asking for someone to go 90 days without being paid plus moving across the country (including expensive temporary housing) is a bit much.
If I was truly a vendor or independent contractor, like a lawyer, I wouldn’t be required to show up 9-5 onsite and could dictate my working hours. But that’s an unrelated issue.
I’m going to just go with the rate without demands and see what happens.
posted by geoff. at 4:06 PM on April 9, 2019
I agree but I offered a more reasonable rate with relo compensation, or alternatively the firm pays for a long term hotel in compensation for a lower hourly rate. I realize the compensation on the recruiting firm is tied to my billable hours but asking for someone to go 90 days without being paid plus moving across the country (including expensive temporary housing) is a bit much.
If I was truly a vendor or independent contractor, like a lawyer, I wouldn’t be required to show up 9-5 onsite and could dictate my working hours. But that’s an unrelated issue.
I’m going to just go with the rate without demands and see what happens.
posted by geoff. at 4:06 PM on April 9, 2019
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There aren't a lot of people willing to move to a random new place at short notice, but they absolutely do exist. Also, they really should be targeting folks who're more local. But they're throwing numbers at a wall and hoping one sticks; this is not a model where they're closely examining you and deciding you're worth recruiting, they're saying "Here's the deal, take it or walk, please tell me ASAP" so they can churn their numbers and hope something comes through.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:13 AM on April 8, 2019 [3 favorites]