Re: Contract Employment Weekly forging my email address

Dear Mr. Mason:

We have had some similar problems on occasion. If I may, allow me to make
a couple of suggestions.
1. This is more than not funny, it is a waste of your time and resources.
But you have recourse.
2. Copyright your online resume, in whole and in part. Many such companies
are offshore, so be sure to place the line ". All rights reserved." at the
end of your copyright, which extends the U.S. protection to everywhere.
(This is NOT the same as copyrighting the resume in several countries, but
it is important for the next step.)
3. Determine if you are paying for your access to internet where your
online resume is posted.
4. The ripoff company is now breaking 1 federal law (copyright) and
several interstate banking laws (using resources that you are paying money
for).
5. If this ripoff company has left any address where you can WRITE to them
(required in the US, usually in the find print at the bottom of the page),
I repeat WRITE to them (must be in writing in most US states), write once,
explain the circumstances briefly, ask them to stop immediately, and CARBON
COPY THEIR STATE's Atourney General. Be sure the CC: notice shows on the
letter you send the company. This often shuts them up in a millisecond.
6. If that doesn't work (in many states they have 30 days to comply to
such a request), do step 7.
7. The biggest gun they are facing is federal charges for Internet Fraud,
and this is a big threat to such companies. Now, if you have an FBI office
nearby, give them a call. Of course, be polite, professional, etc. Ask to
speak to an agent about internet fraud, have all the addresses (.com,
street, IP (use a "whois" facility) and printed out examples of these bogus
emails in front of you. When the agent and you then talk about the issue,
and he realizes that he is talking to someone different than a consumer,
but a professional who's time and money is being taken by this particular
fraud, he will sit up and take notice, and can probably help you in a mater
of days. Inform the bogus company of your conversation with the FBI IN
WRITING. Being scared of getting shut down is apparently their biggest
dread, not the fines, etc., and it is that that will usually get you off
their list in the fastest way.
8. If utterly necessary, the same information you gave the FBI can be
forwarded to the nearest FEDERAL district attourney's office, again with a
CC to the bogus company. This will do it.

But...
Regrettably, at this point your address will likely be on all kinds of
"for sale" lists of email contacts. You may have to pick a new internet ID.
But wait to do this until you have dealt successfully with the bogus
company, and your records have been removed from their list!

It is a terrible time consumer, I know. Be encouraged, though. Usually
the very first letter with a CC to the attounry general in the state where
they are incorporated will do it. You may well hear within 10 days or so.
Wait one more week, change to a new ID, let the important people know about
it, and hopefully it wont happen again.

By the way, to copyright you document, you can start by simply putting at
the beginning of the document, in smaller type perhaps, that "All material
herein contained is copyright 2008 by John Doe (insert your legal name).
All rights reserved. [that includes in the copyright action at law for
protection, so you don't have to get wordy]. International rights
reserved."

Then you contact the U.S. Copyright office in D.C., and file a copy of the
document with them and pay a very minor fee (the last time we did one it
was under $10.) Instructions etc on the net.

I really do hope this helps. The magic words are WRITTEN COMUNICATION AND
REQUEST FOR ACTION (necessary for legality most places) and CC THE
ATTOURNEY GENERAL (that usually, at least in our case, has been necessary
to bring the desired action, out of fear, or whatever, but it works).

My sincerest regards,

Tom Bellows,
President
TSB Engineering Corporation








A couple of weeks ago, I started getting various replies to emails
I had never sent. Apparently someone was sending emails with the
From field set to my name and the email address I list on my web
page -- an address that I only use for receiving email, never
sending.

It turns out that Contract Employment Weekly (see website at
http://www.ceweekly.com/ ) grabbed part of my resume off my
website and has been sending it to employers while forging
my name and email address in the From field.

Needless to say, I never signed up with them, much less gave
them permission to send out a copy of my resume with 90% of it
missing while pretending to be me.

They even admit to doing this in their disclaimer
( http://www.ceweekly.com/disclaimer.html )!

...Your contact information might be provided to a
recruiter under the following circumstances: 1. You
have a resume online and a staffing firm views the
resume as part of a skills search...

Which, it seems, means that they think that the fact
that my resume is online means that pretending to be
me, forging my email address, and sending out a
bastardized version without my permission is OK.


--
Guy Macon
<http://www.GuyMacon.com/>




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