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Post Office Job Ads Often Bogus

January 25, 2006
The Federal Trade Commission has charged an employment-opportunity scammer and his companies with marketing a fraudulent U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employment program.

According to the FTC, the defendants misrepresented through ads and telephone pitches that they were connected with or endorsed by the Postal Service; that postal jobs were available; that customers would receive study materials that would help them pass the postal entrance exam; and that customers who pass that exam were assured jobs with the Postal Service. In reality, none of these claims are true.

The defendants ran classified ads across the country, such as:

*ANNOUNCEMENT* HIRING for 2005 POSTAL POSITIONS $17.50-$59.00 Plus+ hour. Full benefits. Paid Training Vacations. No Experience Necessary. Green Card OK CALL 1-866-329-0801

The FTC claims the ads led consumers to believe the defendants were hiring for postal jobs and therefore connected with, or endorsed by, the USPS.

The agency charges that when consumers called the number in the classified ads, telemarketers told them they were affiliated with, or were, the USPS and that positions were available in the consumers’ area.

The telemarketers also promised that if consumers passed the required entrance exam, they would receive a job with the USPS. They then told consumers they must pay a “registration fee” to take the test necessary to obtain postal employment and to obtain materials that purportedly would help them pass the test. Prices ranged from $128.80 to $168.20.

Contrary to what was promised, the packages consumers received did not contain materials that would enable them to pass the postal employment exam or gain employment.

In fact, applicants for many entry-level postal jobs are required to take a postal examination, but the tests are not regularly offered and there are no job placement guarantees based on score.

Information on postal jobs is available at local post offices, and information about required exams is provided free of charge.

More information is available at the USPS Web site, www.usps.com. Information about government jobs can be found at www.usajobs.gov.

The FTC’s complaint named as defendants Jeffrey Wayne Simmons (a/k/a Wayne Simmons, a/k/a Wayne Stevens) and his companies, Information Resources of Nashville, LLC and Career Services, LLC.

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