Yekaterinburg man shown odd videos, asked for money in job scam

A Yekaterinburg resident tried to get a job — and almost lost 20,000 rubles (about $220 at current rates). The «employer» demanded this from him after showing strange videos for two days.

Our reader decided to anonymously share his experience to warn others about scammers. We publish his story as an author«s column.

I want to share my experience with a classic job search scam. I was invited for an interview based on an advertisement on a job website.

The first impression of the office was very strange: the premises looked uninhabited and chaotic, clearly a temporary rental. Inside, there were mostly young guys and girls aged about 17 to 25. No details about the company were provided in advance, only an invitation to come in person — they said, «we»ll explain everything in detail when we meet.«

At the meeting, I see a rather modest office, resembling a temporary setup: furniture placed haphazardly, space is cramped, a lot of people. At the entrance, an administrator greets with the words: «Wait a bit, your curator will come soon.»

Then a peculiar ritual begins: you are led to a table, asked to wait. After some time, a second employee appears, explaining the rules of conduct («Write everything down carefully!» — they insistently repeat multiple times). She adds an important condition: no phones, only a notebook and pen.

Next, a recording of an old training is turned on, apparently filmed in another city. The recording is an hour-long in-person training with rather vague promises: the company has existed for a long time (supposedly about 23 years), is engaged in e-commerce (online stores, marketplaces), no specific duties for the direction are disclosed. You are assured that work experience and education do not matter.

Work is offered in five directions:

1. Processing applications in messengers and email.

2. Working with documentation.

3. Managing social media.

4. Administrative activities.

5. Preparing an assistant to the head.

6. Household and technical support.

For each point, the empty phrase is repeated again and again: «We will select the direction that suits you.»

Finally, the key detail: they promise a decent salary, up to 56,000 rubles per month (about $620 at current rates) for a full workday, but the schedule and payment terms remain vague.

On the second day, the procedure is similar: the same viewing of training recordings without any new information. Here it«s important to note an interesting fact: the company often changes the location of its office, periodically moving to different districts of the city (this conclusion can be drawn from the video where it is stated that the office at the time of recording was in another place).

And here is the finale of the intrigue: to become a full employee, you are asked to make a contribution of 10–20 thousand rubles (about $110–$220 at current rates). After all, this will increase the bonus amount and you get special privileges within the company structure.

When you refuse to pay, attempts begin to keep the situation under control: they inquire about your desire to get hired faster, remind you of the possibility to set up a personal employee account today… But for that, you already need a passport and an amount of almost 5 thousand rubles (about $55 at current rates).

What next? Of course, I don«t recommend giving money to anyone. This is a standard trick used by unscrupulous employers operating on the principle of a financial pyramid or a simple money-extortion scheme.

I«m writing to you because perhaps you have the opportunity to convey that the old-fashioned ways of scamming job seekers are still alive and thriving. What struck me was the number of people at neighboring desks, watching these pathetic video recordings along with me.

To deceive citizens, scammers use various schemes. For example, recently, city residents have been receiving fake speeding fines and messages about non-existent New Year«s gifts. In this material we told about five fraud schemes used by scammers during the pre-New Year rush.

Everything about how scammers deceive, we collect in a separate section.