Ralph Palmer of Boothbay writes, “I think you people at COMBAT should warn your readers about phony online employment services offering leads to federal jobs. I went to one such Web site and when I submitted my e-mail address to be notified about job openings, I was given a toll-free number to call. When I called, the guy wanted me to give him my credit card number and pay $50 for a year’s ‘subscription’ to a service that would e-mail me lists of federal jobs. It sounded like a fraud, so I said ‘no thanks’ and hung up.”

Good for Palmer. It sounds like these Internet telemarketers have found a clever way to circumvent the “Do Not Call” list: They get you to call them.

For years, ads have appeared in “help wanted” sections of newspapers offering high-paying jobs with the federal government that look like the opportunity of a lifetime. But if you call about these “federal jobs,” you are more likely to get a high-pressure sales pitch and an attempt to have you shell out money for job-related information. These crooks are now using the Internet.

If you really want a list of federal jobs in your area, get the information from the U.S. Postal Service or Office of Personnel Management. Many bogus employment agencies will take your money, then send you a list of job descriptions, not actual openings, and the information they are selling is available for free from the U.S. government.

Federal and postal job scams are among the biggest rackets on the employment front, preying on consumers who are unemployed or underemployed and who can least afford to be taken. When victims call these toll-free numbers, they get a sales pitch implying that applicants who purchase the company’s materials improve their chances of being hired. These outfits prey on a general lack of understanding about the federal hiring process. While it’s not illegal for a company to sell information about federal jobs, it is illegal to misrepresent what’s being offered and offer assurances that by sending them money you have a better chance of being hired.

Carol Ryder of Caribou, for example, called a company’s toll-free number to find out about park ranger jobs in Colorado and bought the information packet for $39. Although she declined the company’s pitch for Postal Service employment information, she received them anyway, along with an unauthorized charge for $40 on her credit card.

When Ryder realized she had been taken and called the company for the refund she had been promised if she was not hired for one of the advertised jobs, her calls were transferred to a voice-mail black hole. It took COMBAT almost a year to get Ryder’s money back – but we did.

Consumers never have to pay for information about job vacancies with the U.S. government or the U.S. Postal Service. Federal agencies never charge application fees or guarantee that an applicant will be hired. Although the Postal Service requires applicants to take a test, it typically offers sample questions and study materials free and no one can guarantee a person will get any particular score on the entrance exams or that a high score will guarantee a job.

Information on postal jobs is available at post offices. Information about other federal jobs is available from the Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS telephone information system. For the telephone number in your area, check the Office of Personnel Management telephone listing, under U.S. government. You also can get information about government jobs at www.usajobs.opm.gov.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT-Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership $25, business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.