How the HELL can this be legal????

The following is part of an article published on www.journalgazette.net from Fort Wayne, Indiana...

"Going 62 in a 50-mph zone, a Jeep barreled west on a slippery, snow-covered Airport Expressway on Valentine’s Day and blew past an Allen County sheriff’s squad car. One traffic stop later, two men inside the Jeep were outside being patted down by officers. They acted nervous, according to a police report. At one point they looked as if they wanted to fight; at another they looked as if they wanted to flee. In the Jeep’s back seat, police found more than $26,000 in cash wrapped in a stocking cap. Though officers held the two men for a short time in squad cars, they were eventually released without charges, save for the driver receiving a citation for driving with a suspended license. And the money? The police kept it. Having that much cash is not a crime, but police have the right to seize it if they suspect it has been used or procured through criminal means. Most of the money seized comes from drug cases and can then be used by various law enforcement agencies."

A little father along in the article it states "How often money is confiscated from people not charged with crimes is hard to determine, Barile said, but his best guess for his department is that it happens “maybe 10 percent of the time” his department performs a seizure."

Maybe 10 percent of the time??? Am I the only one concerned that the government can seize personal property when no laws have been broken and no charges filed, just because someone decided that it "looks suspicious"? I don't care if these guys did look suspicious. If there is not enough evidence to arrest these guys or file charges, how can the cops just sieze their property? Is there no such thing as personal rights anymore? If I get pulled over carrying a couple hundred bucks and the cops think that's more than I should have in my wallet is it ok for them to just take it??? Wow this is a slippery slope...

Here's a link to the full article...

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090322/LOCAL/303229940/-1/LOCAL11

Luigi Sampson, You're a ...

I'm currently helping a very, VERY, good friend look for a job, so I've been scanning a few sites... Craigslist included. Now I know Craigslist is filled with scams and crap, but I'll admit even as skeptical as I am in general, I was caught off guard with this one. I came across several postings that looked very legit, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be very nasty. Here is one example...

http://saginaw.craigslist.org/hea/1061521324.html

I guess there are a couple of small details that are out of place here, but for people looking for jobs, these are easily overlooked.

1) The actual name of the company is not listed
2) The starting salary is probably higher than what would be expected for this position

Everything else looks very authentic. However, after googling luigi.sampson@gmail.com I found that he has listed this same ad or a similar version to it in several other communities throughout the U.S.

I decided to respond to this ad with the following email...

Mr. Sampson,

What do I need to do or what information do I need to send in order to apply to the job posting that I found on Craigslist?

Thank you,

Tony Mills


I immediately got this reply from Luigi..

Thank you for your interest in the Patient Registrar we have posted
through Craigslist. To complete the application process please click
on the link below.

To apply for this job click here
http://thecareercenteronline.com/joboffer/register.cfm?jobpositionid=99270

Thank you,

Luigi Sampson


I didn't highlight the link because I really don't want anyone going there. It still looks legit, but IT'S A SCAM!!!

Here's someone else that figured that out as well...

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/etc/1042770523.html

Unfortunately, ads of this type almost always end up telling their respondents that they need to go to a special web site to begin the application process. Once there, the respondent is hit with several sales pitches, free offers that they are encouraged to sign up for and give their credit card info, and even worse... many of these sites have "drive by" viruses that get dropped onto the respondents computer (yeah, that's always fun to try to fix).

So, in a nutshell, be very careful when dealing with anything on Craigslist, even something as innocent as a job search. A few simple tips...

1) Be skeptical if the company doesn't list its name in the ad
2) Be skeptical if the pay rate is higher than what should be expected for the job (too good to be true)
3) Don't send personal information like an address, phone number or a social security number until you are sure who you are dealing with. In fact, don't give anyone your social security number until you actually have a job with that company.
4) If the "Reply to:" email is an actual email address, and not just a response that goes to a Craigslist account, be sure to Google the address and see if anything suspicious comes up
5) If you are ever told that you need to pay money or give a credit card number, or have to sign up for free offers in order to apply for a job... run like the wind!!!

All of you Craigslist predators... I sure hope Google finds this post...

Updated 3/9/09