There are over a thousand TEFL Job ads pumped out every day on these websites that offer high pay, great benefits and even cash signing bonuses. Unfortunately most of these jobs do not even exists and the ads were posted by some dubious characters who only want to get their hands on your resume and your passport scan. They count on your gullibility or desperate need of a job abroad. https://media.makeameme.org/created/cafd6daa3f.jpg
The crooks, up-front fee scammers, salary skimmers, and identity thieves call these ads "Bait Ads". Don't take that bait friends. If you do, you have a 50% of becoming a victim, and the average loss according to Interpol, CTA, CFTU, and ETA is $9,000. So, if you cannot afford to lose $9,000 be sure to get your job through white-listed channels - not from these 24 websites. Good luck.
Its not just these 24 web sites, although I agree they are the worst of the worst. These other "Ghost Sites" should also be avoided...
esljobs.com
echinajobs.com
teflinchina.com
cushychinajobs.com
besttefljobs.com
teachinchina.com
teachaway.com
teachabroad.com
pandabuddy.com
Any website that has no street address, or a land line registered phone number and only a website AND cannot provide you a color scan of their business license should be avoided. If you have doubts and need a second opinion, check at https://reddit.com/r.teflreviews and https://reddit.com/r/teflscams or https://reddit.com/r/tefl_tips_traps_scams. Another red flag is if they rush you to send your resume by a deadline or worse yet... "send it to me now after we hang up." We can never have too many ghostbusters!
Before sending off your resume or passport scan, be sure to check https://reddit.com/r/teflscams and to vaccinate yourself against foreign teacher job scams.
I think the more time you take to investigate potential employers and agents, the happier you will be with your final selection and less stress and problems you will have to deal with. I will never forget what I was told by my TEFL mentor "The more you learn, the more you will learn"
I found five more ghost companies that actually hang up the phone on you if you ask them for their street address or business license number or even "who is the owner of the company". How fucked up is that?!? I mean they want to make money from you but they won't answer any questions! Anyway here are those three companies (I found them while search for a TEFL job in Hangzhou and their pop-ups would not relent...
TeachTEFLinChina.org
ESLinsider.com
TEFLNomads.com
Teffljobs.net
TeflAbroad.com
Two of these ghost companies do not even give a phone number or Skype contact - only an email address! I think that is a dead give away. I am interested in starting a ""Ghostbuster Club" if anyone wants to join me?
These posts explain a lot about why I ended up broke in China with a shitty job and a fictitious with a a name the police could not find Dana Ding. I guess this is one of those "learning moments"!
Watch your step in China. There is a pile of shit waiting for your foot around every corner that only laowai seem to step in. See https://reddit.com/r/workabroadfraud.
I just got back a reply from Chris at China Scam Patrol to my email inquiry from last week. I asked them for an update list of all the TEFL Ghost sites and they gave me this list from 2020 and said the 2021 list won't be out until June because it is not a priority for them right now (Because of the COVID lock-out):
Good God, look at the spam links coming out of this thread! Was this an arranged spam party or did you all just sort of arrive by coincidence? Don't let it bother you, come on let's see who can post out the most spam links in one post. :lol: Just a comment, don't let me disturb you. Carry on. :)
John, most people would be grateful to be warned about the many "Ghost Scammers" that create dozen of new victims every day. Not everyone can be as lucky as you to teach in the arctic of Mongolia for half the market rate where even scammers don't even waste their time trying to place gullible newbies up there. But you are so diligent in your efforts to track links that I am nominating you as the Chief of the Link Police, In your new position I think you should set the example and delete all 300+ links of your own resume that have spammed this forum for years. Lead by example John!
But seriously "Scam Ghosting" is a very real problem and not just in the TEFL industry, but in every profession. And in these days of COVID lock-downs and school closures, I don't know many people who are not struggling financially, or who can afford to be scammed out of a few thousand dollars. Do you? Hundreds of teachers could benefit from every link you have been complaining about. Stop being so selfish and think of the newbies who would not recognize a bait ad or a ghost from a legitimate glassdoor job ad.
Before sending off your resume or passport scan, be sure to check https://reddit.com/r/teflscams and to vaccinate yourself against foreign teacher job scams.
Yes, but they’ll all be anonymous and all with links back to the Chinese Foreign Teachers Union. If people aren’t aware that you can’t earn ¥80K pm in a developing country with a TEFL certificate, they shouldn’t really be stepping foot outside the west. Me? I link out to my resume as a signature line, not to anonymous spam pages by anonymous posters. :)
Listen guys, I was forced to work for a company that turned out to be a huge scam operation which took me 3 months to catch on to what they were doing (Laowai Career Center) and then I felt horrible and quit. The only reason I went there to work was because I was ripped off by a Chinese chain school for $3,250 in back wages and when I threatened to call the coppers, they said they would get my visa revoked and I'd be booted out of the country in less than 30 days. Other teachers there told me they saw it happen with a few who called their bluff. With a pregnant GF at the time, I grabbed the first job that paid over 20,000rmb.
Anyway my point is this...the ads I replied to for both of those jobs were on these websites and had I seen them before I would not have gotten myself into either jam.I think we should all be posting our stories to warn others everywhere we can. Just think back to your first days in China and how everyone from taxi drivers to landlords, and even your own employer were finding ways to milk you for every dollar. Maybe we can only help a few dozen teachers who take the time to read this stuff, but that is better than nothing yes?
I recently added these shysters to the list https://www.docdroid.net/kRwv0oN/ctablacklist2020-pdf since most of them were caught making their own reviews or are always pushing for up-front fees and deposits which isn't kosher in my book.
