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NEWS REPORTS
> VANCOUVER COURIER, July 4, 2007
Women warn public about 'pediatrician/job recruiter'
By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer
Vancouver Courier
July 4, 2007
Call it women's intuition.
When West End resident Elena Vrobel met with a man representing himself as a
professional employment recruiter last Tuesday afternoon, she immediately
felt something wasn't right.
It turns out Vrobel's gut instinct was dead on.
"I was watching the news on GlobalTV the next night and I saw the same guy
on TV," said Vrobel. "It was a story about a dating scam from [the website]
Craigslist and this guy was portraying himself as a doctor. It was the same
guy I met Tuesday only he was using a different name."
As it turns out, the man, who falsely portrayed himself as a pediatrician in
the dating section of Craigslist, is accused on an Internet website of
running employment scams in Montreal and Vancouver dating back almost a
decade. In some cases the man, who's real name is Harris Black, has been
charged with taking money from people for job-placement services he doesn't
provide.
According to a website developed by alleged victims of the man,
www.harrisblackwatch.com, Black also uses the names Harry Williams, Harry
Black, Harry Simon, Jahn Aston, Steven Shaw, David Gogo, Mark Canterbury,
Allan Namer, Mark Linton, Tom Lang and Harry Kennedy.
Vrobel said Black told her his office was located in Maple Ridge, but he
would be in Vancouver Tuesday so they could meet at a local coffee shop.
While Black told Vrobel his name was Harry Kennedy and his company web
address was workvancouver.com, according to the women interviewed by
GlobalTV, he was using the name Dr. Kenny Goldberg on his Craigslist
personal ad.
Vrobel said when she met "Harry Kennedy," he asked to see her resume, which
she had not brought along. When she was called by a woman representing Black
to set up the interview, she was told her resume had been forwarded to him
by another employment agency. Vrobel suspects she inadvertently sent Black
her resume herself, by applying for what was likely a fake job posting on
Craigslist.
"I've worked with other recruiters before and they always have a copy of my
resume," said Vrobel. "So I thought it was very odd he didn't have a copy so
I asked him for a business card."
Vrobel said Black told her his cards were being printed. Vrobel also told
Black she had attempted to check out his website, but with no luck.
"He told me his website was under construction," she said. "That's when the
alarm bells started to go off. I asked him if there was a fee and he said
there would only be a fee if he had to redo my resume and that he only
charges about $50."
Accusers allege that one of Black's scams is charging resume-writing fees of
between $50 and $100 for work he doesn't complete.
According to Surrey resident Melanie Bradshaw, the woman hired by Black to
set up interviews for him, he emailed more than 200 resumes to her. Bradshaw
had responded to an ad on Craigslist for a scheduler posted by Black, who
described himself as a corporate headhunter. Like Vrobel, Bradshaw said her
intuition kicked in and she quit after two days of calling mostly women to
set up interviews with him.
Ironically, after meeting with Vrobel, Black called Bradshaw to complain
some people were showing up without resumes and explained it was her job to
ensure these potential employees knew they were expected to bring one to the
interview.
"I thought if nine out of 10 people are taking their resumes and one
doesn't, what's the big deal? That's not my problem," said Bradshaw. "But he
was furious."
It wasn't until Bradshaw saw the news story that she put two and two
together. Now Bradshaw is concerned because Black has so much personal
information about the hundreds of women who submitted resumes. And she feels
bad she arranged the interviews that took place.
"Now I'm freaked out about the guy and I have these hundreds of resumes,"
said Bradshaw. "I'm really worried about what to do with these resumes. I
called the police but so far they haven't asked for them."
VPD media liaison officer Tim Fanning said police have received several
complaints about Black. He adds there is no ongoing criminal investigation
because no crime has been committed-yet.
"But our officers have spoken with him," said Fanning. "And he's well aware
we're keeping an eye on him."
Fanning calls the complaints regarding Black a good reminder that people
shouldn't share too much personal information with someone they've met on
the Internet.
"These con men are slick," said Fanning. "They tell you what you want to
hear and then walk away with your money. The Internet just opens the door
for more victims."
The Courier reached Black on his cell phone Thursday morning, but he said he
was "doing an interview" and would call back. He then hung up without
waiting for a reply and didn't return the call.
published on 07/04/2007 |
