Job-Seekers Need to Avoid Scammers

I have been looking for a job for ten months now. I will discuss my processes and how they have evolved here, but first I want to share some news: Someone tried to steal information from me. I have reported it to the CFA Institute's Job page manager, Momentive, and I want to share it with the world.

The Elms Bakery Scam

One of my favorite ways to find a potential job is the CFA Institute's Jobs Page, open exclusively to CFA Institute members, which includes me. I am very glad that the CFA Institute is doing this, though there have been many issues, which is not surprising given that it is just a year-old (relaunched in February 2026).There is a variety of advertisers and advertisement levels, and this is explained by the organization. Ads cost a minimum of $399 for a 30-day post, and there are upgraded offerings too.

On June 14th, a Sunday, I saw an advertisement from "Elms Bakery" post. The name seemed odd to me, but the job sounded right up my alley, as it was remote, paid well and sounded interesting. That ad is no longer available, as it is later than 30 days, but I sent my son and email when I applied to it despite some yellow flags:

This sounds like a perfect job for me! I enclosed the ad (as an attachment) that I replied to so that you can see what it looks like. I did highlight all of the good things. I like also that they took out an ad with the CFA Institute. There is a bad thing - who is the company???

Here is the copy of the ad that I sent my son:

I did get back an email from the company that morning:

There was another yellow flag - the Gmail address rather than a company address. I did look up "Aniela Turkot" through search, but I didn't learn anything. The search of the email address had nothing on the internet at all.

I continued to look for jobs and felt like this posting may have been a scam, and I did not hear back at all until July 17th. I received an email from Elms Bakehouse at 11:00 CT:

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in joining our organization and for taking the time to submit your application.

We are pleased to inform you that, after reviewing your resume, you have been selected to move forward to the next stage of our hiring process.

As part of this next step, we will provide you with additional information about the position, including the role responsibilities, expectations, and interview process. We will also share a brief preparation overview to help you better understand the opportunity and ensure you are fully prepared ahead of your interview.

To proceed, please confirm the following:

• Do you currently have access to a Windows laptop or desktop computer?

• Would you be available for a short preparation meeting prior to the interview?

Once we receive your confirmation, we will send you the scheduling details along with any additional instructions.

We appreciate your interest in the role and look forward to hearing from you.

-- 

Kind regards,

[Elms Bakehouse]

Recruitment Team

Email: [Elmsbakehouse@protonmail.com]

Reply directly to this email and our recruitment team will respond as soon as possible.

Connecting qualified professionals with career opportunities across the United States.

More yellow flags! The email address was strange, again, but no names at all! Not from them, and not mine.

I was highly concerned but not totally surprised to hear from them thirty+ days later. I responded

Thanks so much for reaching out. I knew immediately that "Elms Bakehouse" is not the real name of this company. 

Yes, I have Windows on my computer, and yes I can do a meeting prior to the interview.

Thanks,

Alan

The yellow was getting orange (becoming a red flag), but I was patient. At 11:42 CT, thirty minutes after I had replied, 42 minutes after their initial outreach and 12 minutes after I had told them in response to a question that I was available from "now to 3 ET", they set up a zoom call kind of sort of. The first email, at 11:53, told me that they would be sending a "Zoom meeting link". I emailed them at 12:10 CT to let them know that I had not received it. They quickly responded with this"

It looked official, right? A minute later, they sent a separate email with an 11-digit access code. Well, the click worked, but what came up on https://zoomconnect.chat/ seemed very odd:

The yellow flag was now red, as it was clear that the software was trying to get me to download something. I tried again, and then I emailed the host. This is what I got back:

They did not respond to my response, where I said "Not working! That is not the Zoom I usually use."

I reached out to CFA Institute, and I was referred to Momentive. Momentive took a lot of information from me.

I have not been a fan of ChatGPT, but I reached out because my access to Claude, which I favor, had hit the limit for free users. Claude was helping me deal with this situation real-time and did very well. I liked the way ChatGPT handled this! I queried about the zoomconnect.chat and then told ChatGPT where I got that link. The service said to stop communicating with the recruiter (I had quit), to report it to the CFA Institute (I had done so).

I avoided a scam, though I don't know what the perpetrator was actually seeking. I would be happy to learn and welcome any suggestions.

My Job-Hunting Process

The CFA Institute's job board is not my only tool, though it sure is a good one. I use Indeed.com as well as GlassDoor, which is owned by the same company that owns Indeed. LinkedIn is also very good.

Recently, I added another source: Idealist. I got this one from the Alexander Jewish Family Service, which is helping me and which hosted an event in early July. Idealist helps find jobs in the non-profit world, and I have also been searching on the United Way website.

As I said above, my search has been ongoing for ten months now. I actually applied to a job in June 2025 that I noticed on the CFA Institute website that was here in Houston. I just added non-profits as a potential hirer, but I have been looking for jobs in investment management, investor relations, financial analysis and financial writing. I have had a few interviews, and my resume has evolved dramatically over the past year. The last time I interviewed for a job was 1999.

As I think about why I am not getting many interviews or any job offers, three ideas come up beyond the main one, which is that the economy is very challenging right now:

1. I am too old (at 61 now) - I actually heard this from one firm.

2. I have been self-employed for too long (since 2006).

3. I was involved in the cannabis industry, and some people might view this negatively.

I don't think that any of these should stop a company from talking to me or perhaps hiring me. Perhaps there is another reason.

Maybe a New Type of Job!

I think one of the big criticisms of ChatGPT and even Claude is that the AI agent is too kind, and this seems correct. I try not to fall for it!

After my chat with ChatGPT, I asked if I might find a job tied to busting scams like this. I sure liked the response:

It went on to name some profiles that made sense, lik Fraud Strategy Analyst, and said this about me:

I told ChatGPT my nickname, "the sheriff", and it laughed:

Again, I try not to feel so special, but I really think ChatGPT drew a very good conclusion. It ended with this:

Conclusion

I wrote this because I want to prevent people from being the victims of scammers. Many people are looking for jobs right now, and this is not the first fake job listing I have encountered.

I don't mind sharing that I AM a sheriff! Perhaps someone out there wants to hire someone like me. That last line from above that ended the Chat session yesterday really does resonate with me in my ways: "...someone who notices patterns, investigates anomalies, and acts on evidence rather than assumptions."