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Protect Your Brand: How to Stop Fake Job Postings from Deceptive Platforms

View original discussion on Hacker News

A common frustration for businesses can be the misrepresentation of their hiring status by third-party platforms. This Hacker News discussion dives into one such scenario where a company owner is inundated with unsolicited job applications for non-existent roles, seemingly orchestrated by a dubious job site named "featurii.com" which falsely claims Y Combinator backing. The community rallied to offer a multi-pronged approach to tackle this issue.

The Problem: A Flood of Unwanted Applications

The original poster (OP) described receiving 5 to 10 unsolicited job applications daily from candidates misled by featurii.com into believing their Vietnamese company was hiring for specific roles. This situation raised several concerns for the OP:

  • Wasted time for genuine candidates.
  • The risk of unfairly blacklisting candidates who applied via this spammy method.
  • Initial fears of a phishing scam.
  • The platform's method of using candidates' Gmail accounts to send applications, making simple domain blocking ineffective.
  • Potential damage to the OP's business image due to perceived mistreatment of candidates.

Is Featurii.com a Legitimate YC-Backed Company?

A significant part of the discussion focused on the legitimacy of featurii.com's claim to be YC-backed. Commenters quickly investigated:

  • YC and Antler Directories: Featurii.com was not found in Y Combinator's official company directory or Antler's portfolio.
  • Website Deficiencies: The platform's website lacked standard business information such as an "About Us" page, corporate history, or a physical office/mailing address.

This lack of transparency and verifiable credentials led to a strong consensus that featurii.com was likely fraudulent or, at best, a highly questionable operation misrepresenting its affiliations.

Strategies to Combat Featurii.com and Similar Platforms

The Hacker News community proposed a range of solutions, from immediate containment to more assertive long-term actions:

1. Immediate Mitigation and Filtering

  • Gmail Filters: Set up filters to automatically catch emails containing keywords like "featurii.com" or other identifiers of the spam source.
  • Report as Spam: Consistently mark these emails as spam to help train Gmail's (or other email providers') AI to better identify and block them in the future.

2. Communication with Affected Candidates

  • Stock Response: Prepare a polite, standard email to send to candidates applying through featurii.com. This email should:
    • Explain that your company did not authorize these job postings.
    • Clarify that you are not hiring for the roles advertised by the platform.
    • State that you will not review applications coming through such unauthorized channels.
    • Provide a link to your official careers page and encourage genuinely interested candidates to apply there for legitimate openings.
  • Auto-Responder: Consider an auto-responder for any unsolicited application that mentions a job opening you haven't advertised.

3. Reporting and Escalation

  • Inform Y Combinator: Crucially, report the misuse of YC's name to Y Combinator. They would have an interest in stopping entities from falsely claiming their backing.
  • Contact Hosting and Domain Providers: Identify the website's hosting provider (e.g., Cloudflare) and domain registrar (e.g., Namecheap) using a WHOIS lookup. Report the site for abuse if their activities violate the providers' terms of service (e.g., spam, fraudulent activity).
  • Report to Google: If the platform misuses Google services (like Gmail for sending spam, as suspected), report this to Google.
  • Direct Contact with Featurii.com (Use with Caution): Some suggested directly emailing the company to demand they stop. However, the OP was rightly cautious, as this can confirm an email address is active. If choosing this route, a polite but firm request is advised.

4. Assertive and Legal Measures

  • Public Pressure ("Scorched Earth"): One commenter suggested "review-bombing" the offending company on platforms like X (Twitter), Google Reviews, Facebook, and Alternativeto. The idea is that significant negative public attention might force a response from their leadership.
  • Cease and Desist Letter: The most formal approach recommended was to have a lawyer (or even a friend with a law firm letterhead, or a vendor who can put a script on letterhead) send a cease and desist letter to featurii.com's registered agent or legal contact, demanding they stop their activities.

Broader Concerns and Implications

The discussion also touched upon the wider negative impacts of such platforms:

  • Exploitation of Job Seekers: These services add unnecessary friction and false hope for individuals looking for employment.
  • Devaluation of the Application Process: The proliferation of "apply to thousands of companies in one click" services risks making the entire job application system less effective for both employers and genuine candidates.
  • Potential Legal Ramifications: For truly egregious operations, the possibility of class-action lawsuits was mentioned.

The consensus was that while it's frustrating, businesses have several avenues to fight back against such deceptive practices, protecting their reputation and the integrity of their hiring processes.