Spam That Delivers a Pink Slip

alphadogg wrote in with a Network World story that begins: "Last week, a handful of employees at Dekalb Medical Center in Decatur, Ga., received e-mails saying they were being laid off. The subject line read 'Urgent — employment issue,' and the sender listed on the message was at dekalb.org, which is the domain the medical center uses. The e-mail contained a link to a Web site that claimed to offer career-counseling information. And so a few employees, concerned about their employment status and no doubt miffed about being laid off via e-mail, clicked on the link to learn more and unwittingly downloaded a keylogger program that was lurking at the site. Score another one for spammers."

Comments

Diabolical

[jazman_777]

Clever, because we all know our soulless corporations would do that.

Re:Diabolical

[inKubus]

I was going to say... Wouldn't it be ironic if they got laid off because they fell for a fake email that said they were getting laid off?

Re:Diabolical

[rubberbando]

Nah, the corporations still prefer the more humiliating way of having security show up at your cube with an exec who hands you a box to put your things in and then marches you out the door in front of everyone. Companies are too paranoid to give you a chance to wreak any havoc. They want you logged out before they let you go. They will isolate you and get you out of the building as soon as possible. Therefore, layoff/firing by email (especially to your company email) is not very probable. I speak from experience. When I was laid off from a job, the execs were swift in getting me out of the door. I wasn't even on the clock yet and they swooped in, gave me my severance check, had me pack up my stuff, took my key, and pushed me out of the door before I knew what had just happened to me.

Re:Diabolical

[arivanov]

This is a US specific phenomenon which does not exist elsewhere. For some reason in the US you are expected to wreak havoc and behave like a sociopathic delinquent. Not that I am surprised considering that some of the most prominent US high tech sector CEOs confess that sociopathy is a definitive job requirement: one example, many others.

That is not the case in the EU. There you will be expected to slave off to the end of your notice period (or at least part of it). The very few to try something sociopathic (the Dixons salary trigger) have seen the end of the very thick legal stick so people tend not to try this any more.

Re:Diabolical

[Kjella]

That is not the case in the EU. There you will be expected to slave off to the end of your notice period (or at least part of it). The very few to try something sociopathic (the Dixons salary trigger) have seen the end of the very thick legal stick so people tend not to try this any more.

And the primary reason is that the notice period is much longer. Most jobs have three months notice period, and I don't think any company could afford to just send you home. Besides I think that in itself is a good way to reduce tension - three months is a fairly long time to apply for new jobs and employers like people who can start on short notice if they're in a hurry (since people normally have three months notice). Since it seems US employers like to blindside you and suddenly go "kthxbye - here's your check" I imagine US employees feel rather screwed over.

In two weeks, the chance that you're done with an interview process and ready to start at another company is near zero. That US people have two weeks of free time while I have to work my notice period isn't really much of a help, since so much of the application process is waiting. If you need to relocate, then you can't do that before you have the job, which also stretches it out in time. The upside... well, I don't quite know what the upside but I guess you can have a job on hand and give your boss two weeks notice and change jobs in a flash, but if you're waiting for a good job the notice period goes quickly. To me it certainly doesn't outweigh the disadvantages.

There is of course the issue with awkwardness of working with someone on notice, but it is not really as big a concern as people think. Most lay-offs I've witnessed the people are on good terms with the manager and their co-workers, the decision came from higher up based on profitability/strategic changes. In those cases people tend to just do their job, of course not with great enthusiasm but still. Of course, it's something completely different if you were personally fired for negligence/incompetence/abusive behavior but I haven't been involved in any such process. In those cases they're either put on (paid) suspension or get themselves a sick notice (mostly to avoid the stain on their record). Which might sound niee, but good luck on getting your next job...

Self-fulfilling prophecy

[Kris_J]

And those who did> click on the link and introduced a trojan into the network were fired.

(Not really.)

Re:Paranoia classes

[kimvette]

why bother with that when you can hire a schizo with paranoia issues who also suffers from OCD? Tell him to monitor the firewalls, and that if anyone manages to break in undetected that he'll lose his job. Add in some muzak with subliminal messages chanting "they're breaking in! They're out to get you!" then you'll have your dream tech monitoring your NOC. No need to train anyone to be paranoid, just take a few mentally ill folks off of their brain meds and leverage their condition. You'll save them money on medical care, they'll get paid and have a secure job, and you will rest easy knowing you have paranoid people obsessively monitoring your network. :D

Easiest Way To Confirm a Layoff Rumor

[christoofar]

Step 1. Date or make friends with someone in HR systems who runs the Peoplesoft/Oracle/SAP HR system. Help them out with database work (like complex batch jobs).
Step 2. Pay attention to the kinds of queries they need help with.
Step 3. If they begin compiling seniority studies / benefits calculations for projections IN THE FUTURE (red flag!) or estimate retirement dates if your company has a defined pension benefit, see step 4.

Step 4. Put up resume on dice.com and start "disappearing" during lunch to return headhunter phone calls.

Simply ignore it

[Tweekster]

I would not accept being fired by some nonconfrontational method like this.

Just pretend you never got it. and ignore it, go about your day. Apparently the boss is already too much of a pussy as to actually fire you in the fire place, so what is the chance he will say anything. Hell come back the next day, then cause a small scene making them look like idiots.

THey are afraid of confrontation, make that fear a realization (in a calm way, but put it all on them)

Re:Simply ignore it

[mark-t]

I knew someone who was fired where his boss left the message on his answering machine.

He showed up at work the next day like nothing had happened.

Turned out that he knew the labour code required the employer to pay him a minimal length shift (4 hours) just for showing up, even though he was sent home right away, as the employer could not prove that the employee had ever received the message that he was not supposed to come in.

The moral of the story is that if you are going to let someone go, don't rely on _any_ sort of message conveyance system to deliver the message, talk directly to the employee.

Re:Simply ignore it

[dbolger]

Just pretend you never got it. and ignore it, go about your day. Apparently the boss is already too much of a pussy as to actually fire you in the fire place, so what is the chance he will say anything.

Yeah but what happens when they take your red swingline stapler?

--
Dave

Larry Niven's ARM

[DragonHawk]

No need to train anyone to be paranoid, just take a few mentally ill folks off of their brain meds and leverage their condition.

SF author Larry Niven actually used something very like that idea in his "Known Space" future history. The idea was that society had decided that anyone who was the least bit violent/aggressive was "ill" and gave them meds to make them a happy little camper. Not mindless zombies, just very passive. (That's a difference of degree, of course.) But there was still a need for a police force, to protect against threats both from within and outside human space. So the the police force -- the ARM (Amalgamated Regional Militias) -- were taken off their meds, or even given other meds to make them more paranoid. Only during the work week, of course -- on days off, they took their non-paranoid meds instead.