Now Hiring Liars; Excellent Pay

I’m technically retired from full-time employment, but I do keep alert for writing opportunities. I’ve done a good bit of executive speechwriting and correspondence, quite a few grant proposals and donor reports, some website content, and similar such projects, and I usually welcome inquiries for doing additional work along those lines.

So, at first, I was interested when I started reading this message I received this morning:

“Hello, my name is ------, recruiter at DSL, we came across your profile through several online recruitment platforms and were impressed by your background and experience, we’re currently offering a flexible part-time opportunity that you can work on in your free time. The role involves assisting TEMU merchants with product reviews. It’s a straightforward ask, and we’ll provide free training to get you started. The daily salary ranges from $201 to $3000, and you can receive your commission immediately after the work is completed. All payments are made on the same day. If you would like to join us, please contact us via WhatsApp: +1XXXXXXXXXX. (Please note that applicants must be at least 21 years old to be eligible for this role.)”

The run-on sentences were the first clue that this wasn’t going to be an offer for legitimate writing work, and the actual sales pitch makes it clear: They’re looking for people to write product reviews for TEMU, a Delaware-based company that sells online products direct from Chinese manufacturers at super-low prices. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out that they’re not going to pay for poor reviews; they want writers who will produce fake laudatory articles – i.e., liars. (If you look at existing online reviews of most TEMU products, you can see why they feel the need for some positive ones – most of their merchandise is vigorously – and sometimes humorously – derided.)

Interestingly enough, this message came to me just after I finished reading this morning’s excellent article The Apsu Sea of The Real - by Librarian of Celaeno, which offers some thoughtful and inspiring commentary on the topics of authenticity and artificiality. I found the article impressive, so it wasn’t the most opportune moment to solicit me to write fake online product reviews.

But I got a good laugh from the timing, and the solicitation gave me the idea to write this article and to offer a cautionary note for readers: Think how many online reviews for who-knows-what are getting written by people hired this same way.

Caveat emptor, as the saying goes.

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