Feds Raid Suspected Scam Spot

Federal agents, assisted by members of the Santa Barbara Police Department, descended upon a downtown office yesterday, closing the business within but failing to make any arrests. Authorities arrived at the 114 East Haley Street location — home to a branch of Certified Sales Jobs — at around 10:30 a.m., said police spokesperson Lt. Paul McCaffrey, who was unable to provide any other details on the case.

The Los Angeles-based staffing and recruiting agency, according to its Web site, promises to help its clients land sales, marketing, or management positions by offering a variety of services including a “preparatory online interview, ‘sales IQ’ screening and personality profiling.” The site goes on to state: “We have also partnered with several other companies that can, if you so desire, can [sic] provide background reporting such as credit and nationwide DMV reports for yourself in case you may be wondering if there is something else preventing you from getting hired.”

While it’s unclear what the federal agents were looking for, or what crimes Certified Sales Jobs employees are suspected of committing, the company has a less than stellar reputation as evidenced by dozens of recent online postings (here and here) that call the business a “scam.” Multiple entries are based out of Santa Barbara.

While the agency’s Santa Barbara phones appear to be disconnected — and its main Los Angeles line stays perpetually “busy” — a number of the company’s local employees began posting on Facebook as the raid occurred. They said they were confused about what was going on. One employee wrote he was upset about losing a commission fee after the feds cut off his phone call with a client mid-conservation.