Am I going to be scammed?

Ok, I answered a ad on CL to be a freelance auto writer (I currently do this for another website and want to expand). I don't have a ton of experience with these outfits so I want to run this by the collective wisdom of the GRM folks.
The website is www.examiner.com and the site seems to be legit. I filled out the application form and got this e-mail:
Dear XXXXXXXX,

Examiner.com has contacted us regarding your desire to become an Examiner. As part of the process, you are required to undergo a background check, which Examiner.com has contracted us to perform.

Please click on the link below to provide your information and to authorize Examiner.com to begin your background check:

Please note that all we will check are your Social Security number, county and federal felony criminal history and sex offender status. We will NOT check your credit, nor contact your current employer. A Social Security number check will post a soft employment inquiry on your credit report. This soft employment inquiry will not adversely affect your credit score.

These checks are done as a safeguard to both our Examiners and our community of users.

Please click on the link below to authorize the check:

[link deleted for this post]

Note that this link will expire in 30 days. Please feel free to contact Examiner.com with any questions about this process. You can contact the channel assistant you already have been working with if you have further questions.

It is important that you complete this authorization as soon as possible so Examiner.com can complete your onboarding. Examiner.com asks that you finish this process within the next three days.

Thank you, Customer Service Staff Frasco® Profiles www.frascoprofiles.com
I mean, it appears everything is legit but why a background check? Am I over cautious?

IIRC it's a scam - they'll sign you up for some sort of credit reporting or similar and get a commission for it. At least that's the one that's been making the rounds recently if you substitute "background check" with "credit check".

My wife's been getting tons of them when applying for jobs via Craigslist.

Looks like SCAM to me. No SS. Way too risky. Tell them you need to check them out first and to send you their EIN (photocopy of the IRS form), copies of their corporate charter, and ten business references.

I did one article for them on IRL...they kept wanting my SS and everything, just quit...

maroon92 wrote: I did one article for them on IRL...they kept wanting my SS and everything, just quit...

What did they say they'd pay you? I haven't heard anything yet, though I just e-mailed my contact for more info.

they never did say.

Background checks/security checks are the responsibilty of the hiring company and they provide the info to the checking company with info from the application. Sometimes companies will run a credit check or some kind of version of because a lot of the info they're looking for can be gleamed from that. (on a side note, that's the most effective way to locate someone) The only difference I know of is for security clearances, often required when working for the gobmint or contract with the gubmint. Then you have a detailed (at least) 8 page questionare to fill out that is now done online at the prospective employers location/computer system

You probably had to click past this to get to the job listings on Craigslist:

SCAM ALERT - affiliate scammers are posting bogus ads promising (nonexistent!) employment, paid research trials, or other compensation, but then notifying repliers that they'll need to jump through a hoop first, directing them to: background checking services credit checking or reporting sites sites where you are instructed to enter your resume or other personal information sites where you are asked to sign up for a "free" trial offer sites offering training or education sites offering a "system" for making money survey or focus group sites sites designed to deliver malware or misuse your identifying information all in hopes of earning affiliate marketing commissions or otherwise profiting at the expense of persons seeking employment. Lots of variations on this scam, but each generally involves dangling (nonexistent!) compensation, and then directing you to a website where you are asked to sign up for something, use your credit card, or input personal information such as your email address. FUN FACT: If you are able to determine a scammer's "affiliate ID" and report it to their affiliate marketing program, this will often result in termination of the scammer, and confiscation of the scammer's ill-gotten gains by the affiliate program.

I'd follow that advice.