Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Have you received an email from Nash Kelvin who says he is an "Entertainment Lawyer" in England (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "model"? But oddly, they require you to pay the "courier company" to send documents, visa's or other items, or cash a large advance check and send some of the money via Western Union?
At some point in the scam, you will either:
It is an AFF / Money transfer Scam. They'll send you counterfeit checks which you are supposed to deposit, take out some amount, and then MoneyGram or Western Union wire the remaining 90%. There's a reason for this: Western Union and MoneyGrams are cashed immediately and are untraceable and irretrievable. Bank checks can take 1 or 2 weeks to clear!
Of course, since the check is fake, it will bounce a week or so later after you deposit it. But you have already moneygram'ed the scammers the 90% of the amount, and that is transacted almost instantly. So you now owe the bank for the full amount. You may also face criminal charges for passing counterfeit checks. See this page for a step-by-step explanation of how the scam unfolds.
In the email below, there are some many red flags, we can't imagine any way it could be legitimate. Any time any potential employer asks you to send money via Western Union, IT MUST BE A SCAM. No legitimate company would transfer money this way. They will all have access to a more secure bank wire or direct deposit method.
Other clues that this is a scam are:
Do you have a resume posted online? We'd like to hear from you about your experiences recruiting emails that turned out to be scams or misleading - click here to write us.
Any highlighted passages in the actual scam email below are to draw your attention to clues (the highlighting itself was not present in the original email).
Hello
My name is Nash Kelvin an Entertainment Lawyer based in United kingdom. I have been working with the Agency for 4 years , i have also help some of their models to get their reward in due time
Please see a Form M4 below,complete and return back for me to start processing your contract. I will also need to present a Letter of Authorization duly signed by you, if you can not get one just send to me a letter written by you and sign to show that you have given me the power to act on your behalf.
Other documents and duties will be carried out, Please see below for my charges :
LEGAL FEES: 1200 POUNDS
TRANSPORTATION: 500 POUNDS
LOGISTICS: 300 POUNDS
You will send the fees to me here in United Kingdom, i will need 50% deposit to commence my duty and i will like you to send it by western union to:
NAME: Nash Kelvin
ADDRESS: 6 Queens Gardens, Paddington, London W2 3BB
Do confirm the details that i will use to collect the sent money with such details as below:
SENDER'S NAME AND ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT:
TEST QUESTION AND ANSWER:
CONTROL NUMBER (MTCN):
I will be expecting to hear from you soon.
Best regards
Nash Kelvin
There are a variety of sleazy scams that look, at first glance, like legitimate job offers. Before you write back to them, pause a moment and read about the scams below!
Some of the more common job scams are