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 Mr Alan Jones of "an unnamed company" in England (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "PART-TIME Collection Representative", "Payment Officer", "local agent" or "local representative" in which you "receive payments", deduct your "Processing fee", deposit the checks and then wire most of the money to an overseas "company"?
It is an AFF / Money transfer Scam. They'll send you counterfeit checks which you are supposed to deposit, take out some percentage (typically, 10%) for your work, and then MoneyGram or Western Union wire the remaining 90%. Notice that although you receive checks, they won't let you forward a check to them, only Western Union or Money Gram. 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.
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.
Notice the passages we have highlighted in the actual scam email below. They illustrate some of the additional clues that it is a scam, such as the email comes from a free email account (such as Yahoo.com, Hotmail.com, Aim.com, Gmail, cox.net, etc.). Wouldn't you expect a company to have its own website and email address (after all, it only costs about $200/year; every reputable company has its own website these days!) And don't be surprised if the scammers do put the names of real companies, real websites and events in their scams; it doesn't mean anything at all!
From Alan Jones Wed Jan 16 2008 - 09:17:03 2008
Alan Jones <alanjones0030@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
6 LONG MARSH LANE WEST
THAMESMEAD
LONDON SE28 0LS ENGLAND
+447024080746
Dear Sir/Madam,
Am Mr Alan Jones, I was born and raised in alanson, Mi.
I am presently employed in England. At this time, I am happy to
inform you that we are seeking a Male or Female, who would like to
work for us as a PART-TIME Collection Representative. You will
make $400 on every job you complete.
We are advising you that this will not affect your present state
of employment if you are currently in a working status, but rather
get the extra cash into your wallet that you may require.
Our main factory is located in U.K. Our business extracts raw
materials needed for the manufacturing of fabrics from Great
Britian, Asia and South America. We produce standard articles for
promotional, catering, hotel and laundry industries.
We are also able to produce manufactured goods to our customer's
specific design requirements. As our main area of business lies
within the promotional market, we are constantly working with our
clients on new and innovative designs and provide a fast and
flexible service.
Blank Tea Towels, Cotton Canvas Bags and Cotton Drill Aprons are
our most popular products used by screen printers and embroiderers
for tourism, schools, special events and promotions.
Currently, we are in need of representatives. We seek persons who
are honest, sincere, trustworthy, capable and reliable that would
help us receive payments from our customers.
The reason why we need this rep is because it takes too long for a
U.S. drawn check to clear here in the UK, which delays our
supplies/services. So we look for a representative that will
handle that aspect of receiving and cashing checks for us in the
USA, and send the money in cash down to us utilizing Western Union
or Moneygram services.
As specified aforementioned, we are willing to pay $400 on every
payment you recieve on our behalf. You are still able to maintain
your regular employment position, while you work for us on a PART-
TIME basis. All you have to do is help us receive payments from
our customers. These payments will come in the form of checks in
your name and sent to your address via FedEx. So you just need to
cash it, deduct your $400 and send the rest of the money down to
the info we're going to provide you with.
All we need now is to build a rapport with you based on trust. But
we have our way of getting anyone that gets away with our money
via different enforcement procedures available to protect the
company.
If you are interested, I will send you an employment letter, which
you are to sign and send back to the Chief Human Resources Officer
for foreign employees as soon as possible. The company requires
your full name, home address, e-mail address, and your phone
number for a human resources employee to get in touch with you
concerning your employment status.
You need not pay any amount of money to get this job. Its quite
easy and pays well. All the while you earn $400 per business
completion. By accepting the position with our company, you are
helping us maintain our US-based customers and enlarging the
company's scope.
Warmest Regards,
Mr Alan Jones.
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