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 Gerald Stevens of "Dalston Mill Fabrics Ltd" in Dalston, London, United Kingdom (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "xxx", "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"?
Gerald Stevens tells you how difficult and expensive it is to travel to the "states" to "receive payments". Do you suppose he's never heard of banks, postal orders, wire transfers or credit cards? Maybe he wouldn't need to travel there to "receive" the payment. Or maybe... just maybe.. it is a scam!
Of course, 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. Such as, their website www.dalstonmillfabrics.co.uk does not exist and he's writing to you from a free Yahoo email account in Spain. 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!
Dalston Mill Fabrics Ltd
69-73 Ridley Road, Dalston,
London, E8 2NP, United Kingdom
TELL, 44(0)7040130955 44(0)7024099073My name is Gerald Stevens, Human Resources head of Dalston Mill Fabrics Ltd
Based in London and i live and work here in United Kingdom, Would you like to work online from home and get paid without affecting your present job? This is a home based position. Great opportunity for anyone who wants to work in the comfort of their home. There are no calling strangers or taking surveys or anything like that.
Requirements: Computer with Internet Access, Valid email address, Good typing skills, Basic internet knowledge, Must be willing to work hard and try to respond to the orders in a timely manner.
This is a legitimate work at home opportunity. you will be contacted vian email, How much you earn is entirely up to you. The average salary is $300-$500 per week.There is No cost involved.We make lots of supplies to some of our clients in the states for which i do come to the states to receive payment and have it cashed after i supply them goods. Its always too expensive and stressful for me to come to the states and receive such payment twice in a month so i therefore decided to contact you. I am willing to pay you 10% for every payment receive by you from our clients who makes payment through you.Kindly get back to me as soon as possible if you are interested in this job offer with your:
FIRST NAME......................
LAST NAME......................
ADDRESS......................
CITY.........................
STATE..........................
ZIP CODE.......................
COUNTRY.........................
PHONE NUMBER (S)..................
GENDER......................
AGE.................
Please send reply asap to: Dmfabrics_01@yahoo.es
ATTESTATION
According to how you have been briefed earlier by a qualified representative of this establishment. You are required and mandated to receive payment on behalf of the above mentioned firm. You are to deduct 10% of all funds processed on a particular order and forward the balance payment via Western Union Money Transfer and MONEY GRAM to any of "Dalston
Mill Fabrics"Group regional warehouses that will be given to you later.
You will notify the company a week ahead if eventually you want to discontinue this job so as to terminate all payment coming your way to avoid conflict.
Warmest Regards,
Gerald Stevens.
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