Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
There are affiliate links on this page.
Read our disclosure policy to learn more.
Translate this page to any language by choosing a language in the box below.
Have you received an email from John Bradbury of "Bradbury & Sons Holdings Ltd" in Lagos, Nigeria (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "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 point out 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!)
From: JOHN BRADBURY [mailto:company.bsltd@gmail.com]
Sent: 06 March 2007 10:26 AM
Subject: For Your Notice ReplyATTN:
I'm JOHN BRADBURY ,Human Resources head of Bradbury & Sons Holdings Ltd A British fabrics and textiles company based in Lagos, Nigeria. We are currently in search of a book-keeper/company representative within the Southern African Region. Our website is currently under construction and which should be ready in the month of December.
Your Job description is as follows:
1)You would receive payment on our behalf from any of our various clients which would come in the form of cashiers checks, travellers checks, money orders and bank transfers (Bank transfers only to ABSA, STANDARD BANK, FNB, Cape of Good Hope Bank, FirstRand Ltd, Rand Merchant Bank, South African Reserve Bank). and any other banks
2)You then get the payments cashed/deposited at your bank.
3)As soon as the payment has been cleared by your bank, you then deduct a commission of 12% of each payment you would be receiving on our behalf which you are entitled to as been our representative
4)You thus send the remainder funds back via western union to details you would be given as soon as it has been confirmed you have received payment. Our payments will be issued out in your name as we would inform our clients to do. Therefore the following details would be needed from vian email.
1)Your Fullname
2)Your Physical Address( Not P.O.Box) with your state,city and zipcode
3)Your Phone number
4)Your Age and Gender
5)Your Occupation
6)Your Nationality
7)Your Martial status
8)Bank Name, address, account name, account type and account number
9) bank/branch code numberOnce we have all confirmed your details, it would be forwarded to one of our clients and they will start making payments to you as the company's representative in the states .We would notify you as soon we confirm that one of our clients has mailed out payment to you. I await your urgent response.
Warmest Regards,
John. Bradbury Head Human Resources Department
Contact Phone: UK NUMBER: +44 702 402 0777 (NIGERIA NUMBER +234 039-771-293)
JOHN BRADBURY Bradbury & Sons Holdings Ltd
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