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 Peter Smith of "Crystal Holdings Ltd" in Dakar,Senegal (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "book-keeper/company 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 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!) 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!
Peter Smith, Managing Director
Crystal Holdings,Ltd
Office address:77, Bd du général de Gaule
Q18 Dakar,Senegal.ATTN:
Crystal Holdings Ltd, is in search of a book-keeper/company representatives in the United States,UK,Europe and Asia. This project has been developed in a way not to affect your present job nor bring you any form of stress but in order to help take care of those extra costs while you work for us. We are manufacturer and supplier of Batik,Assorted African fabrics,various clothing materials,African art materials and all kinds of furniture's for exports.Our website is under construction and should be ready soon.
Recently, It came to my knowledge that there are lots' of lapses in handling funds coming from our clients in the USA,UK,Europe and Asia which come in forms of cashier's cheque,Company cheque,Money Orders and are not readily cash able outside the United States,Canada and UK,....So we need someone in the US,Asia and UK to work as our representatives and assist us in processing the payments from our various clients which come in on a weekly,monthly and annual basis.
All you need to do is receive these payments from our clients in your country,.. get it deposited at your bank,Cash it then deduct your percentage( 15% of every payment made) plus transfer charges and forward the balance funds to one of company's representatives via Money gram/Western Union.
Our payments will be issued out in your names and your contact address you shall be providing us,as we would inform our clients to do. Therefore i would require you to send me an email with the following details:
1)Your Full Name and Official Mailing Address
2)Direct Telephone numbers
3)Occupation
4)Age
We would forward these information to our clients and they will start making payments to you as the company's representative in the states,Canada or UK.
Once we have all your details in our records,..We would notify you as soon as we confirm that one of our clients is mailing payment across to you.Thanking you in anticipation of your swift and favorable response.
Warmest Regards,
Peter Smith
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