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 Post subject: Critical Tips For Job Seekers to Avoid Job Scams
PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:40 pm 
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Posts: 583
If you can can remember the four tips below, you will help protect yourself from falling prey to payment forwarding scams. (A payment forwarding scam is where a con artist poses as an employer and tricks you into working as an "accountant" or "finance manager." Victims are asked to forward money from one account to another as part of their employment duties. Many times, that money is stolen. If you forward stolen money, that is a crime. This is why it is so important to avoid these types of scams. For more on how payment forwarding scams operate, please see http:www.worldprivacyforum.org/jobscamreportpt1.html. )

1. Never give personal bank account, PayPal, or credit card numbers to an employer.

2. Never agree to have funds or paychecks direct deposited to any of your accounts by a new employer. (See below).

3. Never forward, transfer, or "wire" money to an employer. (See below).

4. Do not transfer money and retain a portion for payment.

Legitimate employers do not usually need your bank account numbers (See exception below). While direct deposit of a paycheck is a convenience, if that is the only option an employer offers, then you should not accept the job. A legitimate employer will give you the option of direct deposit, but not demand that it is used. You should wait until you have met the employer in person before agreeing to a direct deposit option.

There is one exception to this: the U.S. government typically does require that employees agree to direct deposit. If you have been interviewed in person, and you are sure that you are dealing with a government agency, then agreeing to direct deposit is not a problem. Also, if you have been working for an employer for a while and you are very sure about their legitimacy, then agreeing to a direct deposit is usually fine. This is especially true if you have received a number of paychecks from the employer and you have met the employer in person. "Work from home" and telecommuting jobs are most at risk when agreeing to direct deposit, especially from brand new employers. Use caution and good sense.

Regarding payment transfers, while some jobs may require an employee to make transfers for employers, legitimate employers making this request will go to extraordinary efforts to check the job seeker prior to making the hire. This would involve meeting the jobseeker in person and conducting rigorous interviews. This kind of job hire would not be made via email or even the telephone or a single meeting. And a legitimate employer would typically ask you to make transfers from their business accounts, not yours. You need to draw a line and understand that transferring money for employers from your personal bank account or personal PayPal account is off-limits, period.



A. Known Red Flags
The UMAB payment forwarding scam, like many others, contained what are now becoming known as "red flags" for job scams.

Red flags that should alert you to the presence of a job scam include:

1. Request for bank account numbers.

2. Request for SSN.

3. Request to "scan the ID" of a jobseeker, for example, a drivers' license. Scam artists will say they need to scan jobseekers' IDs to "verify identity." This is not a legitimate request.

4. A contact email address that is not a primary domain. For example, an employer calling itself "Omega Inc." will have a Yahoo! email address.

5. Misspellings and grammatical mistakes in the job ad.

6. Monster.com lists descriptive words in job postings that are tip-offs to fraud. Their list includes "package-forwarding," "money transfers," "wiring funds," "eBay," and "PayPal." WPF researchers also found that the term"Foreign Agent Agreement" often appears in contracts and emails sent to jobseekers.

Please see Appendix A for examples of what the emails and contracts for this kind of money transfer scam look like. The Timeline has multiple examples of what the fraudulent job ads look like.



B. Most Effective Steps for Victims of Job Scams
Unfortunately, not everyone will escape job fraud in time. Jobseekers who are victimized by the UMAB scam and other payment forwarding scams are advised to take the following steps.

1. Close all bank accounts at the bank where the scam took place. It is a good idea to change banks to avoid "social engineering" attempts by the con artists to fool bank workers into giving out new account information.

2. Order a credit report from all three credit bureaus every 2 to 3 months. Watch the reports for unusual activity.

3. Victims of the UMAB scam should contact their local Secret Service field agent. Secret Service handles complaints of international fraud. UMAB victims and other victims of payment forwarding scams should file a police report with local law enforcement officials as well.

4. Victims should report the company name, the job posting, and all contact names to the job sites where the scam was posted.

5. Victims should permanently close all email addresses that were associated with the job fraud.


Examples of What Payment Forwarding Scams Look Like in Action
These examples are from victims of the UMAB scam. These emails and contracts will help you see what kinds of things a fraudulent scammer will say.

After you have applied to a job, you can expect to receive an email with a request for information. The following email is from the Macrocommerce Intersales version of the UMAB scam. This email asks for bank account information, a big red flag.

A. Step One:
After replying to the job ad, an email similar to the one below was sent to victims. The following email is from the Macrocommerce Intersales version of the UMAB scam. The victim this was sent to lived in Maine at the time.

(Spelling errors left unchanged.)

Dear sir,

Please let me to introduce myself, I am James Brown, sales representative of the Macrocommerce Intersales Company based in Berlin, Germany. Our company is looking to sign a Company / Foreign Agent Agreement in order to deposit their U.S sales founds into a company / individual US bank account. Our company agrees to deposit founds into a company / individual US bank account if the company /individual agrees to accept, 5 % of these founds as payment for services. The company /individual is then responsible for wiring the remaining 95% of the founds to one or more of the three designated local distributors. The service fees associated with wiring these founds will be deducted from the 95 % sent back to the company or the company's designated local distributor.

In order for us as a company to deposit these funds into the U.S bank account we will be needing full info of the U.S bank account as:

1-ACCOUNT HOLDER'S NAME AND ADRESS

2-ACCOUNT HOLDER'S TELEPHONE NUMBER

3-BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER

4-ROUTING NUMBER

5-THE BANK ACCOUNT ISSUER(BANK WHERE THE U.S ACCOUNT IS OPENED)

6-BANK ADRESS

7-BANK TELEPHONE NUMBER

If you as a manager of a company or as an individual wish to sign a Company / Foreign Agent Agreement in the condition above mentioned please contactour department in order to send more information about the Foreign Agent Agreement papers work. We look forward to you partnership. Thank you for your time and understanding.

James Brown Sales Representative

Macrocommerce Intersales Company

Oranienburger Strasse 114

10 999 Berlin

Germany

0049/16092469119

B. Step Two: Request from Con Artists for Making Transfer of Funds
The following email was sent to a Texas-based victim of the Macrocommerce Intersales version of the UMAB scam. The email tells the victim how and where to transfer the money. This email is a good example of the kinds of things a con artist will request of a victim caught in a payment forwading type of scam.

(Spelling errors left unchanged.)

From: Foreign Agent

<foreignagent@macrocommerce.org>

To: xxx

Subject: Re: Incoming wire

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 17:02:36 -0800 (PST)

Dear sir,

As soon as the money clears cash out the money that you have recived ($9600) and go to a Western Union Office and send the money to our company distributors as follows:

Here are the names of our Company Distributors where you will wire the money to via Western Union Money Transfer.

PETER ANDERSON

Street: Lijnbaansgracht 163

Zip code: 1016 VX

City: Amsterdam

Country: Netherlands

RENY STEVENSON

Street:Oudezijds Armsteeg 12

Zip code:1012 GP

City: Amsterdam

Country: Netherlands

ERNANDO BECKER

Street:De Wittenkade 120

Zip code :1012 DW

City: Amsterdam

Country:Netherlands

From the $9600 you keep please $480 for you. The other $9120 please split them to the three Company Distributors, the fees for the western union are include to the $9120 ! After that please let us as soon as posible know the MTCN # of each transfer from each name of our Company Distributors !! I want you to send the money to Netherlands because we need to pay for a new headquarter space in Amsterdam.

Notice: Doesn't matter what the western union says about not transfering a amount like more that 2000 us $, cause in the past some nigerian mafiosis ripp a lot of money. but we do all our busines through western union int about 150 000 US $ each week.

Hope to hear from you as soon as posible.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

C. Example of how the same job scam operates under different names
The following email came from a potential victim who replied to a job ad from Omega Inc. The contract that Omega Inc. used is exactly the same contract that Macrocommerce Intersales used, complete with misspellings and unique grammatical errors. The job ad itself was slightly different, but it had certain key similarities and the posting pattern was the same as the UMAB scam. The contract below is confirmation that the company name of Omega is related to the UMAB scam.

(Spelling errors left unchanged.)

Dear sir,

Please let me to introduce myself, I am Helmud Luigi , sales representative of the OMEGA INC based in ROMA , ITALY. Our company is looking to sign a Company / Foreign Agent Agreement in order to deposit their U.S sales founds into a company / individual US bank account. Our company agrees to deposit founds into a company / individual US bank account if the company /individual agrees to accept, 5 % of these founds as payment for services. The company /individual is then responsible for wiring the remaining 95 % of the founds to one or more of the three designated local distributors. The service fees associated with wiring these founds will be deducted from the 95 % sent back to the company or the company's designated local distributor.

In order for us as a company to deposit these funds into the U.S bank account we will be needing full info of the U.S bank account as:

1-ACCOUNT HOLDER'S NAME AND ADRESS

2-ACCOUNT HOLDER'S TELEPHONE NUMBER

3-BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER

4-ROUTING NUMBER

5-THE BANK ACCOUNT ISSUER(BANK WHERE THE U.S ACCOUNT IS OPENED)

6-BANK ADRESS

7-BANK TELEPHONE NUMBER

If you as a manager of a company or as an individual wish to sign a Company / Foreign Agent Agreement in the condition above mentioned please contactour department in order to send more information about the Foreign Agent Agreement papers work.

We look forward to you partnership.

Thank you for your time and understanding.Helmud Luigi

Sales Representative

OMEGA INC

STAZIONE TERMINI GALLERIA CENTRALE BIN,

13/14 LATO VIA GIOLITTI

ROME

00185

ITALY

Tel: (39 ) 80060143

omega incitaly [omegaincitaly@yahoo.com]


Resources
The full research report on Job Scams can be found at http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/jobscamreportpt1.html

The original consumer report relating to the UMAB scam may be found at http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/consfraudalert1.html and http://www.privacyrights.org

FTC Help Line: Call this number to file a complaint about fraudulent jobs. (877) 382-4357.

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: http://www.privacyrights.org

NACAA (National Association of Consumer Affairs Administrators) can help job seekers find consumer help in their region: http://www.nacaanet.org/

Credit Bureaus: Equifax: (800)-685-1111 Experian (888) 397-3742 TransUnion (800) 888-4213


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:21 pm 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
Great advice!

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Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Share your story with the media and educate others about scams! Details here http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6319
Sign our petition http://www.change.org/actions/view/crea ... s_programs
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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 9:50 am 
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Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:49 am
Posts: 11
I Love This detailed Explanation!! I hope that you 'Bump', 'Keep' this information at the TOP of the Forums at All times. It would be a shame if it got buried on Page 2. The most terrific explanation I've seen 'all in one post'. Great Job and Kudos to you :)
Cindy~


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:18 am 
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Gold Member

Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:31 am
Posts: 194
Jazz2222

This thread is marked as 'sticky' - it will always appear before all other non-sticky threads


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:35 pm 
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Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:49 am
Posts: 11
Thank you for explaining what the 'Sticky Post' meant :) What a wonderful thing Shawn and her husband did by creating a site where we can all help one another. I have learned so much, and wish I had known to type in SCAM before I got nabbed. Live and Learn I guess.
God Bless you all..............& Happy Thanksgiving ~ Cindy


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 Post subject: Re: Critical Tips For Job Seekers to Avoid Job Scams
PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:40 pm 
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Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:43 am
Posts: 9
nice post


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 Post subject: Re: Critical Tips For Job Seekers to Avoid Job Scams
PostPosted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:05 am 
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Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:17 am
Posts: 9
http://www.bobbear.co.uk/

An excellent resource of money laundering & reshipping scams with detailed descriptions of various fake sites and criminal operations!

_________________
Artists Against 419: http://wiki.aa419.org/index.php/Main_Page
Stop Escrow Fraud: http://www.escrow-fraud.com/
Don't bear internet fraud: http://www.bobbear.co.uk/


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 Post subject: Re: Critical Tips For Job Seekers to Avoid Job Scams
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2009 10:10 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 10:04 pm
Posts: 1
The society is facing problems with such forgery committed online.The initiative taken for the concern is very serious and needs an attention of everyone. This is the concern which exists in the society and needs to be eliminated from the society as soon as possible.

Thank You brother for saving me as I was going to join such type of job.I was asked to transfer money from one account to another.
God Bless You!!
----------------------------
bradpitt1111


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 Post subject: WORK FROM HOME PERSONAL ASSISTANT
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:35 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:20 am
Posts: 3
wHILE JOB SEARCHING ON CRAIGSLIST I CAME ACROSS A POSTING FOR A PERSONAL ASSISTANT. THE EMPLOYER, A LAWYER BY THE NAME OF BRIAN PETERSON. SOMETHING ABOUT THE WHOLE THING DIDNT SEEM RIGHT. HE GIVES THIS WHOLE MINI BIO ON HIMSELF AND PROVIDES A PHONE NUMBER AND FAX THAT ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT PLACES. hE DOESNT EVEN CALL OR MEET WITH U. HE JUST SENDS YOU INFORMATIN OF WHAT HE NEEDS YOU TO DO AND SAYS HE WILL PAY $500 EVERY WEEK BY MAIL

HERE IS HIS 1ST EMAIL TO ME:
]Thanks for your interests in the PA position, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities.


EXPERIENCE AND CARE:
I'm Brian Peterson,50years,I have practiced law since 1979 and offer to my clients the experience and care for their problems that come with over 26 years of experience.
]The Law Offices of Brian Peterson offer counseling and representation in business transactions, business disputes, and many civil problems. I specialize in individual and small business problems.

My litigation experience includes general civil litigation, personal injury, construction contract and defect issues, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, creditors' rights, insurance subrogation and bad faith. I provide representation in arbitration, mediation, trials and appeals.

I have experience in business and commercial transactions, including formation of corporations and LLC's, drafting of purchase-sale agreements for businesses and real property, lease preparation and [/size]review, employment counseling, and preparation of general business contracts.

I most very often get my hands occupied because am working with many companies both states and outside,so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities.

As my assistant, your activities amongst other things will include:

• Answering and returning patient phone calls
• Booking appointments
• Filing documents,faxing,printing and typing letters
• Processing payments
• Making bank deposits
• Ordering and unpacking supplements and office supplies
• Processing mail
• Administrative assistance

Quality communication etiquette skills and good organizational skills
Serious sense of humor required and mandatory to work with me
Ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information
Perform duties with accuracy, quality, and integrity


Basic wage is $500 weekly

This position is home-based and flexible you can be in any location,working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on.

This is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially.

I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available for me. This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship.


Note:This position is home base office work you will be working from your home.


Let me know your interest if you are ready to work with me from your home


Kindly Provide me with the information below, in the format Below


FIRST NAME ..................... LAST NAME..................
HOME ADDRESS(NOT P.O BOX).................
CITY ...........STATE..............ZIP CODE............
PHONE NUMBER (S) ........................
........................
PRESENT OCCUPATION.................... ....
GENDER.............MARITAL STATUS........
AGE..........
NATIONALITY.................

Once i received your contact information i will get back to you with the task for next week. Please understand you will also be paid on a weekly basis

Get back as soon as possible..


Hope to hear from you again.

The Law Offices of Brian Peterson.
Fax:818-990-2433
Ph:206-984-1643
E-mail:brnptrsn101@gmail.com[/siz


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 Post subject: WORK FROM HOME PERSONAL ASSISTANT PT2
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:38 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:20 am
Posts: 3
AFTER I SENT HIM MY PERSONAL INFORMATION SUCH AS NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, AGE AND gender, HE SENT ME THIS:
Hello Akira,

I received your e-mail. I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point. Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibilty means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week.

If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side. As I have said, I'd want us to get a head start with things as soon as possible. I do have a pile up of work and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with and i hope we can meet up with the workload eventually.

Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and on the long run we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.

I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss. I am also glad on the commitment in working. I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me this week is to run some errands out to some of the orphanage home, I do that every month.

The funds will be in form of Money Order or Cashiers Cheque and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients and i have some list to email you once you received the funds. You will make some arrangements by buying some stuff for the kids in the nearest store arround you so you can mail them out.

I will get you more information on that before the payment gets to you.

Thanks and do have a grea time, Ensure you Get back to me as soon as you receive this message.

The Law Offices of Brian Peterson.
Fax:818-990-2433
Ph:206-984-1643
E-mail:brnptrsn101@gmail..com


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 Post subject: PERSONAL ASSISTANT POSITION PT 3
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:42 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:20 am
Posts: 3
I SENT HIM A RESPONSE SAYING I WAS READY TO WORK AND HE SENT THIS FIRST TASK:
Dear,

How are you doing today? I hope you are having a great time, I am pleased to inform you that the funds for the orphanage has been sent and you will be getting it tomorrow morning unfailingly via UPS courier service. The payment was sent to your home address, so ensure you stay at home tomorrow so you can sign for the delivery of the package and proceed with your first assignment.

However, I contacted the orphanage home and I was given the list of the items needed, The items are much and it will cost alot of money to get them shipped, so we have reached an accord. They will be getting the items themselves, all you need do is just to receive the payment, have it cashed at your bank or a nearby check cashing store, and have the funds sent via western union money transfer to the orphanage home.

Below is the Orphanage Western Union information to send the funds..

RECEIVER'S NAME: Francisco Aceituno
CITY: MIAMI
STATE: FLORIDA
COUNTRY : USA.
ZIP CODE : 33193


Kindly get back to me with the Western Union MTCN #, the Total Amount sent, and the Sender's Name and Address as soon as you have the funds sent.

However, I will have your weekly salary sent to you before the week runs out. I will be waiting to read back from you Asap and i also have some other assignment for you to be done this week.

I want you to be rest assured that I'll never stress you at all in any assignment given to you and i promise to pay your fee weekly as we both agreed.

Take good care of yourself and have a blessed day.
Kindly get back to me Asap.

Thanks,

The Law Offices of Brian Peterson.
Fax:818-990-2433
Ph:206-984-1643
E-mail:brnptrsn101@gmail.com


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 Post subject: Re: PERSONAL ASSISTANT POSITION PT 3
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:01 am 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
Nice . . . he even says he is with a law office. Does his "law office" work fraud cases?

_________________
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Share your story with the media and educate others about scams! Details here http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6319
Sign our petition http://www.change.org/actions/view/crea ... s_programs
Follow our blog http://scamvictimsunited.wordpress.com/
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch
_______________________________________________
Has this site helped you?
Buy us a coffee to say thanks ~ http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm


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 Post subject: Re: WORK FROM HOME PERSONAL ASSISTANT
PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:53 am 
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Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:19 am
Posts: 10
Such a Great post. Thanks for sharing this useful information.


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 Post subject: Re: WORK FROM HOME PERSONAL ASSISTANT
PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 8:02 am 
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Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:35 am
Posts: 1
Sounds good.


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