Consumer Fraud Reporting
CAPS Solutions Ltd
Reporting on the Latest Frauds, Scams, Fake Lotteries, Spams and Hoaxes

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Job and Recruiting Scams:
Payment Officer Scam
CAPS Solutions Ltd, England & Wales
from "Regional Manager"

Have you received an email from the "Regional Manager" of "CAPS Solutions Ltd" in England & Wales (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "Online Representative Clerk", "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.

In the email below, there are some many red flags, we can't imagine any way it could be legitimate.  But you can try emailing "Regional Manager" back and asking: 

  • What is your company's physical address and phone number?
  • Where is your company registered / licensed and what is the business license number?
  • Does your company have a web site?  If so, what is the url?
  • What is the business email address for the company? (the email address you supplied for reply is a free, non-business email account  - gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc., not a commercial email account)
  • What is the value to the company of people like me receiving payments (checks, wires, etc.), cashing them and forwarding the money? 
  • Why aren’t the payment deposited directly into your own banking account, as any major bank can receive checks and wires drawn on any legitimate bank anywhere in the world, in any currency?

Try cutting and pasting those questions and emailing them back to the person offering the "job", "Regional Manager" in this case and see how he responds.  We’ll bet it will be with hostility, like: 

“Why are you asking me these questions?  We are offering you a legitimate job, but you are treating us like we are scammers! If you are not interested we can find someone else; it is YOUR loss!”

Which, of course, is how a scammer caught with questions that expose his scam, will reply!

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!

Sample "Payment officer" scam emails:

Date: 12 Mar 2008 00:39:34 +0000

Subject: GET BACK TO ME QUICKLY

From: CAPS Solutions Ltd < prospective-distant-staff@caps.com >

Reply-To: prospectdistancejobresume@gmail.com

Attention:

We are in search for an Online Representative Clerk with attractive take home pay. Salary, $45 per hour for five hours a day, five days a week. No Selling or Marketing, No registration or signup fee. Simply Work from home.  

Responsibilities:

*Mailing out checks to customers and staffs *Making out and Receiving payments *Attending contract seminars on the company's behalf. Any other related duties as may be reasonably assigned by your controller. 

Skills:

*Computer literate in Microsoft Office

*Experienced in working with money

*Extensive experience in dealing with the public

NB: Compensation and monthly allowance are been allocated to staffs that puts in there best abilities when performing their duties. If interested, please provide us with the following information:

* Your Full Name

* Full Address

* Date of Birth and Nationality

* Marital Status and Occupation

* Telephone, Fax and Email

Thanks as we anticipate your reply to the controller through this email contact:

Best regards

 

Regional Manager

CAPS Solutions Ltd

Registration Number: 3760128

Registration Date: 27 April 1999

Place of Registration: England & Wales

VAT Number: GB 787 4307 91

Other Jobs Scams

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

Copyright CFR 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008  - Definition of scam, fraud, etc. -  Legal disclaimer / corrections / complaints 
Names used by scammers in the examples on this page and others often belong to real people and businesses who often have no knowledge of nor connection to the scammer's use of their name and information.  Sample scam emails and other documents are copies of the scam to help potential victims recognize and avoid it.  You should presume that any names used and presented here in a scam are either fictitious or used without their legitimate owner's permission.
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