Consumer Fraud Reporting
Lucky Union Foods
Reporting on the Latest Frauds, Scams, Fake Lotteries, Spams and Hoaxes

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Job and Recruiting Scams:
Payment Officer Scam
LUCKY UNION FOODS CO., LTD, Thailand
Preye Miraya (Dr)

Have you received an email from Preye Miraya (Dr) of "LUCKY UNION FOODS CO., LTD" in Thailand (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"?

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 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:

Head Office & Factory

1/74-75 Samutsakorn Industrial Estate,

Rama II Rd., Moo 2, Thasai, Muang,

Samutsakorn 74000, Thailand

Tel: (66 34) 4900012

Fax: (66 34) 490013                                

JOB AVAILABLE NOW: REGIONAL COMMERCIAL MANAGER (International)

Brief info about us:  We are exporter and supplier base in Thailand. Our products supplies for world market ranges are mainly seafoods and filamented, minced, breaded, value added and moulded surimi products - Our targeted markets are North America, South America and Europe. We are determined to serve the needs of our customers world wide with unfailing quality, service, and price. As a result you are being contacted for this position as the company's In-Country Financial Manager to oversee the regional commercial activities, and process payment invoices on behalf of the company. 60,000 USD per annual. This position does not stop you from your current employment. Please note that it does not necessarily mean that have an exprience in the trade as we usually organise training for our international staffs.

Responsibilties:

1. Set up a mini office (company will be responsible for rental and other utility charges) 2. Employ additional staff of 2 3. Receive orders/payment for products from customers 4. Company provides office equipments.

Prospect: we are the Leading Processor & Exporter in Surimi Based Products. We will accomplish this with such steps as continual investment in state of the art processing factories. This way we can ensure a ready supply of a variety of high quality and low priced products available for speedy delivery anywhere in the world.

To start the application process, click the reply button and complete the required information below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Full Names:

-Residential Address (Not P.O.BOX):

-Age:

- Day Phone Number:

-Cell Phone Number:

-Fax Number:                              

-Most Recent Occupation:

-Preferred Email Address

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sincerely,

Preye Miraya (Dr)

Head, Exports &Supplies Division .

LUCKY UNION FOODS CO., LTD

 


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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