Job and Recruiting Scams:
Payment Officer Scam
SII MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS, Japan
Bryan Elvins
Have you received an email from Bryan Elvins of "SII MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS" in Japan (or ANYWHERE else) offering you
a job as a "Payment Accountant Officer", "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!
Date: Tue, 22
Jan 2008 01:41:22 -0800
From:
b.elvins@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: replying e-mail from SII MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Hello
<your name here>
Thanks for the
message and information you passed to me and I am glad you are interested in
working for my company as the Payment Accountant Officer in United States of
America.
Check attachment for our Company Profile to read and know more about my Company
Sii Mobile Communication INC.
Like I told you
in my last email that our clients are making payments via BANK WIRE TRANSFERS
only, since you don’t have an account with Wells Fargo Bank I will like you to
go ahead and setup a Savings and Checking Account with Wells Fargo Bank so that
my clients will make payment into it.
You just have to
walk down to a near by Wells Fargo Bank Branch and setup the accounts.
I want you to
have this account setup in 24hrs to 48hrs so that my client will make some
transfer into for their orders and you will
Western Union the funds transferred into the account to us and
after your first job is carried out successfully we shall pay your first salary
after 48hrs.
Upon setting up
a checking and savings account with Wells Fargo Bank and providing me with the
Account and Routing Numbers, I shall email your LETTER OF APPOINTMENT showing
you now work for us as a Payment Accountant Officer.
Confirm the
receipt of this email and let me know when you are going to setup the account.
Thank You!
Bryan Elvins.
Click here to see the original letter that the scammer sends in the mail.
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
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