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 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
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.
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