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Job and Recruiting Scams:
Payment Officer Scam
Shanghai Risen Import & Export Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China
Mrs Camellia Jones
Have you received an email from Mrs Camellia Jones of "Shanghai Risen Import & Export Co., Ltd." in Shanghai, China (or ANYWHERE else) offering you
a job as a "in-country distributor", "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 "Mrs Camellia Jones"
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", "Mrs Camellia Jones" 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!
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008 10:43 AM
From: Mrs Camellia Jones <mrscamelliaj@shanghairisenimpors.znn.com>
Subject: WORK WITH US
SHANGHAI RISEN IMPORT & EXPORT COMPANY LIMITED
Address: B.21/F.,Jianjing Building, 1399 Beijing Rd W,
Shanghai 200040 P.R.China
Tel/Fax: +0086-301-05328
Dear Sir/Ma
I am Mrs Camellia Jones, Secretary of Shanghai Risen
Import & Export Co., Ltd. (S.R.I.E.C) based In China.
Due to increase demands of our products in America and
Canada,we deceided to move our products often into the continent of America. By
so doing,we are looking for someone who can serve as an in-country distributor
who will be serveing as a link between us and our customers within that province
world wide.
About Us:
Shanghai Risen Import & Export Company Limited was set
up under the approval of Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. The
registered capital is RMB 10,000,000. The company business covers import &
Export of various commodities and technologies, processing with supplied
materials & samples, assembling with supplied parts, compensation trade, transit
trade, counter trade and domestic trade.
Located in Shanghai, a cosmopolitan city full of
vigor and vitality and the center of national economy, finance, trade and a hub
of communication, Risen has its unique advantage for trading. With the
consistent efforts of our experienced and efficient professionals and adhering
to the principles of "Honesty, team-work, innovation and excellence" , we have
established a good reputation in cooperation with world renowned companies in
America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa.
The major products are organic & inorganic pigments,
fine chemicals and other chemical materials used in coating, oil paint,
pesticide,detergent and timber preservative, etc. We also deal arts & crafts,
light industrial products, textile clothing, foodstuff, machinery, electrical
products, wood and construction materials, etc. Our annual export value reaches
more than USD 5,000,000.00 which is on the top of the list of import & export
company in Jingan district of Shanghai for many years in succession, and won the
"Foreign Trade Export Contribution Award" in 2001 , 2002 and 2003.
We are exerting ourselves to the goal of bringing
quality products and service to all customers all over the world and helping the
foreign companies entering China. We are willing to become the bridge between
you and China.
As a distributor of our company,your basic functions are
as follows:
1 Maintanance of a sales office. (The company will be
responsible for the cost)
2 Assume responsibility for all sales office
3 Lastly,contacting clients on behalf of the company who
are ready to make payments or wanting to pay for products they purchase from the
company.
To facilitate the conclusion of this transaction if
accepted,do send me by mail promptly the following)
1 Your Full name and present occupation
2 Telephone number and Fax
3 Contact address
4 Age
5 Marital status
6 Lastly,letting us know if you are free from crime you
are to send your reply to the director (Mr. Clement Howard via Email :shanghairisenimports@msn.com
While working for us you will be suppose to receive a payment from our clients
on your bank account or transfer the money to our trade agent through bank
transfer or via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER SERVICE, These scheme seems to us
to be the most efficient, since it guarantee the fastest delivery of payment
from our customer and to avoid the major delay in getting the money. These means
that everything will go well with you working with us.
You will get 15% commission from the whole sum of every
transaction from your bank account that you deal with. All related charge will
be cover by our company.
We require your assistance to fasten the process of
delivery of the order item and to shorten the terms of getting the payment form
our clients. Working for us you are making a good living.
We are grateful for attention!
Yours sincerely
Mrs Camellia Jones
Secretary
Shanghai Risen Import and Export Company
TEl/FAX: +0086-301-05328
©1997-2005 Openwave Systems Inc. All rights reserved.
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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