Job scam quick guide: it's a scam if...

  • they want you to collect and forward money in any way (a "money mule" job). You'll wind up engaged in money laundering, personally defrauded via expertly forged cheques, money orders, etc, or defrauding someone else who pays for goods that never arrive.
  • they want you to receive packages and reship them somewhere else. The goods will have been obtained fraudulently, and they're just using you to make the shipping address appear local. You will be aiding fraud.
  • they want up-front payment (either to them or someone else) of any sort for anything before you can get the job. This is advance fee fraud: there is no job -- it's just a big con to extract money from you.
  • they want you to buy any kind of "membership" or "kit" in order to start. Forget it -- it's not a real job at all: they're trying to sell you something, and they're probably making a bunch of other false claims about it if they're pitching it as a "job".
  • it's a job offer, and it's spam. There are LOTS of these scams about, as you can see.

Friday, August 08, 2008

WordSoft or WorldSoft

These guys can't currently decide whether they are "WordSoft Ltd" or "WorldSoft Ltd". Not that it matters: they're neither of the above -- this is a scam. Exactly what sort of scam isn't 100% clear, since they don't give any details. It looks like a money mule job, but I'd need more details to know for sure what the game is. If anyone has corresponded with them, please share the details here. [Update 2008-08-09: Yes, it's a money mule scam. They are looking for peopole to receive stolen money through bank transfers and launder it via Western Union or similar.]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [redacted (random)]
Date: 2008/8/8 UTC
Subject: Part-time job at home.
To: ideceive@gmail.com


WordSoft Ltd is a custom software development firm located in Sydney, Australia. We offer full cycle custom software programming services, from product idea, offshore software development to outsourcing support and enhancement. WorldSoft Ltd employs a large pool of software engineers coming from different backgrounds. We are able to balance product development efforts and project duration to your business needs.

WordSoft customer service department is currently offering employment for 30 Australian residents and 50 Spanish residents in order to provide it's new branch with qualified personnel.
The private client support desk is responsible for following up client enquiries, helping the clients to understand how WorldSoft Ltd. can save them money on foreign currency transactions, and developing new business through referrals.
If you're a customer service fanatic, and enjoy working in a challenging and rewarding environment, please see below for our current list of opportunities.

Requirements:

• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel & Internet
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written
• Bilingual English language ability is a plus

*******************************************
- This work does not require any experience!
- This is a work at home
*******************************************

During the probationary period (30 days) you will be paid $4500 per month.
After the completion of the probationary period your salary will go up to $6000 per month.

Should you have any questions regarding this letter, our offer of employment or anything else, please write me an e-mail.
We are excited to have you join our organization and look forward to working with you.


Please forward your full resume, contact information and questions to HR dept on e-mail:  RecruitSoft@aol.com


You will be contacted within 1 to 3 business days.

Thanks,

Recruiting Support Team
WorldSoft Ltd.
RecruitSoft@aol.com


26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I received this email. When I asked how they got my details all I got was this:
Dear Gabbie,
Please send your resume at hrm@worldsoftsolutions.org

Best Regards,

Oliver Lesken
WorldSoft Ltd.
Web: www.WorldSoftSolutions.org
Phone: +612 8005 8653
E-Mail: hrm@WorldSoftSolutions.org
They didn't even bother to answer my question. Very suss.

Thanks,
Gabbie

Spotter said...

Domain ID:D153103787-LROR
Domain Name:WORLDSOFTSOLUTIONS.ORG
Created On:26-Jun-2008 16:15:15 UTC
Last Updated On:26-Jun-2008 16:19:31 UTC
Expiration Date:26-Jun-2009 16:15:15 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:eNom, Inc. (R39-LROR)
Registrant ID:efae51fd064
Registrant Email:mail@CHINOPOSTALPLACE.COM
Name Server:NS1.INSTANTSENDING.BZ
Name Server:NS2.INSTANTSENDING.BZ

Domain Name: CHINOPOSTALPLACE.COM
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
Name Server: DNS1.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS2.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS3.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS4.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Name Server: DNS5.NAME-SERVICES.COM
Updated Date: 19-jun-2008
Creation Date: 19-jun-2008
Expiration Date: 19-jun-2009

Spotter said...

This clarifies things. The "Clients Support" position on their "vacancies" page includes "Bank transfers managment" in the duties. This is a money mule job involving direct bank transfers of stolen funds.

Also, their website is a rip-off of EffectiveSoft.

Anonymous said...

Hi! And did you read the mail address the e-amil is sent from?? I received it from a corporative address that belongs to a spanish company dedicated to test electrical cables and equipment!

mmmm...

Anonymous said...

I received an offer of employment at my Spanish email address. If you have a look at the web site it tells the story. Yes, money laundering at it's best. I reported it to the ACMA who advised that the email originates from outside of Australia.

Anonymous said...

this is legal job. i work with WorldSoft more than 3 month.
I wondering what you write here about ...

Spotter said...

Please note that the scammers themselves occasionally post in this blog.

Mk said...

hahah I can't believe these guys try to clear up their name on this blog. C'mon, we're not so dumb. Stop scamming and go find a real job. The world will be a much better place without your fraudulent activities.

Anonymous said...

Ok anonymous why is it that the company that you work for has closed down its website in Australia? I'm not sure what is more despicable....money mule scams or fake offers of UN employment!!

Anonymous said...

I got one of these too and I posted my findings/ on my own blog. I initially contacted them via their online form but that was broken, so I sent them an email explaining that some monkeys were impesonating their company with shonky job offers, using dodgy email clients, HTML-only content and using servers in Ukraine and Spain to send their message.

I then got a canned reply from someone who claims to be from Worldsoft or Wordsoft, assuring me that they were being "a leading provider of foreign exchange services", etc, etc, etc.

When I told them that I didn't give them permission to contact me out of the blue and therefore their spam was not welcome, someone claiming to be "Oliver Lesken", said this to me:

"It is choice. This is not a spam. Yes, i use the bat to receive and sent my emails from server our company. Our company located in Australia. I am a just recruiting manager. But i leave in UK."

Legal job? Maybe they're right. But then again, I think I just saw a pig fly by my office window too.

Anonymous said...

The "worldsoftsolutions.org" website has now been taken offline.

Anonymous said...

Now they have changed their email address and they still don't know if they are worldsoft or wordsoft...

As an Australian, I hate this theft of our identity.
I think the corporate telcos and google and hotmail etc are part of the scam... it generates traffic and hence income to them. They could stop it if they really wanted.

Here is their today's effort:
--------
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Joesph Gibbons" teroqin@vodogo.com
Date: 28 August 2008 12:29:28 PM
To:
Subject: New job for you!

WordSoft Ltd is a custom software development firm located in Sydney, Australia. We offer full cycle custom software programming services, from product idea, offshore software development to outsourcing support and enhancement. WorldSoft Ltd employs a large pool of software engineers coming from different backgrounds. We are able to balance product development efforts and project duration to your business needs.

WordSoft customer service department is currently offering employment for 45 Australian residents and 25 Spain residents in order to provide it's new branch with qualified personnel. The private client support desk is responsible for following up client enquiries, helping the clients to understand how WorldSoft Ltd. can save them money on foreign currency transactions, and developing new business through referrals. If you're a customer service fanatic, and enjoy working in a challenging and rewarding environment, please see below for our current list of opportunities.
Requirements:

• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel & Internet
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written
• Bilingual English language ability is a plus

*******************************************
- This work does not require any experience!
- This is a work at home
*******************************************

During the probationary period (30 days) you will be paid $4500 per month.
After the completion of the probationary period your salary will go up to $6000 per month.

Should you have any questions regarding this letter, our offer of employment or anything else, please write me an e-mail.
We are excited to have you join our organization and look forward to working with you.

Please forward your full resume, contact information and questions to HR dept. e-mail: dpworldsoft@googlemail.com


You will be contacted within 1 to 3 business days.

Thank you!

Recruiting Department WorldSoft Ltd.
E-Mail: dpworldsoft@googlemail.com

Anonymous said...

Yep and now they seem to have their email coming from a community church BOCA RATON COMMUNITY CHURCH and I am meant to reply to

worldsoftdp@googlemail.com

Gee what a tin pot organisation that they can't even afford their own email server address

Anonymous said...

I just received this email - it was sent out to all Library Staff in the University that I work for. I'm currently looking for part-time work, so this opportunity looked too good to be true. Which it is, really :P

After doing a search online with the first couple of entries coming up with "scam", I found your blog and emailed a warning to the mailing list it was originally sent out to, so hopefully the word will spread and less people will be suckered into this.

Cheers,
Kimberley

Spotter said...

I have received two more instances of this scam, using the @googlemail.com addresses mentioned by the anonymous posters above.

Anonymous said...

Yes I have just received a similar letter of offer,it came from a Reynaldo French, his email address is cwsqgajxyds@bonnydoon.com
A..holes

Spotter said...

That name and address are the kind of random garbage that I redact from my reports. The only vaguely interesting part is the address they want you to respond to.

Anonymous said...

Have people gone to prison for being involved with scams like this in australia??

Spotter said...

Yes, people have gone to prison for doing this kind of thing deliberately. People who are suckered into it, on the other hand, can simply expect the money to be taken back out of their account. The banks usually cover the loss associated with whatever has been sent to the scammers themselves. I understand that this is the cheapest way for the banks to deal with the problem at the moment, although I'm sure they'd rather not have to pay for this kind of thing.

Anonymous said...

crap!! I just sent my CV to this particular offer =( (I am currently trying to find a partime job). They replied saying I am qualified... but I haven't accepted the job yet... am I in trouble?

Spotter said...

Don't accept the job. Don't send them your bank account details. Move on and find a job that doesn't involve sending money or goods to strangers.

Anonymous said...

from: fritz jyh [thorpe@farmjournal.com]

Good day.
We would like to offer you position the of transfer manager. Due to Company expansion onto Asia-Pacific financial market we will need regional representative in Australia.

-POSITION: Regional Representative,
-POSITIONS AVAILABLE: 15,
-COUNTRY: Australia (New Zealand),
-SALARY: 2200-3500 AUD P/MTH,
-TRIAL PERIOD: ONE MONTH,
-OCCUPATION: part-time (1-3 hours a day), -EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE: We will provide full training for suitable candidates, -HOW TO APPLY: Email (registered@icmail.net) Viktor Lesken for details.

Unsubscribe: Send an empty message to unsubscribe@finance-int.net.

---
Finance International Ltd,
Management Department,
Oliver Lesken




I just received this email.. interestng.. the email address is "@farmjournal.com" is a US Farm Magazine...

Spotter said...

The "from" address is completely irrelevant: the spammers can put just about anything there without it making a scrap of difference. They could use your address there (with a made-up name) -- after all, they already have your address in their lists, right? The "farmjounral.com" address is innocent, but keep your eye on the addresses where they actually want you to send replies.

Anonymous said...

I replied to this yesterday out of interest after looking up the domain of the reply email address:
Finance International - Viktor Lesken: viktor.lesken@Safe-mail.net. It looked like a webmail address so though it might be ok. I received an email with a job description attached. The domain to unsubscribe is finance-int.net which doesn't exist but there is a website finance-int.com which looks quite legit. On searching Viktor Lesken I came across this blog.

The attachment contains the following detail about their company: Founded in 1999, Finance International LTD is a group of Internet commerce and finance companies united in one Corporation. Basing on our long-term experience and implementing pioneer Internet technologies, we increase money turnover around the world and provide quick payments to our clients. Together with opportunities and advantages for our customers, we present a new trend in the world banking system as well. We deal with electronic money transfers and collaborate with hundreds banks and companies. "

The reason they need me is "When the prospective client intends to buy our products or services he signs a contract and sends an international wire from his local bank. The central problem of our activity in Australia is the prolonged duration of funds transfers from our clients to us. As a result our client waits from one week to over month until his transfer reaches our account and our Managers give an order to ship products to a customer. Our newly employed agents will solve this problem by means of there geographical position close to the client.".

After reading the entire job description alarm bells went off and I thought - hang on, isn't this money laundering?

Thanks for publishing this blog - it's good to have "safety checks".

Sheldon said...

Hi Guys... Firstly i would like to thank the person who started this topic...

I work for a Oil Field company... we recently received a request from WorldSoft Ltd. to quote pricing for one of our products...
But googleing this company... found nothin on the net... thats when i came across this blog...

Can anyone give me more details on this company...

They also said that they have a subsidiary in the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

This might seem off the topic

But worldsoft is such a common name like microsoft and many frauds are trying to take advantage of this.

Although there are many scams going on in the name of microsoft as well

Sheradon yes one WorldSoft does exist in USA as Corporation and has many branches all over world and don't actually do the scam work of recruiting people or forex work.

I can't comment whether that worldsoft was same as your worldsoft or what

Just because Microsoft related scams are there you can't hold Bill Gates responsible for it.

I know of one more company called WSC Ltd. which means WorldSoft Corporation or WorldSoft Ltd. which does do actual software work

Though all the rest seems like scam

May be Sheladon that is the reason you didn't find information on google because real company might have a different combination to distinctively differntiate itself from fraud companies

Or may be some company asked their sister concern to get product details from you.

Hope this helps.

Thanks