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.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

JerTech Inc

Another money mule scam hot off the press. It's the same old same old laundering stolen money. The domain name "jertechinc.com" is brand spanking new at this moment.

   Domain Name: JERTECHINC.COM
   Registrar: REGISTER.COM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.register.com
   Referral URL: http://www.register.com
   Name Server: NS1.TOOLNS.COM
   Name Server: NS2.TOOLNS.COM
   Updated Date: 28-feb-2008
   Creation Date: 28-feb-2008
   Expiration Date: 28-feb-2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeremy Moore <[redacted (false)]>
Date: 28 Feb 2008 XX:XX UTC
Subject: Reply to your resume
To: [redacted (privacy)]

Hello.
My name is Jeremy Moore, I represent JerTech Inc company. We need representatives
in Australia for full and part-time jobs (2 positions are available). We do not ask for any money, we are reputable company operating in Latvia.
You will get:
- 5000 AUD guaranteed monthly income
- Comprehensive medical and life insurance for you and your dependents. You
will be receiving an JK Tech Inc Medicine card and all the paperwork in
2 weeks after successfully completing your probation period.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:
You have to be honest,loyal, responsible and hard-working.
You have to comply with all reasonable and lawful instructions provided to
you by our company.
You need 5-7 hours during the week for communication.
Residential address to receive correspondence (if any).
Computer w/internet connection.
Please, reply to support@jertechinc.com if you are interested and I will send you job details.
Thanks

Jeremy Moore
JerTech Inc

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Online Auction Block

I'm way behind in reporting these scams at the moment, but I thought I'd better get this one on the web ASAP because these guys are pretty good. They're getting through Gmail's spam filters, they have their own domain name, and their English skills are almost passable. As usual, they are recruiting money mules to transfer stolen money out of the country (being Australia, in this instance). They gain access to someone's online banking service, transfer money from it to one of their "employees", and get the employee to transfer it overseas via Western Union or similar.

   Domain Name: OAB-JOBS.COM
   Registrar: ENOM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.enom.com
   Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
   Name Server: NS1.ENTERDA.COM
   Name Server: NS2.ENTERDA.COM
   Updated Date: 25-feb-2008
   Creation Date: 25-feb-2008
   Expiration Date: 25-feb-2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Online Auction Block Team <[redacted (false)]>
Date: 27 Feb 2008 XX:XX UTC
Subject: Australia Careers - Virtual Office
To: [redacted (privacy)]

Online Auction Block. is an exciting business that simplifies the online auction process. We have established sellers who sell items through auctions worldwide providing higher sales profits to clients. These positions will be vital to the success of Online Auction Block as we continue growing our business.

We are currently recruiting for the positions of Virtual Office Assistants, part-time and full-time available.
The positions focus on providing administrative assistance in online sales.

Part-time and full-time positions available

Part-time: Three hours per day during either one of these shifts:
9:00am-12:00pm        11:00am-2:00pm        12:00pm-3:00pm      2:00pm-5:00pm

Full Time: Six hours per day during either one of these shifts:
9:00am-3:00pm          11:00am-5:00pm

Salary
Part-time: $1,500/month and commission
Full-time: $3,000/month and commission

Professional Qualities:
- Customer focused decision maker
- Demonstrates a high level of personal accountability
- Thinks about the team first over personal agendas
- Learning adaptive
- Process driven

Basic Requirements for Virtual Office Assistant:
- Internet Access
- Microsoft Office
- Proficient PC user
- Basic Accounting skills

If interested in the proposal please email your resume to Anne.Moss@oab-jobs.com stating whether you are interested in full-time or part-time position and we will send you the start up details.

Thank You,

Online Auction Block Team
Anne.Moss@oab-jobs.com

Friday, February 08, 2008

Bid-Alot.Int (Impostors)

There is a company called Bid-Alot, and they deny that they have anything to do with this job offer. This is not the first time we've seen money mule recruiters using the name Bid-Alot either. Bid-Alot do not offer jobs of this sort -- it's a scam being perpetrated by someone not related to the company in any way. The scammer is currently using yahoo.com.au contact addresses.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bid-Alot.Int 2008 <[redacted (false)>
Date: 7 Feb 2008 XX:XX UTC
Subject: Full-time job in South and West Australia
To: [redacted]


Australian Internet Auction Community is looking for new associates in Australia. .

This is a job offer for Australia residents/citizens ONLY

Our Online Auction Community unites online visitors not only from Australia, but also from European and North American regions. Not only have we given peace of mind to everyone in that they are safe in the knowledge of legitimate auction sellers and bidders, but also offer best possible auction purchase and reselling opportunities to all of our members.

We are an Independent Department of Bid-Alot.Int (http://www.bid-alot.com) and generally cooperate with Europe and North-America based buyers/sellers.

We offer you the position of a bidding manager.

The vacancy includes both part and full-time employment.

There's no need to sell or purchase anything online. There's no need to invest anything as well.

Bidding manager processes auction payments from buyers to sellers and vice-versa. Bidding manager also transports auction wares to nearest post office and ships the package to its final destination in Europe or North America.

A per month salary of 4000 AUD is transferred on a regular basis to bidding manager's bank account + you get 4% from every auction deal you participate in.

Our Community makes the whole Internet Auction process more flexible for people from different regions.

If you have what it takes to be successful in this work, and are interested in the career, then apply online, send your CV to HR DEPARTMENT .

Thank you for your time


Sincerely,
Ronald Mandstein


---------- Forwarded message ----------
[headers redacted for privacy reasons]

We are an Independent Department of Bid-Alot.Int
(http://www.bid-alot.com <http://www.bid-alot.com/> ) in Europe and North America.
Our Customer Support Centre is in Rapid City, Michigan, US and most of our non-Australia based customers get maximum support and assistance during their Internet Auction deals with Bid-Alot.Int Australian buyers/sellers.

Our goal is to guarantee that most of the auction deals between international buyers/sellers of our Online Community are processed securely.

Due to an increasing number of illegal deals on the Internet today, our Payment Processing Department is looking for motivated applicants in Australia ready to guarantee safety of wares and payment delivery to our abroad customers.

Legitimate purchase and reselling opportunities have been among our top priorities from the very beginning of our work.

"Bidding manager" vacancy is a part-time employment during the first 2 weeks of our cooperation. If the applicant succeeds in completing one's duties successfully, it is possible to start a full-time employment immediately after the first 2 weeks (a 14-days trial period).

Unlike other Companies with free of charge trial periods, we pay fixed salary of 4000/2 AUD even during the first 2 weeks of our collaboration as well.

4000 AUD per month salary:
Salary is wired transferred into bidding manager's bank account in the end of every working month or in the end of every working period. Salary is paid in Australian currency.

Duties and Commission:
An additional 4% of commission is paid for every successful auction deal bidding manager participates in.
Bidding manager receives and forwards payments from buyers to sellers.
Bidding manager receives and forwards auction merchandise from sellers to buyers.
Bidding manager regularly visits the bank, local post office and sometimes meets Bid-Alot.Int Australia-based customers in person.

We also arrange regular meetings of our employees from every particular region once in 2 months and that's when the bidding managers get together to discuss their work, Internet auction innovations and etc.

It is the duty of a Bidding manager after the initial merchandise/payment receipt, to deliver/ship/transfer it to its final destination in Europe or North America with no holds and delays. Bidding manager keeps in touch with one of our assisting managers from Customer Support Centre (personally/by phone/by email) and will follow his instructions after bidding manager receives the merchandise/payment.

Bidding manager also works together with one of our senior bidding managers in your region after the first 30 days of our cooperation. Personal meetings are obligatory.

Vacancy status:

Available from February 2008. 27 more employees needed.
Vacancy is available for Australian residents only

Work schedule:
Weekly employment of 5-15 hours.

Promotion opportunity:
Apply for a full-time employment after first 14 days of successful cooperation.

Requirements:
PC either at home or at work, primary and secondary phone numbers (home and mobile, work), account in any financial institution/Bank

Please reply if you are interested in the vacancy and would like to receive more info

Send your resume or CV (if you have one) as well.

We will reply to you as soon as possible

Thank You very much for your time and attention

Sincerely,
Recruiting chief manager
Ronald Mandstein

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

NameNameXX@gmail.com (global auto agency)

I reported a series of scam spams using this kind of Gmail contact address in September 2007. Well, they're back. At a guess, I'd say that some guy has specialised in creating Gmail accounts, and is selling them on the black market to scammers. (Yes, there is an underground economy in this sort of thing!) Consequently, this may or may not be the same scammer as previously, but it's a money mule scam either way.

I'm not going to bother reporting every minor variation on the email address this time, since there were an awful lot of them last time.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [redacted (false)]
Date: 1 Feb 2008 XX:XX UTC
Subject: 40% of people of your age city, are not satisfied with their monthly profits. We can change it.
To: [redacted]

Hi,
Our surveys show that 23% of people of your city are not satisfied with their weekly earnings and wish to make more. That is why we would like to offer you an opportunity of part-time work. To earn 121-407 AUD a week you have to spend 2-4 hours a week.
You need a contact telephone cellphone, a computer and email. If you are reading these lines, it means you have everything you need to start working.
The employment lasts till the end of the month; I have 28% vacancies in your locality so far.
You will have to help our clients. It is a simple job, which requires attentiveness and accuracy. I provide training and everything you need for the job.
Investments from you are not required.
Who are we? We are a big global auto agency. We work only with luxury cars - BMW, Bentley, Audi, and others. If you choose to become our employee you will receive a 5% discount on the purchase of a auto from our office as an additional bonus and we will help you to obtain a credit, if necessary.
We will be glad to supply you with any extra information.

To speed up our message, please send me an email to: CeliaHuberRL@gmail.com

Looking forward to your reply,

Jean E.

register-online.cn

An anonymous job offer with big bucks is always a money mule scam.

Domain Name: register-online.cn
ROID: 20080123s10001s16905882-cn
Registrant Organization: Int inc
Registrant Name: WolfDane
Administrative Email: feaeet_ladyyy@yahoo.com
Name Server:ns1.home-businesswire.com
Name Server:ns1.search-bbb.com
Registration Date: 2008-01-23 04:55
Expiration Date: 2009-01-23 04:55

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [redacted (false)]
Date: 30 Jan 2008 XX:XX UTC
Subject: Part-time Job
To: [redacted]

Secondary Well-Paid Job

Ladies and Gentlemen!

A large company with a world reputation, which deals with online investments, is finally expanding and looking for new representatives in Australia! We are planning the opening of our Australian representatives' network in February 2008, but we are interested in new representatives now, at present.

At the moment we are looking for independent agents, who will represent our company in regions. The work consists in accepting and processing payments from our Australian clients. This is a part-time position; you work only 3-4 hours per week. The full-time job will be offered you out of turn as soon as the official representatives' network starts functioning.

We appreciate the labor of our representatives and pay them properly. Your salary depends on your activity and capacity for work. You will be paid a minimum of 1000 EUR, but if you complete all the duties as assigned, you salary will go up to about 3000 EUR. By the way, the base salary for the full-time job in our representations is several times more.

If you are interested in our offer and would like to learn more, please send your filled out form to e-mail: job@register-online.cn Our human resources managers will contact you within 48 hours.

Full name:
Country of residence:
Age:
Contact phone:
Preferred call time:

Thank You,


New York, 14026, USA
Phone: +1 (877) 349-7033

Sales Company from Spain

I'm a bit slow to report this one, so it may already have been and gone. It's a nondescript, run-of-the-mill money mule scam, and it looks like the scammers are pretending to have something to do with "Bosch", based on the Gmail address they've used.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [redacted (false)]
Date: , 26 Jan 2008 21:XX:XX +0100
Subject: Looking for Extra Income? Read This.
To: [redacted]

Introducing a great opportunity for Australian Population!
Looking for a job or need extra income? This is for you.
Make up to 1200 AUD a week spending 2 hours a day Monday-Thursday.
This is not a joke! It's a real opportunity, limited time offer! Don't miss your chance.
Successful Sales Company from Spain is looking for help for position called "Fund Processor".

-Minimum computer skills required
-Age 18+
-Location: Australia
-1-2 Hours of Free Time Monday-Thursday
-Responsibility/Enthusiasm is a Must!

Australia News Report: "Position of the Year, New Generation Opportunity!" - Christopher Clarey.
Get full information on this position and one of our representatives will assist you shortly!
If you meet requirements contact our team at: saledept.bosch@googlemail.com to receive full information!