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.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Zebra Auctions LLC

A correspondent forwarded me this scam, which is still fairly fresh (the domain name was registered early this month). It's just another payment processing scam, probably involving fraudulent cheques. The story goes like this: "employee" is asked to receive cheques, bank them, and forward a percentage of the proceeds via Western Union. Employee receives cheque, deposits it, withdraws cash, forwards it, and then the cheque bounces because it is a forgery. The "employee" has lost whatever money he forwarded via Western Union. It's also possible that this is a money mule scam in which the payments are made by direct transfer -- stolen out of someone's account by compromising their Internet banking. The "job description" doesn't give enough detail to be sure. You can be quite sure that it's a nasty scam, though, one way or the other.

   Domain Name: ZEBRAAUCTIONS.COM
   Registrar: ENOM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.enom.com
   Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
   Name Server: NS1.SRVDNS.CO.UK
   Name Server: NS2.SRVDNS.CO.UK
   Updated Date: 16-mar-2009
   Creation Date: 09-mar-2009
   Expiration Date: 09-mar-2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nic FORTIS <nic.fortis@googlemail.com>
To: [redacted (privacy)]
Sent: Saturday, 28 March, 2009 7:xx:xx PM
Subject: Re: Part-time position

Dear
As our administrative assistant you will be working the average of
10-15hours per week while earning an average of 3,500 – 4,000 usd  per
month.
"Zebra Auctions LLC". has been in business since 2003. We offer a
variety of services to our clients, including - reselling and selling,
providing auction drop services, and uniting sellers with
administrative assistants to contribute to the productivity of the
sales force.

Here are the frequently asked questions that will help you to
understand better how our company works and what is the role of the
administrative assistants and their responsibilities.

What is an auction drop?
Auction drop services offer clients to drop of the items that they
want to have sold and have a professional seller sell the items for
them.

Why does one use our auction drop?
We ensure that the item will be sold quickly, effectively, and for the
best price possible. Here is what we do:
•     Test to ensure everything works
•     Take professional photographs
•     Research to provide important details
•     Write a compelling listing
•     Choose the right Auction category
•     Find the best time to start your auction
•     Let you know when your auction starts
•     Answer questions from buyers
•     Notify you when your auction is won
•     Process payment from the buyer
•     Pack your item carefully
•     Ship it to the buyer
•     Handle any returns
•     Anything else it takes to sell your things through online auctions!

Who are the sellers?
All sellers have at least two years of experience in selling through
major auctions such as Ebay, Qxl, and Amazon. All sellers have at
least 98% positive feedback score, with at least 30 feedbacks.  The
sellers can be located anywhere in the world – Paris, New York,
London, Moscow, Vena, Sydney, Delhi, or any other location.

Where are the items sold?
Items are sold through top online websites such as Ebay US, Amazon
Auctions, Ebay Australia, Big Deals Australia, QXL(UK Auctions), and
more.

What are the items sold?
Main items sold are: consumer electronics, jewelry, and collectibles.

What is the administrative assistant's role?
Administrative assistant's role is to unite the seller and the buyer
by location. For example, the seller is located in Paris, and wants to
sell the item through an Australian auction site to a buyer within
Australia; we will enhance the shopper's experience and increase sales
by having a representative within that region of sales.

Your duties will include:
- Collecting, and maintaining all purchase information within your region
- Collecting payments from clients
- Presenting the company with daily, weekly, and monthly reports
- Providing the management and the sales unit with correspondence as needed
- Serve as the focal point for all information requested by the
management and vendors

Do I have to do any selling or deal with refunds? How will I be
notified of any purchases made?
The administrative assistant does not sell the product, but accepts
payments from clients within his or her area and provides the company
with full correspondence. There is a non refund policy, exchange only.
If exchange is required, the buyer and the seller will deal with this
situation. As soon as an item is sold and the purchasing information
becomes available you will be notified in detail by email, these
details will include buyer information, purchase, and price.

What bonuses are offered?
You can receive two weeks of vacation paid, twice per year. That's
3,500 usd while on a vacation. You can take your first vacation leave
after working with us for at least 3 months. You can also receive
great discounts on our items; we will send you a catalogue by mail
once you will begin working with us. Taxes are also covered by our
company. At the time when you will need to declare taxes, we will send
you an invoice stating your income, you will then find out the taxes
applicable, and we will cover this amount for you.

Any costs to start up? How do I get paid?
There are no costs to begin. All fees related to this employment are
covered by the company. The salary ranges 3,500-4,000 usd . You will
be keeping 5% from every transfer that you will receive from a client.
If at the end of the month your income is below 3,200 usd , we will
send you the difference either as a wire transfer or as a check. When
all your questions will be answered, I will send you an agreement and
the trial form to sign.


official web-site www.zebraauctions.com
Please email us all of your questions.

Thank You,
Nicolas Fortis

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 1:xx PM, [redacted (privacy)] wrote:
Could you provide me more info on that please


From: "hiredepartment@zaemployment..com" <hiredepartment@zaemployment.com>
To: [redacted (privacy)]
Sent: Wednesday, 25 March, 2009 9:xx:xx AM

Subject: Re: Part-time position

Dear [redacted (privacy)],

      I represent an internet auction-trading company "Zebra Auctions LLC". We have looked through your application and would be interested in exploring your potentials further in our companys activity, and we

are glad to offer you the distance assistant position in our corporation. "Zebra Auctions LLC" is an eBay commission shop with multiple services for the entire world. "Zebra Auctions LLC" has been working for since 2003 in this financial field. We have built a great reputation in this industry. During all these time "Zebra Auctions LLC" has kept to the same business way, which is considered as a most successful method. We take great pride in our achievements that win us recognition and awards worldwide every year. We are interested in making it easy for other people to sell on eBay and use our skills and experience to increase the money they could possibly receive. We make selling process easy and comfortable for our costumers, without obstacles and complications. We would be glad to use your skills and experience in our activity. Working week includes 10-15 working hours. Our company guarantees you salary at the rate 3,500.00  4,000.00 USD per month, plus benefits.

REQUIREMENTS:
-    21 years or older
-    Quickly reply to emails
-    Be constantly reachable on the phone during the daytime

You must have:
-    A personal cell phone
-    Basic Microsoft Office skills
-    Access to the internet during the daytime
-    Have a clean record. Be legally trouble-free

      Position of distant assistant is a part-time job, all
daily tasks are to be settle with the sales department. Distant assistants serve as a connecting
link between the company and the buyer. This role is extremely important when,
for instance, a Sydney-based seller wants to drop off his item on an German auction website..
Our assistant will make this deal possible.  This job requires an ability to
execute professional duties completely and with extreme personal responsibility.

      The administrative assistants have the number of functions, such as:
-    to receive all the information connected with possible dealings
taking place in his sales area.
-    to serve as the focal point for all information requested by the management and vendors
-    to deal with payments
-    to write the daily and weekly reports
-    to clarify administrative questions to the vendors and management
when requested.
-    to lead correspondence

If you are interested and want to get more detail information, or ask some questions, please contact me at MAIL
Here is our official web-site zebraauctions.com , there you can get all information concerning our company.


Best Regards
Monica Green
Zebra Auctions
Hire Department Manager


2 comments:

Miss O said...

OMG Ok this actually happened to me! I usually can pick a scam email easily but the thing is the one from 'Monica Green' was addressed to my name and I had been applying to jobs on seek so I thought it was legitimate.
Anyway I ended up getting a call from the bank telling me it was stolen money and i had spent $250 of it thinking it was a government payment. Luckily it all worked out and I was not in any trouble and it was just taken back out of my account since I hadn't transfered it, THANKGOD!!!!

Miss O said...

PS It is a money mule scam, it was money stolen out of someone elses account.