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.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

SINOCHEM CORPORATION

This is a check fraud scam: you receive fraudulent checks, deposit them in your account, draw on them, send money to scammer via Western Union, then lose everything when the check bounces and the bank accuses you of fraud.

The formatting in this spam is odd (all the "@^}." stuff). I expect that the message was sent by exploiting a bug in a web-to-mail feedback form, and this is a side-effect of the exploit.

This report is nearly a month late because I've been too busy to deal with spam lately.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: SINOCHEM CORPORATION <info@telefonica.net> [SPF verified]
Date: 2009/7/19
Subject: KINDLY READ!!
To:


@^}.A new job opening in your Area, It's a work from home/office position and you are not required to pay any registration fee or pay for any application form before you
get employed.

THIS IS WHAT IT ENTAILS:
@^}.Get/receive payment from Clients/Customers.
@^}.Process Payments at your Bank.
@^}.Deduct 1/10 which is your commission/Payment on check
cashed.
@^}.Forward the remaining 9/10 to the information that will
be provided later on.

@^}.SINOCHEM CORPORATION.
@^}.APPLICATION FORM

@^}.FULL NAME:-

@^}.HOME ADDRESS (NOT POST OFFICE BOX):-

@^}.CITY:-

@^}.STATE:-

@^}.ZIP CODE:-

@^}.COUNTRY:-

@^}.AGE:-

@^}.PRESENT/PAST JOB EXPERIENCE:-

@^}.PHONE NUMBERS (Home and Mobile):-

@^}.GENDER:-

Fill the above application so as to qualify you for the
position and send via e-mail to: CONTACTSINOCHEM@AOL.COM
This space is opened till the 4th of August, 2009 (for
USA/CANADA Residence only). Mr. CHEN Guogang Chief Financial
Officer SINOCHEM CORPORATION, China.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Their newest one is an email that has the attached "application", and it reads "Read the attachment for more details.". The email is sent from a "Mr. Chen Guogang". Attachment reads as follows:

Good day Interested worker,



JOB OPENING WITH SINOCHEM CORPORATION


Thank you for showing interest in our job opening. Details below:

You could work on Part-Time basis for SINOCHEM Corporation as a FINANCE CO-ORDINATOR in the United States/Canada or its environs which requires a great deal of trust and honesty. Meanwhile, this job is 100% tax free and there is no start up cost required.I am Mr. CHEN Guogang (Chief Financial Officer, Sinochem Corporations).

ABOUT US:

Since 1998, Sinochem Corporation, a traditional state-owned trading company, has been proactively exploring the strategic transformation centering on agriculture, energy, chemicals, finance and real estate in line with development of the nation’s market economy. Over the years of great efforts, Sinochem has remodeled itself into an innovative enterprise with strong competitive edge and rapidly built up its overall strength and industrial puissance. (read More at www.sinochem.com/english)."


Presently, Our Coporate financiers in the USA has just granted us the funding to head a research project in PHILIPPINES and Its environs regarding Oil Drainage, Planning and Management and work is already in progress. However, the funding is made mostly with your country's approved mode of payment (US certified checks o r Money Order).


JOB DESCRIPTION:
1. Receive payment from Clients.
2. Cash Payments at your Bank.
3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed.
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage and pay to any of the offices you will be instructed to do so later (Payment is to be forwarded by WESTERN UNION Money Transfer).


HOW MUCH WILL YOU EARN?
10% from each transaction! For instance: you receive 5000 USD via checks on our Behalf. You will cash the Check and keep $500 (10% of $5000) for yourself! Anyway, your commission is a constant percentage which will be subjected to an increase of 15% and above based on your efficiency in services being rendered to the company.

Your willingness to work as a Payment Representative now will help and save time since payment is coming from our financiers in your country and its cashed and transferred by our coordinator (you) in the same country so that this project can be concluded as soon as possible.

We try to be thoughtful of employees, business partners, local communities and natural environment. Health and housing allowance will be catered for (Effective after 1 week on Application). This is acknowledged as part of our policy. You may decline the policy offer anyway.If interested in this job, do fill the application form below send via e-mail to: SINOCEMJOB@AOL.COM

Then we'll make the concl uding arrangements on how you'll get started.
Hope to hear from you soon.

Warmest Regards,

Mr. CHEN Guogang
Chief Financial Officer
SINOCHEM CORPORATION
www.sinochem.com
24hrs Email Service


APPLICATION FORM

FULL NAME:-
HOME ADDRESS (NOT POST OFFICE BOX):-
CITY:-
STATE:-
ZIP CODE:-
COUNTRY:-
AGE:-
PRESENT/PAST JOB EXPERIENCE:-
PHONE NUMBERS (Home and Mobile):-
GENDER:-


(Information included in this application form is CONFIDENTIAL between you and me, and the full name and contact info should be included as it should be written on the payments being issued over to you, you should also include a valid phone number for easy contact)
In agreement to this kindly append signature below
________________________________________________
Mr. CHEN Guogang.
Chief Financial Officer.





Farking people.... I hate scammers!

Anonymous said...

Has any one been able to Even Cash these Cheques at all I am currious to know

Financial Advisor said...

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post this, as a financial consultant, it's just scary to even get these email in your business e-mail! Here is what I just received, and it's very targeted to my industry. It would cost me everything I have worked for!

From: Jeannie Cho Lee [mailto:jeancholee@live.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 1:44 PM
Subject: Hello

Hello,

It is my pleasure to reach out to you with the following offer of appointment. Sinochem Group of Companies, are currently seeking Reputable Financial Consultant that can act as their Company Representative/Account Receivable Agent in Canada (Intermediary between Sinochem Group of Companies and its clients in the Northern America region). If interested, kindly indicate your interest.

Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time daily. You can Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business

Jeannie Cho Lee
Sinochem Group
of Companies

Anonymous said...

Same as the message above:

Hello Cesar

It is my pleasure to reach out to you with the following offer of appointment. Sinochem Group of Companies, are currently seeking Reputable Company/Individual that can act as their Company Representative/Account Receivable Agent in Canada and in the United State of America (Intermediary between Sinochem Group of Companies and its clients in the Northern America region). If interested, kindly indicate your interest.

Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time weekly while you Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business..

Jeannie Cho Lee
Sinochem Group
of Companies

Anonymous said...

F%^&* them!!

Anonymous said...

I just received the exact same email a few minutes ago - it appears to have been mass emailed to hundreds if not thousands. Last time I saw a scam like this I played along, gained their confidence and was able to receive several thousand dollars in well forged cheques and money orders. I promptly took them to the bank (counterfeit division)and contacted the RCMP to use in their ongoing investigations. Problem with these cocksuckers is that all it takes is just 1 person to respond to their scam.
Have to love the many spelling and grammatical errors in their scam emails.

Spotter said...

Nicely done, anonymous poster.

KermEd said...

Lol, I had one come in through linkedin as well. Be wary :)

Titan said...

Here's another iteration of the same old tale. No scam-guage or garbled text but it's from a Hotmail account (balk!), gives no job details, no title and no reference to how they found me. Mega-sketch.
-------------------------------

Hello Titan,

It is my pleasure to reach out to you with the following offer of appointment. Sinochem Group of Companies, are currently seeking Reputable Company/Individual that can act as their Company Representative/Account Receivable Agent in Canada and in the United State of America (Intermediary between Sinochem Group of Companies and its clients in the Northern America region). If interested, kindly indicate your interest.

Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time weekly while you Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business..



Jeannie Cho Lee
Sinochem Group
of Companies


jeanniecholee@hotmail.com

Spotter said...

Yes, that's the same old same old.

Anonymous said...

Yep got one too

Anonymous said...

Me too. Through LinkedIn via a supposed headhunter for Sinochem! And the headhunter ' profile from California shows we have a mutual contact. Pretty slick.

Anonymous said...

Sinochem Group of Companies first and foremost would like to thank you for considering our offer to be the company's representative in your region, by assisting Sinochem Group to communicate and also retrieval of overdue payments from our customers/clients who are located in Northern America. We have clients from your region that has not meet up to the normal payment schedule of 30 days after confirming the delivery of products sent to them in good condition. Based on research and past experience we have discovered that having a representative in the same region with our client, it becomes very easy for them to comply and pay in due time, that is why we require Representatives in Northern America who can easily communicate with our customer via email and telephone means. We shall provide you with all information which you will require to prove the existence of debt owed by the customer/client. Our company will like you to concentrate on this transaction.

After confirming that you received this email, we shall send you another email which is our Approval Process which you are to confirm your full contact information in the right manner and also presenting the details to the customer/client. We confirm in good faith that we are ready to work with you and also we must let you know that any payment made to you on behalf of our company, you shall earn 5% as commission and also you will be placed on a monthly payment of $3,000.00 to $5,000.00 based on your credibility if you are willing and ready to assist our company without any illegal act.

Sinochem Group of Companies is a Chinese conglomerate primarily engaged in the production and trading of chemicals, fertilizer, exploration and production of oil. It is one of China’s four state oil companies and it currently owns more than 300 subsidiaries inside and outside China. It is China biggest agricultural input company (fertilizer, seed and agrochemicals), China’s leading chemical service company. It also exerts strong influence in real estate and non-banking financial service sector. As a global conglomerate with market orientation, Sinochem’s quality product and service is relevant to many aspects of mass economy and people’s well being. Its brand enjoys high reputation and acknowledgement around the world. To know more about the company, kindly view our website on: www.sinochem.com

I want to also let you know that we have approximately $16,800,000.00 worth of payment with different clients/companies from different regions in Northern America currently owed to Sinochem Group of Companies.

Please do not hesitate to get back to us if you require further details and I hope this email finds you well.

Waiting to hear from you.

Best Regards
Shi Dai
Sinochem Group

Anonymous said...

I too, was contacted through a headhunter on Linkedin from a profile out Texas that showed we had mutual contacts

Anonymous said...

Just got targeted via Linkedin as well. They are using someone with a position called "job announcer" out of Texas who has 500+ contacts (Henrietta Jones), some of which are mutual. The email address for Shi Dai (who is the Deputy General Manager of HR at Sinochem) is @outlook.com...lol. Here is the message:

Hello

Henrietta Jones

August 27, 2015, 10:01 AM

Thanks for accepting my connection. I have gone through your profile and I am convinced that you can handle this job position with Sinochem Groups of Companies has to offer you, I was given the mandate by the board of directors of Sinochem Groups of Companies to refer any Canadian or northern America residential personnel or corporation that is interested in this offer. Sinochem Groups of Companies are currently seeking for a Reputable Company/Individual that can act as their Company Representative in Canada and Northern America (Intermediary between Sinochem Groups of Companies and its clients in Canada/Northern America). If interested, kindly indicate your interest by sending a direct email to:shidaii@outlook.com
Ms. Shi Dai
Vice President
Website: : http://www.sinochem.com
Sinochem Groups of Companies
Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time daily. You can Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business

Regards,
Henrietta Jones
(Job Announcer)

Anonymous said...

I received an email today from someone named Rachel Grant via linked in today. There was a little more information in mine. She included how my profile indicated how capable I would be for the job. I immediately did an Internet search and I am glad I found this blog. It sounded to good to be true. I am surprised they can make reference to the fortune 500. Thank everyone for posting these warnings.
Morgan Stafford

TC said...

Mine was from a Cheryl Burke - job announcer for Sinochem - off LinkedIn.

Thanks for accepting my connection. I have gone through your profile and I am convinced that you can handle this job position with Sinochem Groups of Companies has to offer you, I was given the mandate by the board of directors of Sinochem Groups of Companies to refer any Canadian or northern America residential personnel or corporation that is interested in this offer. Sinochem Groups of Companies are currently seeking for a Reputable Company/Individual that can act as their Company Representative in Canada and Northern America (Intermediary between Sinochem Groups of Companies and its clients in Canada/Northern America). If interested, kindly indicate your interest by sending a direct email to: shidaii@outlook.com
Ms. Shi Dai
Vice President
E-mail: shidaii@outlook.com

Website:http://www.sinochem.com
http://english.sinochem.com
Sinochem Groups of Companies
Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time daily. You can Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business

Regards,
Cheryl Burke
(Job Announcer)

I've reported it to LinkedIn, but I'm not sure how well seriously they take these.

Anonymous said...

I also got contacted through LinkedIn.

Your email has been received and we appreciate your correspondence. We are in need of representatives in the United State of America and in Canada because due to previous experience, it has been proven that clients especially debtors respond to debt owned when means of remittance is available within the confine of their region. When you are assigned as one of our Company representative, you will be an intermediary between Sinochem Group of Companies and the clients in your region.

We shall immediately commence with the following process of verifying your identity that you will provide in order for us to open a file with our accounting department to facilitate our business relationship. You have been requested to furnish us with your full contact information which consist of the following.

Full Names:
Full Contact/Postal Address:
Your Company Name:
The Position Held:
Tel and Cell Number:

You should send the above details so we can immediately draft the agreement document. Once the agreement document is signed, we shall open your file and check our payment schedule to see the customer/client or any account of our customer/client that is in your region. After this has been completed, also note clearly that you will not be required to provide any payment to Sinochem Group of Companies since your role as the company's representative is just to communicate and receive funds, deduct 5% of the total funds and remit the balance 95% to the company.

Note: You can still do the job even if you already have a full time job as the Job position will not require you to travel.

Confirm the receipt of this email so that your approval can be emailed to you.

Best Regards
Shi Dai
Sinochem Group
of Companies

Unknown said...

Just got the exact same message from Linkedin contact, for a minute it sounded legit, but a quick search and I found this blog. Here's what I got:

Hello
Jane Campbell
September 18, 2015, 9:26 AM
You replied to this message:
Hello,

Thanks for accepting my connection. I have gone through your profile and I am convinced that you can handle this job position with Sinochem Groups of Companies has to offer you, I was given the mandate by the board of directors of Sinochem Groups of Companies to refer any Canadian or northern America residential personnel or corporation that is interested in this offer. Sinochem Groups of Companies are currently seeking for a Reputable Company/Individual that can act as their Company Representative in Canada and Northern America (Intermediary between Sinochem Groups of Companies and its clients in Canada/Northern America). If interested, kindly indicate your interest by sending a direct email to: shivp@outlook.com
Ms. Shi Dai
Vice President
E-mail: shivp@outlook.com
Website:http://www.sinochem.com
http://english.sinochem.com
Sinochem Groups of Companies
Note: The job will only take few minutes of your time daily. You can Earn Extra income while doing your normal Job/Business

Regards,
Jane Campbell
(Job Announcer)

----
I wonder I can do to ban these people?

Anonymous said...

THis is what i got:
We have just been informed that you will be receiving a part payment sum of $29,900.00 from Mr. White today or tomorrow. Upon the receipt of the check, kindly go to your financial Institution to deposit the check and send us a scan copy of the check and deposit receipt for our record purpose.

Once again the company appreciate your diligence to work and we look forward to the completion of your first assignment.

Best Regards
Shi Dai
Sinochem Group
of Companies

Cheque was fake, as expected. But I wondered why they didn't force me to make payment on same day (which i never gonna make anyways)

This is wire information they provided to transfer funds:
BENEFICIARY NAME: SHARI HENDERSON
BENEFICIARY ADDRESS: 16395 Havenpark Dr Houston TX, 77059
BENEFICIARY TEL: 714-459-2841
BANK NAME: SUNTRUST BANK
BANK ADDRESS: 2148 S Cobb Dr SE, Smyrna GA, 30080
BANK TEL: 770-333-1057
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1000127332137
ROUTING: 064-000-046
SWIFT CODE: SNTRUS3A

After deducting your 5% as commission from the total funds, the balance will amount to $28,405.00. Kindly proceed to your bank today September 21st, 2015 and instruct them to transfer by swift to the account information in the sum of $28,300.00. while the remaining balance $105,00 will cover the swift wire transfer charges and any other expenses you may incur during point of transfer.

Kindly send a scan copy of the wire transfer slip to me for the company record purpose and once again thank you.

Note: The purpose of transfer should be: PAYMENT.

Mr. White has also indicated that he will be sending his second payment. Once the transfer is done also inform him to enable him proceed with his second payment.

Best Regards,
Shi Dai

Me too. said...

LinkedIn for me as well. I contacted them (LinkedIn that is) about this yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Thank you for posting this Scam. They were trying to recruit from Linkin. I don't do anything with any Company that has a straight offer that I haven't asked for. Hopefully more people will look up any offers like this before answering there query. Thank so much.

Anonymous said...

Yes was another one on Linkedin from same "Job Announcer" and friends with a mutual contact. I said I would do my research and thank you for the offer, and started searching the internet and found this blog here. I also noticed the friends of the recruiter all were the same first names.

Crazy Scammers

Anonymous said...

And yes once again the Sinochem offer is back out there making it's circles around cyber-space, please be careful everyone & just like was said before, NOBODY makes a job offer out of the blue, even if they are connected to one of your contacts. I HATE scammers & don't want anyone to get caught by these "nasty-ass" people !!