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 19, 2009

Work-at-home Spam

In recent hours I've started to receive a flood of spam relating to work-at-home opportunities. The sender is attempting to use deceptive techniques to avoid spam filters -- quite unsuccessfully from the perspective of my gmail account. The information provided in the spams is very thin, but it seems probable that this is a subscription scam: the spammer is selling a (dodgy) product, not offering jobs, and given how deceptive his marketing is, you'd be an idiot to trust him with your credit card details in my opinion. I give this guy a big two thumbs down, and suggest that you avoid him like the plague.

Here are some samples of the spam in question. Note that they are all obviously from the same sender, but do not use consistent names or email addresses. Such evasiveness is never a good sign.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ronny Hatfield <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Ronny Hatfield <1983condello.jade@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/18 UTC
Subject: A Business Opportunity for Anyone
To: ideceive@gmail.com


What if we could show you a real system you can use to put $500 - $1,500 per day into your account, working from the comfort of your home? Would you be interested?

Online advertising has skyrocketed over the past few years. In 2008, companies spent close to $50 billion in online advertising. That figure is expected to increase substantially in 2009. What does this mean for you? - Money is going into your bank account a lot faster this year. And next year. And the year after. That's only IF you follow our methods!

You see, companies worldwide are desperately searching for people just like you to type up their ads and post them online, and they'll pay you nicely in return. It's a win-win situation. They get more customers, you get paid! It's as simple as that. These companies have cash, LOTS of it, and they're eager to share it with you. It's time for you to get a piece of the pie!

Please, send us an email back to coleman.barkhurst11510@gmail.com if you are interested to participate too, so we can proceed further - we will send you all required information that you need in order to join these programs.

With respect,
HR, Real Jobs At Home


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This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to sign.out_me@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dinah Braun <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Dinah Braun <cassandra.vogts1777@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: Companies Need You
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Are you sick and tired of all the money-making scams on the web? If you're looking for the real deal when it comes to making money from home, then this may be the most important message you will ever read online!

What if there was a system that you could use in the comfort of your own home and make more money than you ever could in your job, using just your computer and the Internet?

What if it only took a couple of hours per day and was available worldwide? Sounds too good to be true? It isn't! You can even start working in just a few minutes from now. We are here to explain! Simply send us an aswer to sanfordjong1801@gmail.com if you are interested in our promotion, so we can answer you back with further details.

Best Regards,
Legit Online Jobs


------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to get.me_out_now@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Forest Bennett <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Forest Bennett <18644garonmariel@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: Get Paid for Easy Work from Home
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Are you sick and tired of all the money-making scams on the web? If you're looking for the real deal when it comes to making money from home, then this may be the most important message you will ever read online!

What if there was a system that you could use in the comfort of your own home and make more money than you ever could in your job, using just your computer and the Internet?

What if it only took a couple of hours per day and was available worldwide? Sounds too good to be true? It isn't! You can even start working in just a few minutes from now. We are here to explain! Simply send us an aswer to 15072eviemansour@gmail.com if you are interested in our promotion, so we can answer you back with further details.

Best Regards,
Legit Online Jobs


------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to sign.out_me@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dinah Elless <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Dinah Elless <kayleahsandler1651@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: A Foolproof Legit Online Jobs Program
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Are you used to think that all work at home opportunities on the Internet are just scam artists trying to steal your money. With your last bit of hope, you can try our offer, we are here to present to your attention today, and you will be glad you did! It may took a couple of days to really get the hang of the system, but then you will be up to $100 per day in earnings, and climbing!

We are receiving hundreds of emails each day from our members, thanking us for providing such a great resource to actually earn a real income online.

If you are interested in receiving more information about our work from home offers, and probably join with us, please send an email back to 13352shelleyhuseth@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you again.

Thanks for your time!

Legit Jobs Online


------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to get.me_out_now@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mordecai Mcelroy <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Mordecai Mcelroy <1604lysannecity@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: The Time to Get Paid is NOW!
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Good day!

Our company is here to finally giving you a real chance to earn money from my home. Our members' area is definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison to all the nonsense you've tried so far. There are so many home jobs in our database, it's going to take forever to choose what you want - and that's the good thing!

If you are a committed individual and think you can put in an hour or two per day submitting ads on Internet, we want you on board!

ATTENTION! This is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. This is a legitimate way to make a good income using your computer and Internet connection. Don't expect to wake up tomorrow morning $1000 richer. However, if you follow our system correctly, you can easily earn a couple thousand dollars every month. Guaranteed!

If you are interested in our proposal, please send an answer to vicentefollmer1168@gmail.com

Regards,
Real Home Jobs


------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to get.out_from_list@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
------------------------------------------------------------------

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stewart Wiggins <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: Stewart Wiggins <18900stoskopfmuriel@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: Get Paid for Easy Work from Home
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Do you want to have an access to a huge database of real, verified companies, looking to hire individuals willing to work at home?

Now you have that opportunity! Our database is constantly updated with the latest job offers. These are all legitimate, no-fee jobs from real employers that can be done from your home. Companies will often pay per hour! This is a great opportunity for those looking for a part time job or those looking to replace their full time job with a real company. You will be able to access 1000s of jobs such as 100% legitimate data entry jobs, writing, translating, sales, tutoring, assistants, transcription, processing, coding and more!

Simply answer to this email saying that you are interested to join, and we will send you all further details about how to proceed. And it is all for free, no starting fees or funds needed. Reply to vicentefollmer1168@gmail.com if interested!

Wishing you a good day,
Online Jobs Marketing


------------------------------------------------------------------
This email has been written and proved to be in compliance with the recently established can-spam act law in US. We are not provoking or forcing any person in any way to participate in our programs. To participate is your own decision and you carry the responsibility of taking further part in this promotion. Anyway, if you don't want to receive more good offers from us, you can simply Unsubscribe by sending us a notification email to out_of_the_list@yahoo.com with a mail-subject and text "Unsubscribe me", and we will get your email out of our list within 10 days.

This message is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is solely for the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. It may contain PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication and its contents is strictly prohibited. If you are not interested in the offered promotions, please just don't answer. If you think you have received this message and its contents in error, please delete it from your computer, or follow the unsubscribing procedure shown above.
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Fred Knott Textile Co., Ltd.

Search this blog for "textile" or "textiles", and you'll probably be astonished at the number of hits. Some scammers really like to stick to variations on a theme, it seems, and "textiles" is one of them. From the scant information available in this spam, it appears that the scammer is running a cheque fraud scam: sending bad cheques to unwitting dupes on the pretext of "payment processing". These cheques will clear for long enough to draw on them, but bounce later, leaving the victim significantly poorer for his efforts.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mr Fred Knott <[redacted (unverifiable)]>
Reply-to: fredknott4444@live.com
Date: 2009/2/19 UTC
Subject: Online Company Representative
To:


Attention: Sir/Madam

Do you want to earn extra cash daily, weekly, monthly working from home? If yes you stand the chance of increasing your income. You do not need money to start working as our company representative.

Our Company, Fred Knott Textile Co., Ltd., located in China is currently looking for a reliable payment agent as payment link to our customers in America , Canada , Mexico, Europe and the Caribbean Islands . Our company deals in Art Work and prints exported to more than 20 countries , such as Poland , Mexico , Canada, Russia ,Ecuador , Lithuania , Latvia , Romania , Greece , Turkey , Lebanon , Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom, USA, Egypt , Angola , Congo , Kenya , Tanzania , Tunisia , Algeria , The number of countries is still increasing.

You will be working as our payment representative in your Country or Region.Collecting payments on our behalf and in return you would get 10% of what you collect as your commission.

If you are interested in working for us, kindly submit the following information to us for immediate employment.

Your full name:
Full address & Zip code:
Telephone:
Mobile:
Fax (If Available).
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:

Get back to us if you are interested

Yours truly,

Mr Fred Knott

Monday, February 09, 2009

Dow Chemicals and Gas Company

This is not an offer from a real company: it's a scammer who wants to send forged checks or money orders and get back real cash via Western Union in return.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DOW CHEMICALS/GAS COMPANY <[redacted (unverified)]>
Date: 2009/2/7
Subject: VACANCY!!! VACANCY!!! VACANCY!!!
To: [redacted (false)]


3 Kitago 2-chome,
Echizen-shi, Fukui 915-8515,Japan,
TEL/faX: +81-778-21-8140

Dear Sir/Madam,
I Mr.Sung Tai  The Public Relation Director of DOW CHEMICALS AND  GAS COMPANY IN JAPAN.with specialization in the sales and distrubutions of  chemicals and gas products.
VACANCY!!!   VACANCY!!!  VACANCY!!!
Vacancy exists for the possition of a payment collectors in  U.S.A, CANADA, EUROPE AND WORLD WIDE.
If you are interested for this position please contact   DR.BARRY  SMITH.
with the email address bellow:
DR.BARRY SMITH
Email:dr_barrysmith1236@yahoo.com.hk
DOW CHEMICALS/GAS COMPANY
REGARDS
MR.SUNG TAI
P.R.O DOW CHEMICALS/GAS  COMPANY


MysteryShopping

"Mystery Shopping" is one of the cover stories that check fraud scammers use. They send you a forged check, and ask you to bank it and send some of the funds so obtained to someone via Western Union -- all in the name of evaluating the associated services. The sting is that the check is eventually dishonoured, leaving the "mystery shopper" substantially poorer for his efforts.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pearl Delaney <loqthomasburaczewski@myself.com>
Date: 2009/2/09 UTC
Subject: Open DVPosition
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Hello.

There is a vacancy to be filled in our association. The job is not hard, minimum knowledge and abilities required. Even so this job is well-paid.
We are looking for people for MysteryShopping. MysteryShopping is reliable tool a business can use to gather information regarding customer service performance.
When the company executives feel there is a need for them to improve upon their customer service, they address to us.

Once we have a contract to do so, our agentmaybe you would be directed to association or outlet with all funds to do the job. Our worker act as a regular customer and service staff don't know who he is indeed, in this wise he evaluates customer service professionalism and ability to deal with difficult clients.

After our worker forward us small report of his/her experience.

This job is easy. Work requires the ability to properly read and write well enough to communicate in both oral and written form. Also you must be adult, live in USA, have superficial knowledge in computer.

Salary: 1400 bucks a week or 5000 bucks a month!

If you liked our offer, please send us to this Email: friedman4338@gmail.com  your full name, your age ( if you are not adult, please ignore this letter), your address and state, occupation,  phone number and don't forget your Zip code.

We wait for your answer.







9 5

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