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, November 06, 2006

FlowerLand International

We saw something similar last month. Anything that describes itself as being "in the field of banking services" sounds like a money mule job of some sort.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Flowerland HR department <ffedgefd@captains.com>
Date: 06-Dec-2006 23:05
Subject: Free vacancies in the U.S. company
To: [web-harvested address redacted]

glad to explain so that even at this early age--from ten to

FlowerLand International is looking for trained candidate.



The corporation:



FlowerLand International is an American trading corporation.
We specialize in all kinds of flowers and decorative greenery that can be used for home
or office. We are not a Multi-Level-Marketing corporation nor any similarity.
You are never required to buy nor pay anything to work with Flowerland International.
We are not a (MLM,Multi-Level-Marketing) organization nor any similarity.
You are never required to buy nor invest anything to work with Flowerland International.

CAREER POSITION:

This is an entry level opportunity in the field of banking services.

OUR ADVANTAGES:

- Really High Wages.
- Ability to work from home.
- Flexible shedule.
- No sign up fees, no investment is needed.
- All expenses such as phone calls, webtraffic, etc will be fully covered by our company.
- Illness\Disability friendly team.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES:

- Basic knowledge of credit principles, banking services and operations.
- Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously along with meeting deadlines.
- Ability to work independently or in a team environment.
- Having no problem with the Law.
- Having a cellular phone.
- Having a deep desire to achieve business success.

DEGREE:

No degree required.

HOW TO Join:

Please send your CV to our personnel manager.
It must be sent in a TXT, MSWord, RTF or PDF format.
Please write to the following email: flowerlandint@yahoo.com

In order to receive our response, please provide us with your valid email address.

of life are to a poet. This medium of exchange, gold, interested himThe growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years of whatwith their children; and so this family, which increased at the rate ofglad to explain so that even at this early age--from ten towas quite often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when he would

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Larry Potterss

Money mule scam involving fraudulent cheques/money orders.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Larry Potterss <larry_potterss@gawab.com>
Date: 05-Nov-2006 22:19
Subject: Job Offer..........
To: ideceive@gmail.com


Hello,
I am Larry Potterss by name and I am an artist. I have
acquired your email address as a person who is actively involved in or
is looking for an online business opportunity or looking for a part
time job to compliment current earnings.
I live in United Kingdom,with my two kids, four cats, one dog and the
love of my life. It is definitely a full house.

I have been doing artwork since I was a small child. That gives me
about 23 years of experience. I majored in art in high school and took
a few college art courses. Most of my work is done in either pencil or
airbrush mixed with color pencils. I have recently added designing and
creating artwork on the computer.I have been selling my art works for
the last 3 years and have had my work featured on trading cards,
prints and in magazines.

I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the
world. I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to
selling my art works to Americans, cos they are always offering to pay
with a US MONEY ORDER/CERTIFIED CHECK, which is difficult for me to
cash here in United Kingdom.

I am looking for a representative in the states who will be working
for me as a pary-time worker and i will be willing to pay 10% for
every transaction,which wouldn't affect your present state of work,
someone who would help me recieve payments from my customers in the
states. I mean someone that is responsible and reliable, cause the
cost of coming to the state and getting payments is very expensive, I
am working on setting up a branch in the states, so for now I need a
representative in the United States who will be handling the payment
aspect. These payments could be in money order/check and they would
come to you in your name, so all you need do is cash the money order
deduct your percentage and wire the BALANCE back. But the problem I
have is trust as I have been burnt many times in the states by some
individuals.

It wouldnt cost u any amount, you are to receive payments which will
be sent to you via FEDEX or UPS courier services from my business
patners, which would come in form of a Money order/Certified Cashier's
Check in US Funds then you are to cash it and send the cash to me via
Western Union Money Transfer or Moneygram Money Transfer, all transfer
fees should be deducted from the money you are sending so you have
nothing to lose. If you are interested, kindly get back to me ASAP for
further explanation.

Regards

Thursday, November 02, 2006

3sigmacapital.com

Another money mule job, received at a spamtrap address which doesn't get many of these. Targets US residents.

   Domain Name: 3SIGMACAPITAL.COM
   Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.OnlineNIC.com
   Referral URL: http://www.OnlineNIC.com
   Name Server: NS2.DNSHOST4ALL.BIZ
   Name Server: NS1.DNSHOST4ALL.BIZ
   Updated Date: 26-Oct-2006
   Creation Date: 17-Oct-2006
   Expiration Date: 17-Oct-2007

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tyree <[redacted]@ninja.com>
Date: 02-Nov-2006 21:18
Subject: Receivables clerk - part-time position with an int'l investment house
To: [redacted]


Sir/Madam,

I am writing to inquire if you might be interested in part-time employment with our company.

3 Sigma Capital Planning Ltd. (3 Sigma Capital) based in Moscow, Russia is looking for energetic and committed individuals to fill the part-time receivables clerk position in the United States. As a receivables clerk, you will be in charge of processing and facilitating investment funds transfers initiated by our US clients under the supervision of the regional receivables manager. A perfect candidate should be a strong communicator who is also comfortable with numbers and ideally has some previous book-keeping experience. College education or any administrative professional background is a plus.

No relocation is required from a successful candidate. This opening is a great opportunity for those looking for a reasonable trade-off between working hours and compensation, such as senior citizens or self-employed individuals.

3 Sigma Capital is an investment advisor and broker/dealer registered with the Russian Federal Financial Markets Service. Our company offers hedge fund and private equity research, due diligence and investment trust management services to qualified investors and high net worth individuals looking for high returns and quantifiable risks in the emerging markets of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. For more information on our company, please visit us online at http://www.3sigmacapital.com

The receivables clerk position is commission-based, and it will typically take up to 6 hours per week to fulfill your duties. You should be able to perform your duties during regular business hours. Your core responsibility will be to receive the investment funds from our US clients into your designated bank account, reconcile the payments with your supervisor if required and transfer specified funds into our managed investment accounts. You will be in charge of contacting your bank in order to obtain transfer status information, confirmations and account activity reports, as well as handling daily communications with your bank. You will be receiving a 2% commission from the gross amount of each transfer that is remitted into your designated account (for instance, if $10,000 is credited into your account, you will be retaining a commission of $200). Your commission is available immediately, so there is no need to wait for the payroll check in the end of the month.

From the tax aspect, you will be paying your income tax, either as an individual or as a business entity, calculated as a percentage of the commissions received for fulfilling your duties. It should be understood that it is your sole responsibility to report your incomes to the IRS. Being a foreign legal entity, 3 Sigma Capital is not subject to the US tax legislation.

You will be receiving the investment funds from our US clients via secure electronic Wire transfer used by major US banks for funds and securities settlement. This means that no funds will be deposited into your account unless the transaction is reviewed and confirmed both by the remitting and recipient banks. Thus, there is no operational risk on your end. You will never be required to cash a check, make a remittance before the funds are cleared into your account or engage in any other financially risky activity.

In order to qualify for the position, you must be a permanent US resident aged 21 and above. It is recommended that you set up a separate bank account for the receivables service (a list of preferred banks is available); however, you may also use an existing account. Since most communication with your supervisor will be via email/fax/phone, you should have access to these facilities and be available for communication in regular business hours.

You can apply for the position or make an inquiry online at http://www.3sigmacapital.com/?a=4

Please use the following vacancy code in your submission: 3SC1006. Please note that only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

Athens Financial Group Ltd

Summary

This money mule scam (see sidebar for more information) is identical in all important respects to the Israeli Brokerage Services Ltd scam seen last month. It's reasonable to suppose it's exactly the same phishing/jobscam gang as usual operating under a new name. They seem to adopt a new name approximately monthly.

There does appear to be at least one genuine business called "Athens Financial", completely unrelated to this scam. Thanks to Candace for pointing this out.

The Spam

As in past cases, the message is presented in a GIF image, accompanied by "filter buster" text coloured to be invisible against the background.

Representative image

spam

Names used as signature

  • Miltiades Papanikoiaou

Sender names encountered

Capitalisation may vary.

  • Athens Financial Group
  • Athens Financial Group, Ltd
  • Athens Financial Group ltd (AFG)
  • AFG

Links encountered

Listed in order of encounter. If past experience is anything to go by, these scammers register a new domain name on an almost daily basis.

  1. http://afgltd.info/index.php?sect_id=6
  2. http://afglmtd.cn/index.php?sect_id=6
  3. http://afgltd.cn/index.php?sect_id=6
  4. http://afgl.mobi/index.php?sect_id=6
  5. http://afgl.cn/index.php?sect_id=6
  6. http://afg-ltd.cn/index.php?sect_id=6

Active but not yet encountered

Although I have not (yet) received spam advertising the following URLs, they have been discovered and verified as belonging to the same scam.

  • http://afglmtd.org/
  • http://afglmtd.biz/
  • http://athens-fin-group.net/

Website

Here is a snapshot of their website, taken on receipt of the first instance of spam. Note the text at the bottom of the snapshot which clearly identifies the operation as a money mule scam.

website snapshot

Domain Information (for experts)

Limited WHOIS information is provided here, primarily for the purposes of trend analysis. I do not include most of the registrant details, since these are invariably false and may point to innocent third parties.

afgltd.info

Domain ID:D15154439-LRMS
Domain Name:AFGLTD.INFO
Created On:29-Oct-2006 15:07:28 UTC
Last Updated On:29-Oct-2006 20:58:47 UTC
Expiration Date:29-Oct-2007 15:07:28 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH (R161-LRMS)
Registrant Email:simonashamis@yahoo.com
Name Server:NS1.TTLOAD.COM
Name Server:NS2.TTLOAD.COM

afgltd.cn

Query at around 2006-11-03 00:51 UTC

Domain Name: afgltd.cn
ROID: 20061029s10001s89744889-cn
Administrative Email: catherinebird54@yahoo.com
Sponsoring Registrar: CSL Computer Service (d.b.a. Joker.com)
Name Server:ns2.ttload.com
Name Server:ns1.ttload.com
Registration Date: 2006-10-29 23:19
Expiration Date: 2007-10-29 23:19

afglmtd.cn

Query at around 2006-11-03 09:01 UTC

Domain Name: afglmtd.cn
ROID: 20061029s10001s89744910-cn
Administrative Email: jeffreybaum@mail.com
Sponsoring Registrar: CSL Computer Service (d.b.a. Joker.com)
Name Server:ns2.ttload.com
Name Server:ns1.ttload.com
Registration Date: 2006-10-29 23:31
Expiration Date: 2007-10-29 23:31

afglmtd.biz

Query at around 2006-11-03 09:01 UTC

Domain Name:                                 AFGLMTD.BIZ
Domain ID: D15006412-BIZ
Sponsoring Registrar: CSL COMPUTER SERVICE (D.B.A. JOKER.COM)
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 113
Registrant Email: jamonandreasen@yahoo.com
Name Server: NS2.FURI-CURI.COM
Name Server: NS1.FURI-CURI.COM
Created by Registrar: CSL COMPUTER SERVICE (D.B.A. JOKER.COM)
Last Updated by Registrar: CSL COMPUTER SERVICE (D.B.A. JOKER.COM)
Domain Registration Date: Sat Oct 28 11:18:56 GMT 2006
Domain Expiration Date: Sat Oct 27 23:59:59 GMT 2007
Domain Last Updated Date: Sat Oct 28 14:08:27 GMT 2006

afglmtd.org

Query at around 2006-11-03 09:01 UTC

Domain ID:D131725418-LROR
Domain Name:AFGLMTD.ORG
Created On:28-Oct-2006 11:44:52 UTC
Last Updated On:28-Oct-2006 14:15:55 UTC
Expiration Date:28-Oct-2007 11:44:52 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH (R25-LROR)
Registrant ID:CORG-168336
Registrant Email:charlesdphillipsss@yahoo.co.uk
Name Server:NS2.FURI-CURI.COM
Name Server:NS1.FURI-CURI.COM

afgl.mobi

Query at around 2006-11-23 02:40 UTC

Domain ID:D576910-MOBI
Domain Name:AFGL.MOBI
Created On:28-Oct-2006 13:50:04 UTC
Last Updated On:01-Nov-2006 07:03:20 UTC
Expiration Date:28-Oct-2008 13:50:04 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:CSL GmbH Computer Service Langenbach d/b/a joker.com (113)
Created by Registrar:CSL GmbH Computer Service Langenbach d/b/a joker.com (113)
Last Updated by Registrar:CSL GmbH Computer Service Langenbach d/b/a joker.com (113)
Name Server:NS2.TTLOAD.COM
Name Server:NS1.TTLOAD.COM

afg-ltd.cn

Query at around 2006-11-26 14:34 UTC

Domain Name: afg-ltd.cn
ROID: 20061123s10001s97722169-cn
Administrative Email: darcyjacobus@yahoo.com
Sponsoring Registrar: CSL Computer Service (d.b.a. Joker.com)
Name Server:ns2.ttload.com
Name Server:ns1.ttload.com
Registration Date: 2006-11-23 06:03
Expiration Date: 2007-11-23 06:03

athens-fin-group.net

Query at around 2006-11-29 02:01 UTC

   Domain Name: ATHENS-FIN-GROUP.NET
Registrar: COMPUTER SERVICES LANGENBACH GMBH DBA JOKER.COM
Whois Server: whois.joker.com
Referral URL: http://www.joker.com
Name Server: YNS1.YAHOO.COM
Name Server: YNS2.YAHOO.COM
Updated Date: 27-Oct-2006
Creation Date: 26-Oct-2006
Expiration Date: 26-Oct-2007

Mr Hastrup Edward

This is a typical Nigerian modus operandi: the name of "Mr Hastrup
Edward" is a ludicrous fiction, and the cheques and money orders in
question are forgeries. Due to quirks of the USA banking system,
depositors can draw on these cheques and money orders after a couple
of days, although it may take a month or more to discover that the
item is a forgery, at which point the bank will take the money back.
The fraudster gets the victim to wire back money during this window of
opportunity, and the victim is out of pocket at the end. A significant
number of Nigerian fraud gangs operate out of the UK (as well as the
Netherlands and Spain).

Feel free to accept cheques and money orders from such fraudsters, but
don't bother banking them. Frame them and put them up on the wall as a
talking point for your guests. Warn them about the scam. Some of these
forgeries are really good.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: chucks brown <chucks@chucksbrown.orangehome.co.uk>
Date: 02-Nov-2006 06:35
Subject: Hello!
To: undisclosed-recipients


Hello!
Good Day,
How are you doing today? My name is Mr. Hastrup Edward, I am an artist
based in Manchester (United Kingdom),with my lovely wife Jenne and 3
Kids and our wonderful dog,Cleo.I would like to know if you like to
work at your spare time and get paid weekly?.Note,this will not affect
your present state of work.
I have recently added designing and creating artwork on the computer,
I have been selling my art for the last 3 years and have had my work
featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines, I have sold in
galleries and to private collectors from all around the world.
I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my
art works to North Americans; they are always offering to pay with
MONEY ORDER OR CASHIERS CHECKS, which is difficult for me to cash here
in the United Kingdom. All i am searching for now is a reputable
company or capable individual that will help establish a medium of
customer service/relations in United States/Canada and I will be
willing to pay 15% for every transaction, which wouldn't affect your
present state of work, someone who would help me recieve payments from
my customers in the States.
I mean someone that is responsible and reliable, because the cost of
coming to the States and getting payments is very expensive.Most of my
transaction and sales are done on phone to ensure the best customer
care/relations and i will be refering my North American customers to
you and they will send Payment to you first before the onward shipment
of artwork to the customers.
These payments are in money order or cashiers checks and they would
come to you in your name if you are willing to assist as a
representative. So all you need do is cash the money orders/cashiers
checks deduct your percentage (15%) and Western Union Charges then
wire the rest back.
NOTE: All charges will be deducted from the balance after deducting
your 15% so you are rest assured that you wouldn't send a dime out of
your personal money. All I need from you now to start up this is your
sincerity and the details as stated below,
(1) Your full name that the Money order/Cashiers Check will be issued
(2)Your address where my customers will send the Money order/Cashiers
Check to for you to go and cash.
(3)Your cell or direct phone number for easy communication.
(4).Age and marital status Get back to me via this email
chucks@chucksbrown.orangehome.co.uk
Mr. Hastrup Edward
CloackArts UK.
301 Greenside Lane,
Droylsden, Manchester, M43 7RZ
United Kingdom.
+447031844520