Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Have you received an email from James Clifford of "McJAMES CONTEMPORARY ARTS INCORPORATED" in England (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "DISTRIBUTOR//RECEIVING OFFICER/REPRESENTATIVE", "Payment Officer", "local agent" or "local representative" in which you "receive payments", deduct your "Processing fee", deposit the checks and then wire most of the money to an overseas "company"?
It is an AFF / Money transfer Scam. They'll send you counterfeit checks which you are supposed to deposit, take out some percentage (typically, 10%) for your work, and then MoneyGram or Western Union wire the remaining 90%. Notice that although you receive checks, they won't let you forward a check to them, only Western Union or Money Gram. There's a reason for this: Western Union and MoneyGrams are cashed immediately and are untraceable and irretrievable. Bank checks can take 1 or 2 weeks to clear!
Of course, since the check is fake, it will bounce a week or so later after you deposit it. But you have already moneygram'ed the scammers the 90% of the amount, and that is transacted almost instantly. So you now owe the bank for the full amount. You may also face criminal charges for passing counterfeit checks. See this page for a step-by-step explanation of how the scam unfolds.
In the email below, there are some many red flags, we can't imagine any way it could be legitimate. But you can try emailing "James Clifford" back and asking:
Try cutting and pasting those questions and emailing them back to the person offering the "job", "James Clifford" in this case and see how he responds. We'll bet it will be with hostility, like:
"Why are you asking me these questions? We are offering you a legitimate job, but you are treating us like we are scammers! If you are not interested we can find someone else; it is YOUR loss!"
Which, of course, is how a scammer caught with questions that expose his scam, will reply!
Do you have a resume posted online? We'd like to hear from you about your experiences recruiting emails that turned out to be scams or misleading - click here to write us.
Notice the passages we have highlighted in the actual scam email below. They illustrate some of the additional clues that it is a scam, such as the email comes from a free email account (such as Yahoo.com, Hotmail.com, Aim.com, Gmail, cox.net, etc.). Wouldn't you expect a company to have its own website and email address (after all, it only costs about $200/year; every reputable company has its own website these days!) And don't be surprised if the scammers do put the names of real companies, real websites and events in their scams; it doesn't mean anything at all!
From: McJAMES CONTEMPORARY ARTS INCORPORATED [ j.clifford@mail.com ]
Subject: ACCOUNT OFFICER NEEDED.
McJAMES CONTEMPORARY ARTS INCORPORATED
PLOT 24 BACHELORS LANE
GREENSHIRE, NEWCASTLE NEZ 4PP-ENGLAND
TEL: +44-704-575-8584
FAX:+44 702-409-1573
Dear Candidate,
We have a job offer available We are an International trading company with our corporate headquarters based in England .Since establishment in 1999 we have done our business in Mainland Asia and Oceania,in 2001 we extended our Region of supplies due to continious demands to Northern America and Europe.
We deal on arts materials and finished personal care products including live long products.Due to our competent records for treating customer demands and supplies,customers have refered us to other possible clients and we have been recieving Payments from Northern America,Europe And Australia.
EXAMPLE If you receive a check of$1,000.00 your net income is $100.00,(WHICH IS 10% ON EVERY PAYMENTS RECEIVED) our company supports any fees. You will process at least 2-3 orders per-day and you will earn more than $200.00 cash in hand each day.
REMEMBER: THE MORE ORDERS YOU PROCESS- AT A FASTER THE RATE THE HIGHER YOU STAND TO EARN DAILY.
Commission:
10% of every money order/check/Wire Transfer that is cashed instantly"cash in hand" or "cash on counter" is what you get from the total cashed amount.
By so doing,we are searching for reliable persons/companies who can act as a DISTRIBUTOR//RECEIVING OFFICER/REPRESENTATIVE for us.He/She will act as medium between our customers and us in their established area.Most of our clients will be making payments to you through you to us in the form of Certified cheque,bank draft,cashier check,Equity line of credit,western union,and wire transfer.But whichever option that they opt for,you would be entitiled to ten percent.
YOUR BENEFITS.
If aprroved as our Representative,you are entitled 10% of whatever amount you receive from customers who are making payments through you to us.Please if you are interested in transacting business with us, we will be very glad. Please, forward to us the following informations,
1.FULL NAMES...................
2.HOUSE ADDRESS(NOT P.O BOX)...................
3.TELEPHONE NUMBER...................
4.STATE...................
5.COUNTRY...................
6.ZIP CODE...................
7.AGE...................
8.OCCUPATION...................9.Bank Name.......................
Forward the required informations above to me on my private e-mail address on j.clifford_1@hotmail.com
Thank you as we await your further response.
In Trust And Good Faith
Thanks for taking time to read our offer.
My Regards,
James Clifford(C.E.O).
N.B: PLEASE REPLY THROUGH MY ALTERNATIVE E-MAIL ADDRESS
(j.clifford_1@hotmail.com )
There are a variety of sleazy scams that look, at first glance, like legitimate job offers. Before you write back to them, pause a moment and read about the scams below!
Some of the more common job scams are