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 Freeman of "STOCK TRADING WORLD" in Norway (or ANYWHERE else) offering you a job as a "book-keeper or 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 Freeman" back and asking:
Try cutting and pasting those questions and emailing them back to the person offering the "job", "James Freeman" 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: JAMES FREEMAN
Cc: recipient list not shown:
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 5:16 PM
Subject: ATTN: SOLICITING FOR A REP.IN YOUR COUNTRY !!
Hello,
How are you today,
My name is James freeman and I own a company thatsells stock goods for different firms in Norway that has over-stock of goods they produce,I am looking for a trustworthy representative in UK/ USA /Canada,and any pat of the world, that can help as a link between me and my client over there.
I would like to know if you are interested to work from home for us
STOCK TRADING WORLD needs a book-keeper or representative in the
states, so I want to know if you will like to work
on line from home and getting paidweekly without leaving or affecting
your present job?On every payment handled by you, you will earn 10% of
such payment.
The best part of this job is you dont have to leave the comfort of your home before you can work.State your interest in this offer by replying to my personal
emailaddress:stocktradingmoreinfo047@gmail.com
We anticipate your earliest response in this regard
with the following:
1) Full Names
2) Contact Address (Address, City, State, Zipcode, Country)
3) Telephone/Fax Number(s)
4) Sex and Age
5) Present Occupation
I will be expecting to hear from you.
James freeman (CEO)
STOCK TRADING WORLD
Tollbugata 27, 3044 Drammen
TEL : (47) 32 83 53 58 :
Norway: (8am-4pm CET)
Norway.
www.stock-trading-world.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