Jobs Scam: Mybabochka, Ethan@e0.monster.com, Ethan Banks

Job and Recruiting Scams:
 Mybabochka Scam via Monster.com
"Mybabochka suggests You the new job for you"
Ethan Banks is looking for a "Goods Shipment Agent"

Have you received an email from Ethan Banks at "Ethan@e0.monster.com" of "Mybabochka" (whatever that is; probably Russian for "scam victim") offering you a job as a "Goods Shipment Agent", "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"?

Did you notice that the reply-to email address mcilveene293xvc@gmail.com was different from the visible sent address;  Ethan@e0.monster.com? The word, babochka, is Russian for butterfly (see this page) so this clearly looks like the work of our good "friends" and "allies", the Russians.

It is an AFF / Money transfer Scam. The so-called goods are incidental, and probably just phonebooks or other worthless items.  It's the fake checks that you will cash and then forward real money via wire to them that are the heart of the 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 "Ethan Banks" back and asking: 

• What is your company's name?
• What is your company's physical address and phone number?
• Where is your company registered / licensed and what is the business license number?
• Does your company have a web site?  If so, what is the url?
• What is the business email address for the company? (the email address you supplied for reply is a free, non-business email account  - gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc., not a commercial email account)
• What is the value to the company of people like me receiving goods or payments (checks, wires, etc.), and forwarding them?   Why not make she shipment or transaction direct?
• Why aren't the payment deposited directly into your own banking account, as any major bank can receive checks and wires drawn on any legitimate bank anywhere in the world, in any currency?

Try cutting and pasting those questions and emailing them back to the person offering the "job", "Ethan Banks" 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!

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Sample "Payment officer" scam emails:

Your name here: Job offer We have found your resume at Monster.com and would like to suggest you a "Goods Shipment Agent" vacancy. We have studied your resume and are happy to inform you that your skills ZmQ yNjY completely meet our requirements for this position. Njl iNjM This is a part-time position.Your job will be to transfer consumer goods between our clients. Your job will consist in the following:MjQ 4YTA To accept goods to your address (the goods will be as following : bags, clothes, footwear ) MDV iMD Note: ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND ETC. WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF GOODSND U2 To deliver the goods to the nearest DHL office ZG Y5Nj To send the goods to a specified by us address OWE 0O ( money to pay DHL fees will be western union to you prior to it) YzN hN Your schedule will be flexible. You will need to spend on average 1-2 hours per day, Monday-Friday. Njl iNj This is a work-at-home position. All communication will be online. Njli NjM This job will allow you to: Nj liN - Get additional free time; MGF kZ - Develop high selfrespect and esteem. MG FkZ - Get financial independence working only 3-5 hours per day; MGFk ZTU General requirements: Njli Nj - Ability to create good administrative reporting; Yj RjZ - Prior customer service experience is a good benefit; Yj RjZ - Internet and e-mail skills; Experience in online work; YmY zN - Willingness to take the responsibility to set up and achieve goals; ZWY 3Z We will need your: - your mobile telephone number NTM wZj - mail address NTM wZj - your full name NT Mw ZW Ix During the trial period you will be paid $1,500 per month. Njli NjM4 After the trial period your base salary will go up to $2,250 USD per month, plus 8 percent commission. ZjF mYWQ After the trial period you may ask for additional hours or proceed full-time. ZWQ4 ZD special% If you are interested in this position, and would like to know more, please reply this e-mail Yz JkY2 We will contact you within 2 days

 

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Headers:

Received: from smtp105.biz.mail.mud.yahoo.com ([68.142.200.253])
by isp.att.net (frfwmxc04) with SMTP
id <20080314170958M0400ef2ehe>; Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:09:58 +0000
X-Originating-IP: [68.142.200.253]
Received: (qmail 98501 invoked from network); 14 Mar 2008 17:09:58 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO localhost) (info22@ndft64awf.com@75.22.55.87 with login)
by smtp105.biz.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; 14 Mar 2008 17:09:57 -0000
X-YMail-OSG: ImrH9uQVM1lxSOsuZaovDVUj1RmjIOmxIONSt_Z5zr3lj_uIvUwSQG43c5y6O8FSawXNYuCKBJExEPoS2fjOlpP_H68-
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-5
From: Ethan Banks
Reply-To:
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:51:13 -0000
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
Message-ID: <20080314870312.18311@e0.monster.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type:multipart/mixed;boundary="11491a718493edc1ec2c53e647951b37d21d137"

 

Other Jobs Scams

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

• multilevel marketing - Primamerica
• credit card applications (in particular, one from "Grey Marketing Team")
• 30biz.com
• Liberty National Recruiting
• Also see these Spam job emails