Oh, what a surprise. The opportunity that landed in my email yesterday turns out to be an elaborate fake check scam. Richard Williams received the following response to his note yesterday:

Hello!
Thank you for your reply. We need more employees at this time in United States and other countries for
part time job from your home.
For more information please visit our web site http://www.global-trade-company.net
Once you register in our web site, you will get automated reply with instruction about how to get
started.
Work activation takes 2 days.
Sincerely,
Global Trade Company
http://www.global-trade-company.net

If alarms aren’t going off in your head already, you haven’t been paying attention! The language errors are a dead giveaway that this “company” is not based in Texas, as it claims. These scammers have gone to great lengths to make themselves look like a legitimate international business. Stupidly, those lengths don’t include a proofread by a native English speaker. Well, we never claimed they were smart. Only that they were criminals.

If you go to the website and look at the “jobs” they’re hiring for, you’ll see where it’s leading:

Cheques Processing Manager is responsible for receiving and processing of cheques from participants of deals and further transfer of money in accordance with the specified method. The detailed operational scheme is available at request.

Requirements:
Competent management of payments and transfers between the company and our clients;
Knowledge of the main payment systems;
Working schedule optimization skills;
Commit to be available to work 3-4 hours per day ;
PC, Internet, E-mail advanced skills;
Maturity age.

Richard Williams applied, and as you might imagine, is very excited! But oddly, the site still accepted his application, even when he filled out only 2 of the 10 (or so) “required” fields: email and name. Red flags are popping up all over the place. Anyone who falls for this has to be color blind.

The “job”
So here’s what you’ll do as a “Checques Processing Manager” for Global Trade Company.

1. Receive a cashier’s check in the mail.
2. Cash it through your bank.
3. Wire the cash to Global Trade Company.
4. Keep a 10% commission for your trouble. If you cash, say a $10,000 check, you keep $1,000.

Not bad, eh? Run a couple of errands, make a cool Grand. Then repeat the process. You could make as much as $37,000 per month, like the “Leaders” listed on their site.

The catch
But your bank will soon notice that the checks you’re cashing are fake. They’ll hold you liable for ALL of the money from every check you’ve cashed. “Mark Hillard,” from the “Leaders” list, is looking at $373,000 he will have to pay back to his bank. That’s not just the end of your financial life. That’s prison time.

We’re on the case
I’ve Tried That is doing some more sleuthing. We have the Whois data, the email address and phone number of the domain name’s owner. Maybe Richard Williams, intrepid go-getter that he is, will contact the owner and cut out the middle man. Whatever happens, we’ll keep you posted.

What YOU can do
Scams like this one thrive on ignorance and emotional appeal. You can help put these guys out of business by spreading the word about this post and the dirty tricks of scammers that want to kick you when you’re down. Help us get the word out:

1. Share this post by clicking on the “Share This” link below
2. Learn more about this and other online scams by reading the Related Posts below
3. Report fraudulent activity at Scam Victims United and to your local police

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