Despite tons of warnings in the past, I still get emails asking if this “payment processing” job is real. I’ve even had people write to me saying they’ve read my warnings in the past, but are considering working for a similar scam.
Listen, I know how tempting it could be to join. They target you because they know you’re in need of money and pretty much make an offer you can’t refuse. But the truth is, there is no such thing as a payment or check processing job. They are ALL SCAMS and working for one of these criminals will leave you thousands of dollars in debt.
The FCP Group Scam
Here are the current fake job postings and emails circulating Craigslist…
Company Name ; FCP Group Ltd
Detailed Job Description – Office Assistant
The primary goal of the Office Assistant is to provide local customer
support to our clients within North America. This includes providing
convenient payment options and informing them of shipping and the
terms of sale.You will be assisting our clients within North America, the assistance
to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service
via email.Your duties will include:
– Collecting Local Payments
When a buyer in the US decides to purchase an item through an online
auction from our sellers he has the following payment options: pay
pal, international wire transfer, international check, local certified
check or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local
wire transferring. Local wire transfers and certified checks are the
options that the sales support representative will provide to the
clients.– Managing Data
Along with the payments received from buyers you will be receiving
details for these sales. These details will include items sold, price,
and buyer’s information. You are to file and maintain these purchasing
records and transactions.– Forwarding of the Payments
Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 5% as commission
and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose
information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to
complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.– Correspondence
You will be submitting brief reports, weekly reports, and monthly
reports. Weekly and monthly reports are to be done in Excel format and
are to summarize all transactions completed within the week, or month.Here is an example of a brief report:
Date: August 2, ’09
Buyer: John R. Smith
Item: Jowissa Men’s Watch
Price: $ 1,921.27
Commission 5%: $96.1
Fees: $ 50
Total Forwarded: $1775.9
Forwarded to: Godwin Newton, Whitefield ,United Kingdom
Reference Numbers: 23497839– Fees, and Transferring Procedures
All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are
simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you
during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the
trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email
in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks
you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments,
along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be
forwarding the received payments through wire service.-Salary
During the trial period, you will be paid 1,800USD per month while
working on average 3hours per day, Monday-Friday, plus 5% commission
from every payment received and forwarded. After the trial period your
base pay salary will go up to 2,400USD per month, plus 5% commission.-Taxes
You will receive a monthly invoice stating your total income. All
applicable taxes are covered by the company.– To Apply
Kindly fill out your personal information below for immediate
consideration of this position so you can get started as soon as
possiblePersonal Information
Full Name :
Full Address:
City:
State:
Zip/Postal code:
Home phone :
Cell phone:
Recent occupation:
Gender:
Personal Email Address:The employee,acknowledged the Trial and Detailed Job Description
and signed _______________
(First Name and Last Name of Employee)
I replied and received this email:
Congratulations!!
Your Information was reviewed and You’ve qualified for our Payment Personnel Position.i want you to acknowledge that you are working for FCP GROUP LTD as a representative that will be in charge of all payment coming in your area,,Please we will like to know how honest you are and how can we trust you with our funds. Also we will like to know how often you get on the Internet because our job requires much checking of your email.
Please answer these Questions below……………………
* Can we trust you with the money?
* Will you deposit the check the same day you get it?An instruction on how to cash any check that would be sent to you by any of our customer would be sent to you in our next email.After you have answered the questions above.
Please get back to us as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Management.
FCP GROUP LTD.
The easiest way to tell this is a scam is that they’re asking you if you’re trustworthy with money and if you’ll deposit and move the money the same day you receive it. News flash: no one sends thousands of dollars to strangers just to have it “processed.” What’s stopping you from just running away with the money? Look how easily one simple question debunks this entire job posting.
Do Not Work for the FCP Group
The work they want you to perform is nothing more than another payment processing or fake check scam. They ask you to “process paychecks” by depositing fake, or even stolen, checks into your bank account. They then ask you to quickly send a portion of that money overseas and to keep a portion of it for the work you performed. Even thought the check isn’t real, you can still deposit it into your bank account and have access to the funds immediately, allowing you to withdrawal the money to send away. The check will eventually bounce. It ALWAYS bounces. At this point, you just sent thousands of dollars overseas and are now responsible for recovering the missing funds.
These types of jobs are ALWAYS SCAMS. Even worse, they’re illegal. Not only will you lose thousands of dollars, but you could also land a criminal record for receiving fraudulent or stolen funds. Never ever agree to a job where your primary duty is to process payments. If you receive a fake check, tear it up immediately and cease communication with the scammer. Do not cash it!
I realized that despite having run this blog for almost three years now and talking to a few of you on a regular basis, most of you don’t even know who I am. Yes, I’m Steve from I’ve Tried That, but I haven’t really shared much beyond that point. I suppose it’s time to tell my story.