I need a way to figure out a way to warn the world about fake check scams. I had the following email come in earlier this morning…

Hi Steve,

I have one that I thought I’d pass on to you and see what you think. My husband received this email and I answered it that I was interested. We are both out of work and the money would be great, but it seems almost too good to be true. Maybe you could check it all out. I’m attaching all the emails I’ve gotten.

Thanks in advance. Keep up the good work.

Attached to the email were the following emails.

First Email

Job For You

Do you have 20 hours a week free? Be part of our team of professionals at STA Travel Technologies Inc. We currently have a vacancy for an Assistant Cashier. The Assistant Cashier helps the Senior Cashier fulfill minor orders. This is an excellent opportunity to earn extra money without leaving your home. Even if you have no experience in this field, you will quickly learn all the skills required for the job. Senior Cashiers are there to guide you through the work process and give you a helping hand.

To apply send resume to: Kevin.Hoffmann@sta-travel.net

Second email

Dear xxxx,

Let me introduce myself: My name is Kevin Hoffmann, and I am a
personnel manager of the STA Travel Technologies, Inc. Thank you for
expressing interest in the vacant position at our firm; I hope our
further cooperation will be pleasant and interesting for you. If you
have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me at any time.

First of all, let me briefly explain to you the nature of the
assistant cashier position. The assistant cashier works in
cooperation with a senior colleague who prepares small and
uncomplicated tasks for the assistant cashier to perform. There are
many kinds of tasks, but primary responsibilities include salary
payments to regional managers (via Money Gram or Western Union), and
the accepting, processing, and posting of correspondence (via USPS
or FedEx).

WORK SCHEDULE. You can choose the most convenient times for you
to work between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. You can choose how many and
which days you work per week without any limitations. Your
schedule can be changed at any time, but you must inform a senior
cashier about such changes three days beforehand. You will prepare
your schedule during the training course.

CALCULATION OF SALARY. The amount of money you earn corresponds to
the time you spend fulfilling the tasks given. 25$ will be accrued
to you per each hour of working time, which is determined
according to a table. The table indicates the average time for
fulfillment of each type of operations. For example, the operation
of mails processing takes four hours. So, for fulfillment of this
task you will get 4 * 25 = 100 USD. Notice: if you spend three
hours on fulfilling this task, you will receive the fee for four
hours of work. You will have a chance to examine the working time
table in greater detail throughout your training.

PAYMENT PROCEDURE. Salary payments are made once every two weeks,
in whatever manner is acceptable for you. During your training,
you will get 100% payment for all operations fulfilled.

I hope the main details of the position are now clear to you. I will
attach a more detailed description of activities hereto; you can
find it in the file: “job_description.rtf”.

Please examine the attached documents and review all the
information. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. If
everything is clear and you have no questions, please fill out the
employment agreement, and return it by e-mail.

–
Kevin Hoffmann,
Human Resources Manager

STA Travel Technologies
271 Newport Ave
90803, Long Beach
CA, United States
Phone: 718-473-0689

Accompanying the emails are three legitimate looking documents outlining the job duties, how much you would get paid, and an employee agreement. The documents look very convincing and official. It’s a big step up from the typo-ridden, near impossible to decipher emails that often come out of Nigeria.

To the unsuspecting user, this job opportunity is a dream come true. $25 from home would definitely be the answer to someone’s prayers. Unfortunately, this is a scam and just one little line gives the whole thing away. That line is, “there are many kinds of tasks, but primary responsibilities include salary payments to regional managers (via Money Gram or Western Union), and the accepting, processing, and posting of correspondence (via USPS or FedEx).”

Do Not Work for STA Travel Technologies

The “job” is just another payment processing scam. These criminals use you and your bank account to launder money. They ask you to “process paychecks” by depositing checks into your bank account and then have you send a portion of that money over seas. The check you receive will either be fake or stolen. However, you can still deposit it into your bank account and have access to the funds immediately. Before the check bounces, you are asked to send 90% of the money back to the scammer via Western Union or via money wire. At this point, you just sent thousands of dollars overseas and the fake check they sent you will bounce leaving YOU responsible for recovering the missing funds.

Payment processing or check cashing 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!

A few of my readers have been unfortunate to fall for the scam and have sent away $197 +$15 shipping and handling for auction processing “training materials” whatever that means. After searching around a bit, I’ve found that they are offering refunds within 60 days of your order and you will have to ship their training materials back to them first.

HomeJobPlacement Refund Information

To request a cancellation of your program, please contact your Customer Care Center at 866.261.5415.

To contact our Customer Care Center
Please call 866.261.5415.

Customer Care Center Hours
Mon- Fri 9am – 9pm EST
Saturday 10am – 5pm EST

Mail-in Inquiries:
www.homejobplacement.org
16781 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 281
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120.

Contact form here: http://www.homejobplacement.net/contact/

Does anyone else find it funny that they’re located on Chagrin Blvd?

If you have had any experiences with this company and have gotten a refund, please leave a comment below.

Today’s post comes from Celeste who lost only a few bucks to Michael Cohen and DoublingStocks.com. She writes…

This company scammed me and many others. This fellow rarely ever provides a stock pick and WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY PERIOD. If you try to get your money back they will either ignore you completely or increase their emails to you explaining why there is no stock pick this week. I have asked for my fifty dollars back on twenty eight occasions and either got no response or got one of the latest excuse emails. The very few stocks he recommended, I lost money on because they were what are called “pump and dumps” and unless you are aware of when to get out, you never, ever make money on them. This fellow never let us know when to get out and by the time he notified us of his great deals, he had evidently already offered them to his premium members (the poor saps who paid a fortune for his system) and they had already made any money there was to be had from the pick. I was completely new to the stock market and believed all his hype. Please, don’t fall for it…the guy is a great blowhard but that is it. Below is the latest of his emails, with the latest excuse he offered….

“Michael Cohen” "I've received several hundred emails lately, all asking one question: "When is your next stock pick?"
I have no firm answer. It could be a few weeks. It could be a few months.
I am exhaustively searching the market. Here is the 4 criteria I demand:
* A newsworthy company on the brink of success. * Little-known and currently overlooked by investors. * Small market cap (sub 100m)
* Management dedicated to raising the profile of the company.
These 4 criteria have proved hugely successful in the past. And I will not compromise on any of them.
Best Regards,
Michael Cohen
P.S. If you believe you know of a stock which matches the above criteria.
Please get in touch."

There is one website I found that was interesting and his newsletter is free. It is called The Stock Gumshoe. I found that he can often tell who these people are and what stock it is they are promoting by deduction. While he has what he calls 'Irregulars" that are members who pay a small fee and can get access to greater amounts of information, his free newsletter provides a great deal of info about these stock promoters who will fill your email with 'great deals'. Please take a look at his info and maybe sign up for the newsletter if you want to know more details about some of these great deal stock offerings. His is the most accurate and complete resource I have found about these scam artists. Too bad, I found him AFTER I ran into Michael Cohen and he talked me out of my fifty bucks.
Best Wishes,
Celeste

Peter Leeds at PennyStocks.com did some awesome research on Stock Picking Robots. If you sent money to these guys through Clickbank and you want to get a refund, simply fill out the form here: http://www.clickbank.com/orderDetail.htm?clear=true&locale=EN

Other than that, stay away from any type of program that will automatically make you thousands of dollars. It’s never that easy.

Steve,

You’re not going to believe this.

I checked my mail today as I was walking into my apartment, and I got a letter in a plain envelope with no return address located on it. Curious, I opened it, thinking – no, knowing – it was junk mail of some sort. The handwriting was so neat it was ridiculous, and I immediately realized why there were advertisements for people with neat handwriting to write out addresses on envelopes all over Craigslist. I don’t know if it’s savvy or sad that I no longer trust my mailing system.

I cannot read the stamp from the postmark on the envelope. I can only tell you it was postmarked Feb 23, 2010. That being said, on the inside I found a “newspaper article” from Columbus, Ohio printed on real newspaper. The date on the newspaper is February 9, 2010. The newspaper has no name; in fact, in the center where the name of the paper would be, it just says “Special Report.” Count that as clue number 2 that something is wrong.

There’s a sticky note attached to the paper in very neat handwriting. It says “Kinya, you gotta see this…it sounds really cool! I thought you might be interested too. J.” Do I have to tell you I don’t know anyone that goes by that letter? Just in case you were wondering, I don’t. Nor do I know anyone who would mail me a piece of newspaper with no page numbers located on it anywhere.

Starting to see the picture?

Getting to the point, the newspaper article is about a company located at www.homejobplacement.net. They claim to be able to place you at a job at home where you can make a ridiculous amount of money a day. Yawn, bore. You know the drill. It’s a scam. But what got me is that they went through the effort of actually making this look legitimate – or at least trying to. First off, it’s printed to look like a real newspaper article. Quite impressive. Secondly, the article states testimony from a woman named Sally who warns “Watch out for those sites that promise you’ll make millions overnight. With Home Job Placement you’re NOT going to make millions. Who else is going to tell you that? But you are going to get certified fast, be offered a real position immediately, and make a great income with much less work. And you’ll never have to worry about getting laid off or looking for a job ever again.” By the way, the capitalization is theirs, not mine. Which brings me to my third point: what journalist would capitalize a word in the middle of a sentence for emphasis? That’s what italics is for. Even a student journalist knows this. Tacky much?

Attached are pictures of the paper. The quality is quite crappy, as my Blackberry Curve only pretends to be able to take good pictures, but rest assured that the evidence is solid. You can clearly see I am not making this up. Does anyone see a consistent problem here? If you do, you get a Scooby Snack.

[Steve edit: here are the attached pictures: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six.]

Please note that the article states the following, and I quote (grammatical errors are conveniently included for your amusement):

• “The placement company, Home Job Placement, is one of the most successful online job placement firms in the U.S. They have helped over 16,493 people find legitimate work-at-home jobs.” Really? They have? How come nobody’s ever heard of them?
• “Sally proudly showed us one of her most recent checks from the job she got through Home Job Placement.” (Picture is attached.) Why is the check dated back in August of 09? If that’s recent then the author of this article has a Delorean he needs to share with the rest of the world.
• “When we found out how how easy it was to become certified as Auction Listing Specialists, it took away all the stress and worry, and showed us exactly how to make tons of money every day just by posting simple listings on eBay for companies like Microsoft, Compaq, IZOD, Calvin Klein, and Apple.” If these companies are hiring and job placement is so easy then why is unemployment still at an all-time high?
• “The fact that you’re working with eBay means a lot. You can never get fired by such a big company. And this is something you can do part time, even if you only have a few hours to spend a day.” Raise your hand if you quit buying stuff off of eBay when the recession hit. Raise both hands if you stopped doing it before then. And if you think eBay is hiring anybody to list auctions on their site, you might as well be drunk on the couch laughing at reruns of Bud Light Superbowl commercials. Go grab a beer.
• “From our research, Home Job Placement is the best of the best. In just four steps anybody can secure a home job and start earning.” Thank you Staff Writer George Liechty Finance & Jobs. I know who you are through reputation, since you have written for dozens of other nameless newspapers throughout the nation. I trust you based on this one simple fact alone.
• “Since it takes only 3-4 minutes per posting and the provide everything you need, you can begin making up to $75 an hour immediately! And you get paid fast!” You’ve got to be either high or gullible to believe that statement. Or both. If making $75 a hour was that easy, everyone would be doing it, and there would be no recession.

My intelligence feels so insulted. It is literally banging its head against the walls of my skull, weeping for the fate of mankind. Or it would, if I weren’t laughing so hard. Seriously? You expect to sell me a scam through a newspaper article mailed to me by a person who’s only known by a letter? Last time I checked, Division 6 wasn’t supposed to exist. And speaking of not existing, I’m going to go flashy-thing myself. When I wake up, I’m going to be just as I was before: sleepy, happy, freelancing and counting the days until “Alice in Wonderland” comes out in theaters.

Just five more days.

Thanks Kinya for sharing.

By the way, how was Alice in Wonderland?

The CBC writes…

Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling finance author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has spun-off his book into a self-help empire of TV shows, board games and investment seminars — a string of which are scheduled across Canada. But rumblings are being heard from the hundreds of hotel ballrooms across North America where Kiyoaski’s Rich Dad seminars are staged. The complaints? That initial Rich Dad sessions focus less on education and more on marketing and upselling further sessions that cost up to $45,000.

Marketplace investigates these concerns using hidden camera and reveals the aggressive sales tactics used, where participants are urged to increase their credit card limits after being pressured to spend tens of thousands of dollars on advanced courses.

Erica Johnson asks Kiyosaki directly: what’s really going on? Are Canadians being lured by the Rich Dad name to spend money on weekend workshops that seem really designed to sell them more workshops?

I highly suggest you watch the full 22-minute Robert Kiyosaki undercover piece online at the CBC Marketplace now. It’s quite revealing and could save you or someone you know $500 or even more.

Have any of you been taken in by a Rich Dad, Poor Dad seminar or even book? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

My name is Mona Valbrun. I’m manager in company FSC Global.
About FSC Global. Inc. was found in November, 2001. Our company’s goal
is to assist people around the world to be a part of an Internet
trading community. FSC Global works as an online retailer and product
shipper. FSC Global owns and is responsible for the goods purchased or
sold, and is thereby, the legal title holder of the product during the
purchase order process.

Our company acts as the guarantor both for the Internet shop and for
the buyer. We guarantee to the customer that he will receive the goods
of high quality. On the other hand, we guarantee to the seller that he
will receive money for the sold goods. We solve the problems of buyers
and sellers just for the small percent of the goods price. For the
right work of the selling and buying services, that our company
offers, we hire the employees on the position of “independent
guarantee-manager”.

We received your CV from Careerbuilder.com so now we offer you
opportunity to work for our company. It’s not Spam and it’s sent only
to you as you were chosen among so many candidates.

Our company offers absolutely legal work. We do not demand from you
any investments into our company, also it is not required to pay a
curriculum.

We will train you free of charge and we guarantee timely payment of
the salary. You will be convinced.

The work is part time. It is not required any special knowledge. This
work is intended to people who want to have a stable extra income and
not spoiled by a big salary.. You will spend from 6 to 10 hours a week
for this work. Your salary will be $4000 USD a month.

If you are interested in this job, you can write to me on corporate
e-mail Mona.Valbrun@fsc-company.us after that i will send you detailed
information

Sincerely,Mona Valbrun

After you finished reading this email you should have asked yourself the following questions:

• Why don’t they ever specify exactly what I would be doing?
• How is it possible to make $48,000/yr working only 6 hours a week?
• Why do they have to specify their email isn’t spam?
• Why do they have to explicitly state that the work I would be doing is legal?
• What is this line about: “You will be convinced?”

So many questions. See how easy that was? All you had to do was read!

This scam looks like a typical reshipping scam. You accept packages purchased with a stolen credit card and identity and ship them overseas to the scammer. Unfortunately for you, this is highly illegal and could land you a criminal record.

Avoid scams like these at all costs! I know the promise of a high salary is tempting, but don’t let yourself become a victim.

There are real companies that do pay people to wrap their car, but they have very specific requirements that you probably don’t meet. They most certainly do not blindly send out emails to millions of people either. If someone contacts you telling you they want to wrap your car, they’re most likely trying to sell you a list of companies that will be of no use to you.

I’ve Tried That reader Deborah sent the following email in this morning…

From: holmes&sellers@works.com
Reply-to: brownad111@aol.com
Sent: 2/22/2010 2:36:05 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: MAKE MONEY BY SIMPLY DRIVING YOUR CAR

MAKE MONEY BY SIMPLY DRIVING YOUR CAR
ADVERTISER WANTED FOR HOLMES&SELLERS
EARN NO LESS THAN $150 WEEKLY TO ADVERTISE ON YOUR CAR.
It is Very Easy and Simple
No Application fees required

How it works Here’s the basic premise of the “paid to drive” concept: HOLMES&Sellers seeks people — regular citizens, not professional drivers — to go about their normal routine as they usually do, only with a big advert for “HOLMES&SELLERS” plastered on your car.The ads are typically vinyl decals, also known as “auto wraps,” that almost seem to be painted on the vehicle, and which will cover any portion of your car’s exterior surface.

What does the company get out of this type of ad strategy? Lots of exposure and awareness.The auto wraps tend to be colorful and eye-catching and attract lots of attention. Plus, it’s a form of advertising with a captive audience,meaning people who are stuck in traffic and can’t avoid seeing the wrapped car alongside them. This program will last for 3 months and the minimum period you can participate is 1 month.

You will be compensated with a $200 (Two hundred dollars per Week),which is essentially a “rental” payment for letting our company use the space.HOLMES&SELLERS shall provide experts that would handle the advert placing on your car.You will receive an up front payment of $400 (Four hundred dollars) inform of check for accepting to carry this advert on your car and other weekly payments will also come in the form of checks and delivered at your address weekly.

What you need to do is to contact the email below adamkvn@aol.com

The following information below will be needed
Full Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Make of car/ year:
Address:
city:
State:
Zip code:
Phone Number(s) mobile/home :
Email Address:

We shall be contacting you as soon as we receive these information, HOLMES&SELLERS looks forward to working with you.

Dave Brown

The biggest red flag from this email is company Holmes & Sellers. Yes, they do exist, but they are a real estate company based out of the UK. Why would a UK real estate agency be paying us yanks to drive around cars with their advertisement on it? Spoiler alert! They aren’t. Dave Brown is just using their namesake to lure you into sending him money. It’s incredible how much you can learn with just one Google search.

I wanted to have some fun with this guy and waste his time a bit, but it was impossible to get in contact with him, despite there being 3 contact email addresses listed. I sent out emails to holmes&sellers@works.com, adamkvn@aol.com and brownad111@aol.com but haven’t heard anything yet. He’s not exactly the world’s most efficient scammer.

Don’t bother with paid to drive offers. It’s not worth your time or money.

My mother keeps getting these phone calls on her cell phone from a company that says they have important information to share with her about her credit card and she needs to call them back. Two things are wrong with this picture: First, mom doesn’t have a credit card. She got rid of all of them. And second, the company refuses to leave its name. It just says “This is your credit card company calling with important information on your account. This is not an attempt to collect a debt. We only wish to convey important information to you. This message is urgent and time sensitive. Please call us back at…” She actually won’t give me the number, otherwise I’d post it here.

She’s upset, naturally. She said she knows it’s a scam just because she doesn’t have a credit card. Also, another tell-tale sign: usually when your credit card company calls you, they tell you “This is Chase/Bank of America/American Express/etc. calling in regards to your account.” And, more importantly, most credit card companies communicate with you through mail first, using the phone as a last resort.

It’s important to listen carefully to the messages you receive on your answering machines. Scams are running rampant like never before, so we need to be extra cautious.

I know it seems unbelievable that someone would fall for this scam, but I imagine these scams are specifically targeting the older generation. You know, the less-savvy, “MY VCR WONT STOP BLINKING” group. So this post might seem basic to you, but you should forward along this information to anyone who might be targeted by this scam.

They write…

Before you spend money responding to placement firms or completing placement contracts:

• Reject any company that promises to get you a job.
• Be skeptical of any employment-service firm that charges first, even if it guarantees refunds.
• Get a copy of the firm’s contract and read it carefully before you pay any money. Understand the terms and conditions of the firm’s refund policy. Make sure you understand what services the firm will provide and what you’ll be responsible for doing. If oral promises are made, but don’t appear in the contract, think twice about doing business with the firm.
• Take your time reading the contract. Don’t be caught up in a rush to pay for services. Stay away from high-pressure sales pitches that require you to pay now or risk losing out on an opportunity.
• Be cautious about purchasing services or products from a firm that’s reluctant to answer your questions.
• Be aware that some listing services and “consultants” write their ads to sound like they are jobs when they’re selling general information about getting a job.
• Follow up with the offices of any company or organization mentioned in an ad or an interview by an employment service to find out if the company is really hiring.
• Be wary of firms promoting “previously undisclosed” federal government jobs. All federal positions are announced to the public on www.usajobs.gov.
• Check with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General’s Office, and the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed about a company with which you intend to do business. You also may contact these organizations if you have a problem with an employment-service firm.

A video was created to accompany the article as well.

They have also written an article on how to protect yourself from a work at home scam. The information really isn’t anything new, but it’s worth reading over for a quick refresh.

The key point of this article and video is that if you’ve been scammed while looking for a job, you need to file a complaint. The FTC DOES look into complaints and the best way to get a scam shut down is to report it to the FTC. You can file a complaint online at http://www.ftc.gov/complaint or you can call the FTC directly at 1-877-382-4357.

Joe had sent me an email a few days ago tipping me off to a new craigslist job scam. He had applied for a technical writing positing and this was the job offer he received…

Hello,

Thank you for replying to my ad on Craigslist for technical writing.

My client; a popular health, beauty and lifestyle magazine publisher,
is looking for a short but detailed product review on a popular
teeth whitening product. Upon completion, the review will be
published in several popular health and fitness magazines as well
as several industry related web sites. You have been selected to
participate in this project.

Smile Whites is currently one of the most popular teeth whitening
products on the market. My client would like a detailed
product review, falling somewhere between 900 and 1000 words, for
this particular product. The review should look at both the pros and
cons of Smile Whites. Your writing should not directly promote the
product, but instead be an honest review taking into account:

* The buying process (the online ordering process, delivery speed,
packaging)

* The taste, smell and appearance of the product

* The effectiveness of Smile Whites (how effective Smile Whites
products actually are in regards to teeth whitening)
Scientific information behind the Smile Whites product.

* Comparison to other popular teeth whitening products

* Humor is acceptable

Apart from following the loose guidelines above, you are free to
implement your own ideas and techniques into this assignment as you
wish. Due to the nature and intricate detail of this assignment, it
is required for you to acquire a physical version of Smile Whites
to aid you in certain parts of your writing. Please
click here >> http://walps.com/health << to order a free version
of the Smile Whites product that we are using as a baseline for the
article. You will be re-imbursed for any shipping costs.

Delivery of this specific product can sometimes take up to 5 days,
that's why I would advise you to order the physical product as soon
as possible. My client has set a strict deadline for assignment
completion. Please ensure that the assignment is completed and in
our possession within 3 weeks from todays date. We are choosing
40 of the best articles to use. Also, you do not have to use the
product in order to write the article but smell and taste reviews must
be considered.

The pay for this project is $300. Payment can be made by check,
PayPal or direct deposit within 5 days of acceptancce of your
contract and receipt of your article. You will be notified by email in
which web sites and magazines your article will be published. You
will receive full credit for your article. If we like your work there is
a good chance that you will be invited back to review other products.

If you have any questions regarding your assignment, please don't
hesitate to contact us via e-mail as listed below.

Best Regards,
Rosslyn Pacheco,
Walps Enterprises, Inc.
admin@walps.com

If you aren’t familiar with this scam, the job post actually looks legitimate and an excellent way for a freelance writer to make quite a few bucks. The “employer” wants you to order a product and get paid to write a review. What could possibly be amiss here?

Well, a lot. Let’s focus on the actual product, Smile Whites, first. You are told to order a sample and that you’ll be reimbursed for the shipping charges. What the email fails to mention is that your sample comes with an $80 monthly subscription to teeth whitening products with no (easy) way to get a refund. You’ll continue to be charged until you jump through hoops to cancel your monthly membership or your credit card. This is the negative option scam we’ve seen time and time again.

Now I’m just speculating at this point, but I think if you were to sign up and do the work, Rosslyn will refuse to pay you. Most likely, you’ll never hear from her again or something will be wrong with the work you performed and would be denied payment. After all, this isn’t a job posting, but rather an attempt to funnel as many people into a negative option billing program as possible. And to be honest, it’s a rather clever attempt.

Be careful out there and use common sense when applying for work at home jobs. Don’t jump into anything and always, ALWAYS do your research before taking on any work.