Scam

Craiglist “Job” Scam

Posted by Rick on in Scams 15 Comments

Craiglist “Job” Scam

This is a new one on me, but apparently has been going on since 2008 in one form or another.

I responded to a Craiglist Job Posting looking for a desktop support person. Most of these just end up in a black hole of some sort since most job posters are getting slammed with resumes right now.

This time I got a reply:
from: Ronald Lang (rlang@misionaustralia.com)

Hello
Thanks for responding to the AD and I’m Ronald Lang, The new director of works at Mission Australia (USA), we have gone through
your resume and feel your are competent for the job so we need to know if you are capable of repairing computers in large volumes
(6-10 computers for trials), the organization distributed few computers to a missionary home in Lima, Peru, and there objectives was to
hold a free computer training section for the kids at the Mission Home, we got information that the computers all malfunctioned and
they are shipping the computers back to us, we need to fix them and have it returned in time, are you available for this job? we need
your urgent response to this ad.
The Director of Works.
Ronald Lang
Mission Australia (USA)

Note Mission Australia exists, but I can not find that they have any US offices. Also, the email address he sent it from is rlang@misionaustralia.com which is missing an ‘s’. misionaustralia.com is a Google Apps Hosted domain and is registered via:

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: MISIONAUSTRALIA.COM
Created on: 10-Jul-10
Expires on: 10-Jul-11
Last Updated on: 10-Jul-10

Administrative Contact:
Private, Registration MISIONAUSTRALIA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
+1.4806242599 Fax — +1.4806242598

Technical Contact:
Private, Registration MISIONAUSTRALIA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
+1.4806242599 Fax — +1.4806242598

Domain servers in listed order:
NS11.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS12.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

I replied to this not knowing exactly where the scam was. The reply:

Hello,
Thanks for the swift response, Here are some few details you need for the job, We supplied 30 Pentium IV dell laptops to the mission training home, after some couple of months we got an information that 7 of the systems malfunctioned and results into crashing, first we made enquiries about how they all malfunctioned and we found out that Below are the things needed to be done on the laptops;

(1.) Format Hard Drive
(2.) Install Win Xp or Vista with Service Pack 2 or 3
(3.) Microsoft Office Package
(4.) Recent Anti Virus Software with (Free Lifetime Updates)
(5.) Adobe Acrobat
(6.) Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard drive, CD & DVD ROM, floppy Disk.

Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 7 units ( Labour Only). We would Include all the necessary software’s and licenses (Original) needed for the service installations and would be paying you with a Certified Company Check, and i want you to know that the Laptops will all be shipped to your location by our shipping agents, we will give you a totality of one week to finish up with the repairs after which it will also be picked up by the shippers. This is a Contract Job which might lead to a full time position with the company after you have successfully completed the first task within the specified time. Kindly send me the following information’s to have the payment mailed out to you;

Full Name:
Physical Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Cell phone #:

I am currently in Remote area in Lima and the phone service is very poor here, I’m online most of the time as I am hard of hearing so I prefer we contact each other through E-mails, but if there is need for me to call, I will be glad to do that by using a hearing device. I await your urgent response so we can make moving arrangements and delivery of payment as soon as possible.
Very Respectfully,
Ronald Lang.

After some negotiated costs (pretty much an “OK, that sounds good.”) “Ronald” says he’s going to send me a check and the laptops. Simply cash the check, keep my fee, send the rest of the money to another address, and then fix the laptops when they arrive.

Of course there are no laptops, and even if there were, sending them from Peru to Oregon would be cost prohibitive just to get fixed.

Note, the real Mission Australia is not associated with this scam at all

New scam: Surveyspro Customer Service Evaluator

Posted by Rick on in Scams 41 Comments

New scam: Surveyspro Customer Service Evaluator

This one took me a few minutes to identify. There is little information about it on the net let, but the pieces didn’t quite jive right.

First odd thing was an envelope mailed to me. The return address said:

P.O. BOX 300 STATION M
TORONTO ON M6S 4X2

No company information or anything. Upon opening it is a check for $2,408.18 drawn upon the Greensboro Postal Credit Union in North Carolina.

Included is a letter “explaining” how it all works. Essentially they want a mystery shopper to shop various locations. This sounds fairly legit, although I do not recall signing up for any mystery shopper things. The key tip off to me was the part where it says to send a Western Union payment to a fake relative.

The second key tip off is the “pay” for doing this – $200! This is far more then most mystery shopping jobs usually pay.

The phone number for the “Assigned Training Coordinator” 650-993-1549 shows up as a San Francisco number. Who is for the website listed: esurveyspro.com shows a Romanian address.

Registrant:
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072 Romania

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: ESURVEYSPRO.COM
Created on: 15-Apr-06
Expires on: 15-Apr-19
Last Updated on: 28-Jan-10
Administrative Contact: Badea, Florentin florentin@outsidesoftware.ro
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072
Romania
+40.213192553 Fax —

Technical Contact:
Badea, Florentin florentin@outsidesoftware.ro
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072
Romania +40.213192553 Fax —

Domain servers in listed order: NS1.ESURVEYSPRO.COM NS2.ESURVEYSPRO.COM

Registrant:
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072
Romania

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: ESURVEYSPRO.COM
Created on: 15-Apr-06
Expires on: 15-Apr-19
Last Updated on: 28-Jan-10

Administrative Contact:
Badea, Florentin florentin@outsidesoftware.ro
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072
Romania
+40.213192553 Fax —

Technical Contact:
Badea, Florentin florentin@outsidesoftware.ro
Outside Software Inc.
Bd Iuliu Maniu, Nr 7
Corp U, Etaj 5, Birou H
Bucharest, 061072
Romania
+40.213192553 Fax —

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ESURVEYSPRO.COM
NS2.ESURVEYSPRO.COM

As a final piece of the puzzle Greensboro Postal Credit Union says (in big red letters):

SCAM ALERT!!
IF YOU RECEIVE A GREENSBORO POSTAL CREDIT UNION CASHIER’S CHECK- – DO NOT CASH THIS CHECK. It Is Counterfeit. If you received this check by US Mail, contact the USPS Postal Inspection Service immediately.


American Income Life Employment scam

Posted by Rick on in Observances, Scams 215 Comments

American Income Life Employment scam ?

I’m getting pretty good at spotting these people a mile away.

Got a phone call from (503) 639-8735, didn’t recognize the number. Did a quick look up of the number on Google and found that they did this quite often. Less then ten minutes later, got another phone call from them which I decided to answer this time.

From the start it was obvious that the lady was working from a memorized script. She was full of “Um’s” and “Uh’s” and “OK, that sounds good” to every answer I said. It felt like she wasn’t really even listening to me. She asked what kind of job I was looking for, but didn’t mention that the company even had any IT jobs at all. She kept pushing to get me in the door.

Further Google Searching finds on scam.com quite a bit of very interesting information. Many people saying that the company is not a scam, but three times as many saying it is. Apparently unlike other insurance companies, they make you pay for all your classes and books to get an insurance license. After that they pump you leads that are two years old, or in many cases, older. They might be slightly legitimate, but any company that has as high of a turn over as they does, has something going wrong.

For the record, (and Google) their Portland Oregon address is:

15575 SW Sequoia Parkway
Suite #150
Portland OR, 97224

The “HR” person told me the door is on the “back of the building” and simply says AIL on it. To me that was the final red flag. If you’re considering working for this company, I would run away as fast as possible.


Update

– August 15th, 2016. I just got called by these guys again. They said that I applied for the position of Customer Service Manager via one of the career boards. But I track all the jobs I apply for in Excel. They are not there under American Income, or their parent company, Torchmark. Nor are they there under job title. So either they are putting out false jobs under different titles and companies, or they are doing the cold call technique. On the good side, the lady this time knew her script much better, but still evaded the truth when I asked if it was for a management position.

The new address is:
7200 NE 41st Street Suite #202
Vancouver WA, 98662
360-947-0987

Another thing I noticed, they now started “celebrating” all their worker’s success via YouTube. Almost every video has comments closed on it. Why would an company that is legitimate and above board being doing that? Even the largest companies like Nike, Exxon, Coke, etc don’t do that!

How to report Internet Fraud

Posted by Rick on in Scams, Security, Technology How To's 3 Comments

How to report Internet Fraud

Internet Fraud is on a rise. As more and more people get online around the world, more viruses are created to steal information, and more people see the anonymity of the Internet as a good way to steal, fraud rates will continue to rise.

Common fraudulent acts range from using stolen Paypal accounts to pay for eBay or Craigslist products. Sending people fake checks for significant amounts of money over the selling price and asking for the extra back, or the common “Nigerian 419  Scam,” where you’re contacted (usually via email) for help moving large amounts of money from another country. But they quickly ask you to send a couple of thousand dollars as a “transfer fee” and none of the money is ever seen again.

The first step in reporting fraud is to gather your evidence. Good portions of such reports go unanswered and forgotten because of the lack of evidence. Providing ample and accurate proof will greatly increase the chances of action being taken by Law Enforcement. When reporting fraud and scams, use this template to provide your evidence. Keep in mind that some online forms may not have room for all this info, but it’s good to compile it before submitting.

Name: Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

Other Contact info: (IM ID, Forum Name)

Scammer’s Name:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

Other Contact info: AIM or Yahoo IM ID, Forum Names, AKA names. Also include any other email addresses, phone numbers or physical addresses known. Essentially any way used to contact you should be cataloged here.

Nature of Fraud/Scam:  Give a brief description, i.e. “Was contacted by person to…”

Estimated Value Lost: Use a range for actual goods, or the sell price of the goods. Otherwise use the actual cash value.

Timeline Description: This is the important section. Provide a day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of the transaction and what went wrong. Cut and Paste Chat Logs, Screenshots (if possible,) and all emails. Be sure to present everything in chronological order as it happened.

Links to evidence: Provide links to forum posts, screenshots of emails and IM logs, etc.

There are several places you can report fraud to depending on where in the world you are.

Online Fraud Complaint Forms:

In the United States:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center: <a href=”http://www.ic3.gov”>http://www.ic3.gov</a>

National Fraud Information Center <a href=”http://www.fraud.org/info/contactnfic.htm”>http://www.fraud.org/info/contactnfic.htm</a>

In Canada:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police:

<a href=”https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx?lang=en”>https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx?lang=en</a>

Other Countries: Please look in comments below, or post if you know your countries web page.

Once you’ve filled out the online forms, it’s a good idea to directly contact any of the below Law Enforcement Agencies. All of these agencies (except maybe City and County Police Departments) have an electronic crime agency who will take your information. In some cases you may be referred to another person, or group. Expect to get a bit of run around but do not take it personally. Remember to be polite and patient when explaining the nature of the fraud.

Local FBI Office: http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

Local Attorney General: http://www.naag.org/

Local U.S. Secret Service Electronics Crime Division: https://www.treasury.gov/services/report-fwa/Pages/ReportFWA.aspx

Local State Police: http://www.statetroopersdirectory.com/

Local County Police Department: Varies, search Google for your County Name, Police Department and Electronic Crimes Division

Local City Police Department: Use the same search term above

If someone scammed you out side of your country, the Federal Trade Commission has a special site for these complaints. https://www.econsumer.gov/pls/econsumer/wimsnery2$com.main?p_lang_seq=1

A lot of scams involve Paypal due to the ease of setting up accounts or stealing the information from others. Their claims page is located at: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_comres_flow&trans_id=

Phone: 1-888-221-1161×8232 ; or 402-935-2050

If a company or business scammed you there are a couple of good places to report them to.

Better Business Bureau

FTC Complaint Center

Also be sure to report them to your and their Attorney General’s Office.

The United Postal Service is especially tough on scammers and fraud via Mail. If you sent a Money Order via mail, or goods and didn’t get anything in return they want to hear from you. Their online form is located at: http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx

The Postal Service is very tough on fraud and scamming. To help them out it’s always a good idea to use Delivery Confirmation when sending large amounts of money, checks, or even expensive goods.

UPS has an online claim section too, https://www.ups.com/myups/login?returnto=https%3a//wwwapps.ups.com/webClaims/create%3floc%3den_US%26report_type%3d1&reasonCode=-1&appid=CLAIMS

Reporting fraud and scams is time consuming, but every bit helps. If you’re short on time at least submit reports to the first two links. Remember, the scammers aren’t going to stop if they get away with it. All it’s going to take is one or two to get caught as warnings to the rest.

New “Nigerian” Scam – American Soldiers Iraq

Posted by Rick on in Scams 52 Comments

New “Nigerian” Scam – American Soldiers Iraq

Just got this in my email:

Important message from an American soldier in Iraq

Good day,

My name is Sgt.Richard Clark, I am an American soldier, I am serving in
the military of the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, as you know we are being
attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs. We managed to move funds
belonging to Saddam Hussein’s family in 2003. The total amount is US$25
Million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills, this money has been kept
somewhere outside Baghdad for sometime but with the proposed troop
reduction by president Obama, we are afraid that the money will be
discovered hence we want to move this money to you for safe keeping pending
the completion of our assignment here. You can go to this web link to read
about events that took place then via this site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
we are ready to compensate you with good percentage of the funds, No strings
attached, just for you to help us move it out of Iraq. Iraq is a war zone,so
we plan on using diplomatic means in shipping the money out as military
cargo using diplomatic immunity. If you are interested I will send you the
full details, my job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that
will assist us. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send
an e-mail richclark0@live.com signifying your interest including
Your most confidential telephone numbers for quick communication also your
Contact details.

This is risk free.

With regards from,

Sgt.Richard Clark.

———————————

First off, any American Solider shipping money out in these kinds of quantities is going to raise flags, doubly so if they’re sending it as a “diplomatic package.” Which would be impossible to do anyways, at least at a Sergeant’s level. Second, that members of the US Army have been able to keep the existence of $25 million dollars sitting around doing nothing for six plus years is laughable in the extreme.

So if you come across this one, either do some scam busting or mark it as spam and move on.