Just got the following job scam e-mail slipping through my spam filters. I'll print out the letter below, and then show you how to tell it's a scam.
From: "Sandy Lucas" <dimensions@starhub.net.sg>
Subject: Shipping and ReceivingShipping and Receiving Clerk
Company: Cargo NOW!
Location: USA, all states
Pay Rate: $70 per shipped package
Available in: USA only
Relocation: Not requiredIf you are a Compliance Manager, Warehouse Clerk, Shipping clerk with great experience, please read on!
This is a great opportunity with a growing company that cares about their employees. Cargo NOW! is searching for a Shipping and Receiving clerk to join our team immediately! Our team has extensive experience in logistics, transportation and warehousing. The job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, assembling receiving items, package items for shipping, reading order directions, ability to work quickly yet carefully and multi-task. Company is looking for a qualified candidate who is also willing to train. We are looking for hard working dedicated employees to join a people company that is growing and expanding. The ideal person will have shipping and receiving experience, craft experience is a plus, ability to lift at least 20 lbs., computer skills (Word, Excel, etc). Great eye/hand coordination, great attention to detail. Warehousing experience is a plus. Stable home internet connection is a must.
Attendance bonuses are offered as well.Job Responsibilities:
- Attention to detail.
- Ability to work with diverse personalities
- Use of powered industrial equipment
- Perform pre-shift checks of equipment
- General Office responsibilities
- Work closely with shipping department in the processing of incoming and outgoing mail and packages.
- Correspondence with shipping department regarding shipping (receiving, delivery orders, etc)
- All applicants must provide documentation proving they are United States citizens.Candidates must possess the ability to demonstrate the following:
- Reliable transportation
- Follow directions and routines
- Identify and read words, package markings, and zip codes
- Concentrate, memorize, and recollect logical connections and sequences.Type: Contract. Temp to perm position
Please contact us only at e-mail: kayemasint@gmail.com
Contact Information:
If you are interested in applying for this Shipping opportunity, please contact only at:Name Name (Don Miller)
kayemasint@gmail.comYour resume and information will be kept completely confidential. You must place “NOW!-2369” in the subject of your email.
Looking forward to receiving your resume and going over the job in more detail with you!
So here's the first sign it's a scam. Who sent the mail? According to the from address it's some random person with an address at starhub.net.sg, which is a telecommunications company in Singapore. Note how the sender's address has nothing to do with the company they're claiming to represent. Then they tell you to respond not to them, but to an address at a free mail service. In this case, it's Google's gmail. Other times it might be Hotmail or Yahoo! mail. The address at a domain that has nothing to do with the business, then replying to an address at a free mail service is almost always a sure sign of a scam.
Second, when I looked at the message headers (the underlying routing information) I found it actually originated from "user-0cevbp7.cable.mindspring.com". Mindspring is a subsidiary of Earthlink, right here in the old U.S. of A, not Singapore. That means it most likely got sent from the zombified computer of someone who clicked an attachment to see naked pictures of Margaret Thatcher or fell for some other trick to voluntarily load a virus onto his computer..
Third, package forwarding is an old scam. Crooks buy stuff on EBay with compromised Paypal accounts or forged checks. No U.S. seller is going to send the stuff to Nigeria or China or Russia, because they know that most buyers from those countries are scammers. So they have the package shipped to you and have you ship it to them in Nigeria, China, or Russia. When the check bounces or Paypal reverses the payment, the seller goes to the cops and the cops come knocking on your door. Best of all, you're now an accessory to a felony.
Now we come to the compensation. How long does it take you to accept a delivery, take it to the UPS store, and ship it to the address they e-mailed you? 30 minutes? An hour? Who's going to pay you $70-140 an hour for work that generally pays $10-20 an hour? If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
I know you may be feeling desperate and wishing this was true. Heck, my wife had a baby this week and I'm between contracts. With the way the economy's going, I'm scared. So I know how you might be feeling. But this stinks like a month old fish. Don't reply. Don't get yourself on the radar of these criminals. Be glad you were smart enough to Google this and move on to better uses of your time.
Best of luck to you.
Entries (RSS)
Great info - I just got the email and also thought it was to good to be true. I had questions and searched for their website. I could not find anything directly for them, instead while I was searching I found your posting.
Thanks
Sure thing - the problem I have is it was forwarded to me thru my company's intranet. Guess our II guys are going to have their hands full.
I got this same email this past weekend and was able to find their website cargonow.org. It looks ligit but if it sounds to good to be true WATCH OUT. Thanks for the insite on how the scamming works from these crooks!
yup it came on my computer also, I thought it was really strange the way it came and the wording and such. Glad you took the time to put this up on the internet. Don't fall for these scams always check it out to the fullest.
Thanks
One more for the list... This one was from: Adrian Doss [tek@qcorps.com] saying to reply to: Jenny Carnival, madelinekirkbridehh@gmail.com,
Thank you! It sounded legit (no obvious typos or mention of Nigeria, etc.) Mine came from "Dee Mcgowan" , but reply to Jenny Carnival carolebigginsmg@gmail.com
Human resources. Thanks for saving me time and frustration!
Thanks!
I received mine from Preston Lewis [wbuwchq@bradlo.com.au with a respond to Jenny Carnival [aileenbrackneyf@gmail.com. It truly did sound too good to be true. Thank you for confirming my suspicions.!
thank you so much for posting this. My husband works for the county in Washington state and he got this at work. He was interested, as he is thinking of retiring, so I googled to check these people out and came up with all of your responses!
P. S. The one he got was also from Jenny Carnival (laurenvaccafu@gmail.com)
I received this email through my work spam filter. It said to send your resume to a carolebigginsmg@gmail.com but was from an HR person named Jenny?
The first thing that came to my mind when I read it was a 20/20 or Dateline special I saw w/ Chris Hanson, the reporter that did the "To Catch a Predator" series for Dateline. He also did a credit card scam series as well. Chris teamed up w/ the US Banks and the FBI to create some fradulent credit cards and info such as; pins, security questions, etc. and sell them on underground websites that scammers now about. Within 2 minutes of Chris advertizing the "cardable" information, scammers buy and sell the info to each other for cheep...usually about $5.00 USD a pop. Chris also created a "cardable" webstore that a scammers could buy stuff and have it shipped to unsuspecting US people that thought they were receiving the goods for their online "pal" that they have never met, but talk to them on the internet.
These US people supposedly found "romance" on the internet and crooks from Nigeria, Brazil and Europe were getting these people to receive the goods at their home in the US and thats right, PAY FOR THE SHIPPING TO SHIP THE GOODS TO THEIR ONLINE "PAL" IN ANOTHER COUNTRY! One guy spent over $25,000 to send stuff to Brazil thinking he was sending the stuff to his online "girlfriend" in Brazil. Well Chris Hanson w/ Dateline tried to follow the packages to see who was behind this. It took him to 3 different countries. As it turned out it was a man from Nigiera who was a scammer. In the mean time there are US citizens who's info is stolen and sold for $5.00 on underground websites for scammers, thousands of dollars charged on their credit cards and are left holding the bills from purchases made from all over the world in a matter of minutes. The credit card companies hold the card holder responsible! It really makes me wonder if the credit card companies are partly to blame and want this to happen? Looks good on their balance sheet for awhile...then just right it off as bad debt and that's right the US GOVERNMENT WILL BAIL THEM OUT AT THE TAX PAYERS EXPENSE! ONLY IN AMERICA!
Thanks for the info as i was thinking of passing the job info along to someone who needed work. these scammers are very prolific.
WHAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man this really sucks, my mom forwarded me the e-mail a couple of days ago and I replied. CRAP, hope that doesn't bite me in the butt later...=((. Thank for the heads up.
I replied to but just to the first e-mail....they sent me a bunch of documents that would seem like normal application style but they are asking for way to much infor without even a phone call, sorry but no way in hell are you getting my mailing addy and SSN....b*stards
What a load of shxx.. I was almost ready to sign up for this amazing job offer that seemed to good to be true. I almost quit my current job to take a vacation, what the heck at 70$ per package recieved I would be rolling fatt. It sounds and looks so reputable, even the forms they want you to fax back to them, so professional.. Stay clear of cargo now!
Thanks for the brain duster...
R
I'm afraid they got to second base with me. I sent in my resume and received this response from them:
Now we have another vacant position, the transaction Operator. Transaction Operator position involves the same duties and responsibilities as Shipping/receiving manager and I'm sure you are experienced enough to accept both positions.
Would you be able to receive western union transfers/money orders/cashiers checks from our eBay customers, cash them and transfer money to the provided addresses? We send 3-5 transfers per week, so you should check your mail as many times as you can and reply promptly. We pay $70 per each received transfer. We usually do western union transfers, Money Orders, personal and cashiers checks, bank wire and Pay Pal transfers. All you need to do is:
a) In case of Money Order/check you should cash it first. You can do it at nearest cashing store. No need to use your own funds, just deduct the cashing fees from received amount. Then you should find nearest western union location and transfer the money to the provided address.
b) In case of Western Union transfer you should pick up the transfer in the nearest western union location and then send received money to the provided address.
c) In case of wire transfer - withdraw the received funds from the bank account and then forward to the provided address.
Just deduct ALL western union and cashing commissions from received transfers. No need to use your own funds!!! We cover all your expenses that you might have: gas, bus ticket, cashing fees, etc.
We do not require your personal banking information. You can open a separate bank account for the business purposes only, we reimburse all expensive you might have with opening the separate account.
If you would be able to accept both positions, please let me know. I'll provide you with more information concerning Transaction Operator position, as well as TR/TS forms Look forward to hearing from you soon. Please contact me with any questions that you may have.