The following job scam slipped through my spam filters. It also came into an address that I do not use on CareerBuilder or Monster. I'll post the scam mail, then identify the red flags.
From: Bertram CAROL<carolbertram72381h0x8z@hotmail.com>
Subject: New P0SITI0N. ID 13333Hello.
Our company is looking for new employee to support goods reshipment.
Requirements are casual: you must be adult & USA resident.Please contact us via E-mail: Cynthia.Has@gmail.com
Thank you.
First red flag... Sent from a hotmail address, asks you to reply to a gmail address. This isn't a guarantee of a scam, but it's a warning that it could be. When the sender's address is at a different domain than the domain they ask you to reply to, you should be wary.
Second red flag... P0SITI0N. Those aren't Os in that word, they're zeros. Replacing letters with numbers is a common password trick, a hacker culture thing, and a spammer thing when they try to make a word look right to the human eye, but escape spam filters looking for the word. No legitimate company is going to do this in this particular word.
Third red flag... "goods reshipment." This is your guarantee it's a scam. Basically, these scammers buy goods from online stores and auctions with fake credit cards, forged checks, and hacked paypal accounts. They're usually in Russia, China, or an African country like Nigeria. Nobody with a clue accepts online orders from those countries anymore, because the fraud is too rampant. So these crooks sign you up as an intermediary. They "hire" you to forward packages to them. A package arrives, you re-send it out of the country, and they claim they'll pay you for the costs and a monthly salary. Instead, they rip you off, and when the cops investigate the fraudulent purchases, the evidence trail takes them right to your door.
This was one of the crappier quality scam pitches I've received, but it's the first to slip through my spam filters in months, so I thought I'd make sure to note it.
Good luck to all of you.
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