Sean Knowles - fake PA Job Offer

Hello,
I recently put an ad into Craig’s List for custom database and spreadsheet building.
I got this reply which is pretty obviously a scam, I think. I mean really, even people from the Bronx don’t have THAT bad of grammar! I’m also suspicious that you need a “Drivers/License” to run a computer? I replied that what he’s asking is not what I provide.

This is the reply email:

"sean.knowles1969" <[email protected]>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
sean.knowles1969 to davidcomputerr.

Hello,

How you doing?

My name is Sean Knowles. Originally, from Bronx, New York.

I read your description and am interested in your services,I will be importing some computers into the states soon.The PC are laptops Pentium 3 dell & hp Computers...i want you to Install softwares, clean inner & outer computer components and update software's to current status. They are about 10;15a computers. I have a shipping company that will ship them to and from you . So no worries about that .

I will be providing the softwares to be installed .Installation of softwares; anti virus,Microsoft excel,powerpoint,adobe pagemaker,microsoft office,coral draw and dvd player. These are the softwares I will provide and will provide each drivers/license keys for this softwares .
Get back to me with a price for 15 computers . I will like you to know this wont be an end to our transaction as I will be able to introduce you to more of my friends in this field depending on charges as we recently lost our engineer for as regards. I might have more work for you in the near future. Let me know.

Let me know if you'll accept check as mode of payment.

I await your urgent response so that i can put arrangements in order.

Thanks
Sean...

Title changed and moved to appropriate forum- Ralph

Welcome to Scamwarners.
It's not new and there are several other examples here.
You'd be sent a fake check and asked to send part on by Western Union to thr imaginary shipping company.
I think he means drivers and licence keys. Although it's hardware that needs drivers, not software.

Thanks for the reply!
I'm a techie so I knew what he was trying to say about drivers and license and keys, it was just so funny how he said it...he so did NOT know what he was trying to say.

So that's it, I should just leave it...or I should probably report it to Craig's List?

Gee.

Welcome again to Scamwarners.

Happy that you have not been scammed.

This link here offers advice about scams and what actions can be taken.

Clearly his offer is not designed for the service you are offering, and is more tuned to sellers offering computer servicing and upgrades, though even then it is not a well thought out scam, and is only likely to snare the unwary.

I am far from a computer expert but the commercial viability of importing, then upgrading second hand laptops is not great, and Pentium 3 laptops don't sound like units that would require that sort of work, and even if they did, where's the profit ? The fact is that he doesn't care what services you offer, because that isn't what he's interested in and the introduction of the shipper is preparation for the overpayment aspect of his scam.

I'd tell ell him that you don't accept payment by cheque, you never pay monies to third parties and you won't accept payment until you receive the machines to work on, but then it's really a waste of time getting involved with him further.

I'm a techie so I knew what he was trying to say about drivers and license and keys,

Sorry. That will teach me not to log on at 5:00am.

I don't see much point in telling Craigslist. They're well aware of the scammers. If they close his account, he'll only open a new one.

I don't see much point in telling Craigslist. They're well aware of the scammers. If they close his account, he'll only open a new one.

Unfortunately this so true and sad. Craigslist is full of scams - most of them which can be broadly defined as check scams. Opening another account is easy and will not hinder the scammer.

Now education and warnings about these scams is a powerful weapon. (Really can't wait for Craigslist to police itself better as they do not seem to be so inclined.)



Will K

We don't believe in closing lads' email accounts either. It doesn't inconvenience them much, but it does hinder us from keeping track of them. As well as disrupting the activities of anyone baiting them.

Ahhh the old "do we have the email accounts closed or do we let them to keep them" debate

If you were to ask this question of the email providors they will most likely suggest reporting for closure, many government funded "scam experts" (those who get paid big money to get on TV oaccasioanlly and speak of a subject they clearly have no actual knowledge on) they would also suggest reporting them for closure, we often have visitors believing the same and often it takes quite some convincing to get them to agree.

Myself and the other Support team members of this site volunteer our time to helping scam victims, we do this every single day of the week, not for some highly paid government job but because we want to make a difference and surprisingly, we do know a thing or 2 about scams, how they work and how to effectively slow them down, closing email accounts is a very minor inconvenience to a scammer, but it is a huge inconvenience to us when we can no longer trace a particular scammer.

Dont report them, seriously, it is not doing the slightest bit of good for anybody except for the scammer, even then the scammer just doesn't know it's helping him

Got a new one to add to the collection from the [email protected] (I hope the real/other Sean Knowles' is/are not getting bothered by their friends about this. Here is the one I got today, and again from a Craigslist posting that has nothing to do with anything I posted:
_________________________________________________________

Dear Sir/Ma,

I need a (PA) Personal Assistant. I'm looking for someone that can be trusted and reliable to work very well and good understanding person.


This position is home-based and flexible, working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, so I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.

As my assistant, your activities amongst other things will include;

*Running personal errands, supervisions and monitoring.
*Scheduling programmes, flights and keeping me up to date with them.
*Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence when I'm away.
*Making regular contacts and drop-offs on my behalf.
*Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities.

Basic wage is $500 a week

If you're interested you can e-mail me back Asap.

Regards,

Sean knowles.
__________________________________________


Good luck finding a personal assistant Sean. LOL

Hi Seescams

Welcome to Scamwarners

Thank for posting the additional details, every bit of information we can get helps, well done

Please dont hesitate to ask if you have any questions

This scammer is using a different mail address.

Note - this following posting has been flagged for removal

Personal/Executive Assistant Needed
Reply to: [email protected] ... sean11101@yahoo. com. Compensation: $500 Weekly; This is a part-time job. Principals only. ...
houston.craigslist

These mails concerning above application for a "fake job" posting on Craig's List.

Dear PA,

How are you doing? I hope you're having a pleasant day !

I'd receive your e-mail.. I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point as i based in New York .

Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week.If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side.

I work at a Oil Rig Company and we import and export crude oil to the neighborhood countries, so i personally need a Personal Assistant in the country that can take good care of my contacts and e-mails in case if I'm out of the country.

As I have said, I'd want us to get a head start with things as soon as possible. I do have a pile up of work and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually as i want you to always check your e-mail at least every 6 hours for details on this position.

Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine.. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and on the long run we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.

I'd want us to meet up on Yahoo chat as soon as possible so we can discuss this extensively, more so it's easier for me to convey information's once I'm online.My Yahoo ID is the same as my e-mail address, [email protected] It may be a little difficult working out the time difference between us initially, with time however, we should get used to it.

I'm online most of the time when I'm not out or in a meeting so we should be able to have a chat sooner than you think. Do try to keep a date.

I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss.I am also glad on the commitment in working.

I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me by next week is to run some errands out to an Orphanage,You will be making some donation to them as i always do every month..I just want to use this to test your efficiency and know how active you can work for me.

The donation will be in form of Check and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients and i have some list to email you once you received the funds,I guess you will make some arrangements by buying some stuff for the kids in the nearest store around you and mail them out to any given information i provide for you or you will send the funds in cash to them..

I will get you more information on that.

I will like you to get back to me with your Contact Details such as:

Full Name:
Full Contact Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Martial:
Age:

Once i received your contact information i will get back to you with the task for this week, Understand you will also be paid as soon as you pass this first assignment, You will be paid ($500) at the end of the week.

I won't be able to call you due to my hard hearings this days as i need to see a specialist for my hear-drum soonest but i can relay call.

You can just view the website on http://www.shell..com but I'm not yet a registered member until the end of this month..

Hope i am clear with that.

Get back as soon as possible..

Sean Knowles

Dear xxxxx,

Good morning . I received your email and your contact details.

I am glad to inform you again that your contact details have been reviewed and will like to congratulate you as my new P.A, Your first assignment has been assigned to you Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this e-mail. Once Again, Congratulations.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT:

You will receive a Check on my behalf from a Client,and proceed with the Orphanage Motherless Charity Home by buying some toys for them,I will get you the list of what to get at the store.

You would be sent a Cashiers Check which would cover your payment of $500 for the week and also for the duty you are to carry out.Once you receive the check,You should cash in at your bank or a check cashing place and deduct your $500.00,and use the rest of the money for the services.Upon receiving the funds,the locations address would be forwarded to you, and also the Name and address of the Orphanage Motherless Charity Home would be made to.

You would have to keep a comprehensive record on every activity you carry out.Please send me a reply ASAP as the payment would be mail out to you next week.

I will also appreciate if you can send a picture of yourself.

Yours Sincerely

Mr.Sean Knowles

Hello,

Good morning to you.I am sorry for the change in plans and want to let you know that you are employed and you will surely get started on the task soonest.I got an update that the payment will be delivered to you unfailingly on Wednesday so i would want you to keep your finger cross till then.

I will also want you to keep in touch with me by replying this note in other for me to confirm you received it.

Thanks for your time.

Sean

My husband just received this letter welcoming him as a "PA" for a Mr. River Paoletti....does THIS look familiar? It was posted on craigslist.com of course!



Dear XXXXX,

I am glad to inform you again that your contact details have been reviewed and will like to congratulate you as my new P.A, Your first assignment has been assigned to you Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this e-mail.Once Again, Congratulations.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT:
You will receive a Check on my behalf from a Client. and proceed with the Orphanage Motherless Charity Home by buying some toys for them, i will get you the list of what to get at the store. You would be sent a Cashiers Check which would cover your payment of $500 for the week and also for the duty you are to carry out.

Once you receive the check, you should cash in at your bank, and deduct your $500.00, and use the rest of the money for the services. Upon receiving the funds, the locations address would be forwarded to you, and also the Name and address of the Orphanage Motherless Charity Home would be made to. You would have to keep a comprehensive record on every activity you carry out. Please send me a reply asap as the payment would be mail out to you this week...

P:S. I am Currently in court hearing here is Australia for one Mrs Kimberly James who has being humiliated by her husband..She has filed a divorce against him and needs to gain custody of her kids.

I am an arttoney who handles cases involving divorce and childs custody.Alot of women around the world her humiliated by their husbands..After handling 2 cases some years ago,I became interested in cases involving children.

I believe women should be their guardian.This has increased my passion for children.I want to come closer to them and really want them happy because they are innocent and they dont deserve to suffer.For some years,I have been visiting Orpanage homes around the world and have been helping them both with material things and cash.

If the rich in this world take it upon themselves to send atleast 5% of their income to orpanage homes,then these children will have course to smile. Thanks as you join me in bringing smiles to the faces of these children

Yours Sincerely
Mr. River Paoletti

Welcome to Scamwarners buzzy. A definite fake or counterfeit cheque scam.

Thank you for posting this information - it will alert and save others from being scammed.

PA (personal assistant
Mr. River Paoletti. Location: Baltimore, Maryland; Compensation: 500 a week - has been flagged and removed

Well done on realising the scam

Could you please post the mail address this scammer was using - together with any other information.

If you have any questions or concerns please post and a support team member will be glad to help you.

Removed quote of previous complete post to save any confusion- Ralph


Thanks, Scamwarners, you guys just saved me from falling head first into this check scam. I'm not that desperate for a job just to land in prison.

However, I did provide my personal information, but I don't think anyone would want to steal my identity since I declared bankruptcy six years ago.

I applied to two job offers - one for an Executive Assistant through a man calling himself Mike Benson. The second job was a Personal Assistant for a person named Alex Jackson. Both ads had this same template except for the variation in careers.

Both jobs were posted on www.jacksontn.listlux.com. This site is designed like Craigslist.

The alleged Mike Benson says he is an attorney. Alex Jackson is allegedly a furniture store owner who cannot decide if he is a man or a woman. First he said he was a man, then later in the email he's a woman, I kid you not.

What alerted me, initially, but I chose to ignore at the time, was their appalling punctuation and spelling. I've worked for doctors and attorneys and believe me they know how to write a sentence using proper spelling and grammar. The other thing was the way they wrote English; many sentences were what I describe as "broken English." So, I knew that Benson was either African or middle eastern. I'm not quite as certain where Alex Jackson is from. I further suspect that these names are aliases.

Today, I received a cashier's check in the amount of $3820.00 from M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., however, the sender address does not exist. I am fully aware that I have in my possession a counterfeit check, now, with my fingerprints all over it, but the scammer's prints probably are too. Should this be taken to the police so it can be run through AFIS?

Finally, I want to reply to these characters and tell them both to take a hike and leave decent, honest people alone. Guess that isn't a good idea, huh!

WW~