Potential Craigslist job scam?

What they do is send a fake cheque which is cleared at first. They want you to complete each phase in a week which imediately brings in the scammers toolkit -SPEED. You will draw the money out and send it using Western Union to the fake shipper. The scammer now has your $550, and it is the same scammer pretending to be the shipper. No computers will arrive and after a longer time if not in 3 days, the cheque will have bounced and you will be out of pocket. Get that scam running regularly and you may have a tidy little earner at the rate of one or two a week, especially if you are a young African boy in Lagos.

Our guy Mark Beachy is at it again, this time in a post in Tucson (among other places, I imagine.)
Thanks to all for making this an easy discovery. I won't repost the message except to share the "AGALACHUMBA CHARITY HOME" part. 400 machines this time and $500 a week.

I guess there's something to be said for persistence. Yes?

Cheers!

I'm pretty sure that this Craigslist ad that I responded to is a scam. I went to the website that was listed in the reply to my email and the website appears to be a legitimate photography website for a Michael Andrews Photography, aka Michael The Mentor. I even got a response back from [email protected]. However, Michael Andrews' email on his website is different than the reply I received. Also, what aroused my suspicions further was that the original Craigslist ad was flagged for removal. Then, I read an example of job scam emails posted here by user, "DKabe", which was pretty much the exact language, word-for-word, and that confirmed my suspicions. Questions for everybody: Does the fact that I sent my resume to this person make me vulnerable to identity theft? I had my full name, address, email, and cell phone at the top. Also, is it more common now that scammers are now pretending to be real people, i.e. an actual photographer that does real work and has a real website? I will post the email I received from "Michael Butt The Mentor" here:

Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:12:17 -0700
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Accounting Administrator
To: Removed personal information. ~Bubbles

Attn:
Hope you're having a pleasant day today, In response to my craig list posting,I am in search of dependable individual with a high pedigree to help me handle my Business errands.Do take time to go through this introductory mail and feel free to pass any questions on. Michael Butt Thementor is My name and I have been A photographer for over 30 years and also has been teaching photography for 20 years. I bring a unique teaching style to students which will guarantee creative and fun learning by all student photographers while elevating them to new, exciting photographic heights that they have only dreamed of.I often conduct LIVE slide/talk lectures on Understanding Exposure, the Art of Seeing, Macro Photography and Photographing People throughout the USA,CANADA, Great Britain and Asia.At the moment, I am in a work-shop in Great Britain.I will be here for a month after which I will fly down to Paris for a Live-slide/talk show lectures with some students.

YOUR DUTIES AS MY PERSONAL ASSISTANT.
While I am out of the states,I need some one who can stand in the gap for me.His/her duties will be
-To receive letters and mails on my behalf.
-Receive Payments from clients who want to attend the forth coming workshops or Live shows.
-Schedule appointments for me.
-Book my flight tickets. Send letters and mails from my clients.

This position is home-based and a flexible part time job,you can be in any location you will be working from your home doing all the activities.All you need do is to check your emails twice daily and keep your phone on most times in case I might need to call you from anywhere I may be.I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available to start.

Let me know if you have any of the office equipment (If not),I will make arrangements to send them to your address

Printer:
Personal Laptop/Desktop:
Internet Access:
Scanner:
Fax machine:
Laminator:
Paper Cutter:

For proper review(since i am not available now to set up a face-to-face interview) supply out correctly the information below .

FULL NAME :
Full Street Address(Not PO Box) :
Apt No :
City, State, Zip Code:
Age:
Present Occupation:
Cell Phone Number:
Age:
Home Phone Number:
Email:

Note: It will be of added advantage if you can provide 2 references from your past employments.

QUALIFICATION:
-Educational background is not a criteria.
-You must be Organized and able to take instructions well Dependable, Reliable, Trustworthy a must
-Must have excellent English language skills (both spoken and written)
-Have great work ethic and attitude, as well as people skills, pay-attention to detail, capable of multi-tasking, and works well under stress at times.


Benefits:
- Yearly performance bonus
- Paid vacation/sick/personal days
- Medical benefits
Salary:
$500 weekly($2,000 monthly)

Also,there will be compensation for efficiency and hard work.

Regards
Michael Butt Thementor
[email protected]
http://www.michaelthementor.com

ok thanks for all the great info! Here is another one! I got this e-mail after applying from an ad on Craig's list - dirty rotten scoundrel. I immediatley checked him out and found this site. So now he is working in Wisconsin too! He was originally looking for a medical front desk/receptionist/office clerk. Then I get the e-mail below and I e-mailed him back and let him know that most of the people I know that have Personal Assistants like to see the person they are hiring and that asking my nationality is none of his business and to never contact me again. So we will see! His email was ewgro at wagviewgro.net. Very interesting because everything I saw on the internet was about how wagviewgrow is a scam!

Hello,

I'm looking for someone that can be trusted and reliable to work
very well with good understanding as my Personal Assistant. This
position I a am offering 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 Personal
Assistant, your activities among-st other things will include:


Duties and Requirements:


*Scheduling programmer's, flights and keeping me up-to-date with them.
*Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities.
*Processing weekly check payment.
*Filing, Faxing, Creating and sending out letters, scanning documents,
some personal assistant duties for owners, and many other
*Managing expenses and invoices


Basic wage is $600 Weekly


I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this
point. 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 for now and the flexibility means that there will be
busier weeks than others. I would like to give you an immediate trial,
so if you are interested kindly get back to me. As I have been
checking my files and schedules and would need someone urgently to run
some errands for me this next week, while I am away. I will have some
funds sent to you to complete the errands and would get back to you
with more information on that, get back to me with your
Personal/Contact Details such as:


FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
HOME PHONE #:
MOBILE PHONE#:
SEX:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
PRESENT JOB:
Nationality: ___________________________
Current Job: ____________________________

How often do you check your email: ______________
Days/Hours Available: Hours Available: from _______ to ______
What date are you available to start work? ________________


If you're interested you can e-mail me back for more information about the job.


Thanks in anticipation of your prompt response.
Yours Sincerely,

Anthony Johnson.
`````
what a rotten thing to do to people that are just trying to find extra or different work... Shame on them - wonder what their parents think of them!!

Welcome to Scamwarners suzanmharris and thanks for posting the Job scammer ( [email protected] ).

You are correct it is a scam. The scammer will send you fake check/s have you cash them and forward an over payment to him or third party. He will have you do this by Western Union or Money Gram. The fake checks will eventually bounce. At that time the bank will have you repay all the money you withdrew on it. The bank may close your account and report you to Law Enforcement.

Another version of this scam: You will be a mule for the scammer receiving stolen money or packages from other victim's. In this case once the victim realize he has been scammed. He will contact the Police. The only credible information the Police will have is yours. All scammers use fake names and free email addresses.

Here is another one. I received this e-mail yesterday after sending my resume about a position that was listed on Craigslist. The e-mail address it came from is: [email protected]

Hello,

I'm looking for someone that can be trusted and reliable to work
very well with good understanding as my Personal Assistant. This
position I a am offering 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 Personal
Assistant, your activities among-st other things will include:


Duties and Requirements:


*Scheduling programmer's, flights and keeping me up-to-date with them.
*Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities.
*Processing weekly check payment.
*Filing, Faxing, Creating and sending out letters, scanning documents,
some personal assistant duties for owners, and many other
*Managing expenses and invoices


Basic wage is $600 Weekly


I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this
point. 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 for now and the flexibility means that there will be
busier weeks than others. I would like to give you an immediate trial,
so if you are interested kindly get back to me. As I have been
checking my files and schedules and would need someone urgently to run
some errands for me this next week, while I am away. I will have some
funds sent to you to complete the errands and would get back to you
with more information on that, get back to me with your
Personal/Contact Details such as:


FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
HOME PHONE #:
MOBILE PHONE#:
SEX:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
PRESENT JOB:
Nationality: ___________________________
Current Job: ____________________________

How often do you check your email: ______________
Days/Hours Available: Hours Available: from _______ to ______
What date are you available to start work? ________________


If you're interested you can e-mail me back for more information about the job.


Thanks in anticipation of your prompt response.
Yours Sincerely,

Anthony Johnson.

Could you post the headers? wagviewgro.net looks like it may be a scam domain used only for email.

This is the newest scam for the telephone number 916-913-9315, Harry Caldwell.

STORE 1:

Remember,you are buying $500 Greendot Money pak reload prepaid card at 3 different stores below:

-RITE AID
-CVS
-RADIOSHACK
-WALGREEN
-KMART
-7ELEVEN

PLEASE NOTE THAT: YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BUYING A GREEN DOT PREPAID DEBIT CARD, YOU SHOULD BUY ONLY GREEN DOT MONEY PAK CASH TOP UP CARDS OF 500 DOLLARS EACH AT THREE DIFFERENT STORES.

NOTE: You must not disclose for any reason that you are a Survey shopper, or let them know you are evaluating their store. While purchasing the cards you should make the below listed observations;

• Store Name & Address location address
• Name of the Cashier/Attendant{If Visible on Tag}
• How long it took to get checkout
• Smartness of the attendant
• Customer Service Professionalism
• Money Pak ‘cash top up cards’ PIN Numbers (Usually 14 Digits) on each of the Money Pak ‘cash top up cards'in 3 places

STORE 2:

Purchase any item for your use not more than $50,These purchases are yours to keep,When CHECKING OUT you should take note of;

• Name of Cashier/Attendant.{ If Visible on Tag}
• Store Address.
• Receipt/Invoice Number.
• General Observation

Yes, it is!

Same e-mail message from: [email protected]

Thanks for your response.

The position is for a Skilled Computer Technician,someone who will be committed and ready to work with good Skills.

I am into sales and supplies of PC Components, Accessories and Systems to the Public, Trade, Government and Education,Charity and N.G.O's.
I have gone through your C.v and I am interested in your services. We have a wide range of Orders to deliver in Canada, which is why the services of a reliable Computer technician is needed.if given the Job you will be in charge of Checking this laptops and fixing them before delivery.

We Have Laptops/computers for Repairs(800).The PC are HP530 laptop Pentium M.
I want you to clean outer computer components,Upgrade memory from 512MB RAM to 2GB RAM and Install the following list of soft wares.

ADOBE PAGE MAKER,
AVG ANTI-VIRUS
MICROSOFT OFFICE/EXCEL
DVD PLAYER
COREL DRAW
SAGE ACCOUNTING
DREAMWEAVER
POWER POINT
MICROSOFT EXCEL

We will provide you with the licensed copies of all the soft-wares and RAM sticks for the laptops.
I am offering you $700 as your weekly Payment

Note :These laptops are going to be distributed to the Less privileged so i suggest you put in efforts to put them in Perfect Condition.I also like You to know that my mode of payment is by Certified Check.
I will like to know how many Laptops/Desktop you are willing to fix in a week

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

Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.

Sincerely,

===================================================================
I am touching base with you to keep you updated and let you know that your services is Important to us However We are in contact with Our Donors.
Payment has been issued in your name and will be sent out to you.you will receive it next week, so you should be expecting the package,
Kindly Keep an Eye on The package.

I will keep you posted via which courier service will be delivering Both Payment and Laptops. When you have the check with you kindly deduct the payment for your services and have the remaining balance sent to The shipper, for him to get the laptops shipped to the address you provided , the balance of the fund is for shipping of the laptops to your destination and when you are done with the laptops the shipper will also come for the pick up of the laptops okay.

i want you to render your best service so that we can do more business later in the future.

Confirm that you have read and understand this mail....Feel Free to reach us on 661-998-1088

I hope to read from you soon. (I just provided fake information and quit from the "opportunity"!)