Administrative Assistant ad on Craigslist

this is their latest postig on craigslist - it was posted on monday 12/27. i'm waiting for their "payment check" then plan on taking it to the post office (if it's a money order) and to the police to file a report on them that will also get forwarded to CL.

anh

Rock IT Group Comp Services.

Detailed Job Description
The primary goal is to provide local customer support to our clients within North America. This includes providing convenient payment options and informing them of shipping and the terms of sale.
You will be assisting our clients within North America, the assistance to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service via email.


Your duties will include:
Collecting Local Payments
When a buyer in the US decides to purchase an item through an online auction from our sellers he has the following payment options: pay pal,international wire transfer, international check, local certified check or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local wire transferring. Local wire transfers and certified checks are the options that the sales support representative will provide to the clients.


Managing Data
Along with the payments received from buyers you will receive details for the sales.
The details will include items sold, price, and buyer's information. You are to file and maintain these purchasing records and transactions.
Forwarding of the Payments
Once you receive & process each payment, you earn 10% of the amount received and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.


Correspondence
You will submit a brief reports, weekly reports, and monthly reports. Weekly and monthly reports are to be done in Excel format and are to summarize all transactions completed within the week, or month.

Here is an example of a brief report:
Date: October 25, '2010
Buyer: Jonathan Olivio
Item: 2 Laptops
Price: $ 1,921.27
Commission 10%: $ 192.1
Fees: $ 129
Total Forwarded: $1600
Forwarded to: Godwin Newton, Whitefield ,United Kingdom
Reference Numbers: 23497839

Fees, and Transferring Procedures
All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks, you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments, along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be forwarding the received payments through wire service.

Salary
You will receive a salary of $900/2weeks aside the commission on every payment processed.

Personal Information (Complete the form below to apply)
First Name:
Last Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Age:
Zip Code:
Residential Phone Number:
Mobile:
Present Job (If Any):


Regards,

James Grant

Rock IT Group Comp Services

The same thing happened to me! They said they were going to send a payment to my house, is that what they said to you also? Please let me know what they've told you, I'm stressing out about what to do! Thank you!

Welcome to ScamWarners LC3. If you are sent a check, do not cash it or deposit it. The check will be a forgery and you will , at the minimum have some explaining to do. At the maximum, you will be out the money they send you and you will have a very uncomfortable conversation with the police.

You can just quit responding to them. Block their email address from your email account. They want people who will do their bidding and they will move on. Hopefully to someone like you who looks into their story and finds that it is a scam.

We hope you will continue to participate here and help us expose scammers and reduce the number of victims.

It's almost certainly going to be a counterfeit cheque they'll send you LC3. There's a small chance it could be something else, but dud cheques are their usual game, and they want to trick you into cashing it for them, at your loss and expense.

Don't take it near a bank and watch out for them following up with threats. I've baited them using fake details and they can get very aggressive about reporting you to the FBI and even the CIA, but it's all a ridiculous bluff. It's the same as a dorrstep salesman thinking he can make you make a purchase because his foot's wedged in your door, aside from the fact that an internet scammer is never going to contact law enforcement. If you don't bank the cheque they don't have a complaint anyway. Their real complaint is that you haven't given them YOUR money as the cheque is worthless and will be charged to your account when it bounces, aside from having tricked you into an illegal transaction and consequent legal implications.

Use a marker pen and mark it boldly 'fake cheque received from scammer' and you're safe. No one could accuse you of holding a counterfeit with intent to use it if you do that.

Thank you! I haven't contacted them since then and wasn't going to try and deposit their check or anything in the first place. Thanks for your advice everyone!

I have the same general letter in response to my craigslist application. The name used this time was Fred Lamp, or Frederick Lamp he stated once. I asked if I could add him on Linked In and haven't heard back since. Hmm...hubby read 1st email and noted that the pay said what I would net...but that would be impossible to know unless he knew my tax brackets, etc...and we had yet to do an interview.

If it sounds too good to be true...it most likely is. That's what my gut was telling me, but my heart wanted a work from home job part time. Oh well I'll keep looking, besides Mr Fred Lamp wished me a blessed day! I prayed and God opened my eyes to the scam.

emails used by him were: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

I received a similar message under a different alias: Raymond Reinhart at [email protected]

Hello,
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 Administrative Assistant, your activities amongst other things will include;

Running business errands.
Mailing and receiving of packages and letters.
Deal with people at all levels across a multicultural environment
Accounts Payable
Also you will be doing some shopping for me.
Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities..

I would love to meet up with you to talk about this job but I am currently away on a business trip. There is a test which i will like you to go through because i need a capable Assistant. I am in Greece now so there will be no interview.

The pay is $400.00 per week regardless of hours worked, but I envisage not more than 12 hours in any week. I need your service because I am constantly out of town. I buy Companies that have financial difficulties and I am trying to start an Art Gallery when I am back in town which will be in September, so this process will be on going till then. I will meet up with you when I return and then we can talk about the possibility of making this long term.

Permit me to test your efficiency and diligence towards this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine. I really need to find the perfect person for this job because I am constantly out of town, 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 promise to be a good boss. I am also glad on the commitment in working. Funds will be made available to you in form of check and it will be issued to you including your first week payment $400, am going to email the list of items to get as soon as I compile them all but it will be better to wait till you get the fund before i give you the list .

For me to be able to send the funds to you, I will need your details below such as

Your Full Name:
Your Full Address with apt # (NO P.O BOX)
City:
State:
Zip-Code:
Age :
Your Cell/mobile phone number
Your Home phone number

Once I receive your contact information as requested above I will get back to you with the task you will be handling. Please understand you will be paid for the first week immediately as I have stated in my message above, its important for me to have everything setup before I get back from my trip. Hope I am clear with that.

Let me know if you are interested in working with me and get back to me with the requested details.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Very Respectfully & May the Lord Bless You.
Raymond Reinhart.
Email: [email protected]

Hello,

I received the same email. Unfortunately I did send him some info (not a copy of my DL as he requested), as it did not scream scam. The name is Thomas Don Karle, and the email addresses are [email protected] and [email protected]. This week he sent me an email asking if I would post an ad on craigs list for his close personal friend "Richard Broderick"

Below is the email that he sent. Unfortunately there really is a Don Karle Photographer (which is why I thought this might be legit).

From: Karle Thomas <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Administrative Assistant, PostingID: 2167312057
To:
Date: Friday, January 21, 2011, 3:05 AM

Hello There,
Hope you're having a pleasant day today? You contacted me applying for the position which I advertised on Craigslist. Do take time to go through this introductory mail and feel free to pass any questions on.
Thomas Don Karle is My name. 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, Great Britain and Asia.At the moment, I am in a work-ship in the Great Britain.I will be here for a month after which I will fly down to Philippines 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 the following

1.To receive letters and mails on my behalf.
2.Receive checks and money orders from clients who want to attend the forth coming workshops or Live shows.
3.Schedule appointments for me.
4.Book my flight tickets.
5.Send letters and mails from my clients.
This position is home-based and flexible part time job,you can be in any location to carry out any of 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.This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship.Let me know if you have any of the office equipment (If not,I will make arrangements to send them to your address)

Scanned copy of your ID: (You can provide that later when you are employed)

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

1.Educational background is not a criteria.
2.You must be Organized and able to take instructions well Dependable, Reliable, Trustworthy a must
3.Must have excellent English language skills (both spoken and written)
4.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 working.

I got the same message, different alias; Luis Melton. I thought that I had cut off communication when I realized that it was a scam, however I received an envelope in the mail today that I was not expecting, and the errors in handwriting match that of the e-mails...(one capitol letter, one lowercase, not making any sense) I havent opened it yet, and am unsure what to do with the envelope?

It will be a fake check. Obviously the last thing you want to do is try to cash it as you will get into trouble. Basically you have 3 options.

1) shred the check
2) bring it to your local police department, with the emails and the envelope if you still have it (Most likely they won't do much with it, to be honest)
3)Write FAKE in very large letters in permanent ink across the front of the check, so that it is very clear that nobody can possibly attempt to cash it. Then keep it as a reminder/educational tool about scams.

Since they sent the check, they may try to threaten you, or even say they are sending the FBI after you for not sending their money. They might even write to you posing as the FBI. It's all lies (of course they can't contact the FBI--they are the criminals!) If they do this, the easiest thing to do is to tell them that the bank told you the check is a fake and turned it over to the police.

I received a similar email from David Andersson. I am glad I found this forum. Here is the first email I received from him:

Hello Applicant,

My name is David Andersson,49yrs old,married with 2 kids,Am a property management maintaining and managing apartment units, single family residential homes, condos and commercial properties..The company's duty is to know that your assets are not just being overseen, but actively managed to increase their value over time gives you the kind of peace of mind many investors find essential.


I need someone to work with me from his or her home as personal assistant to monitor and keep me up to date with my activities.

Duties and Requirements:

Process all owner distribution batches – print checks, statements and mail on a timely basis.
Assisting with management of employee's.
checking store supplies and placing orders
Process rental applications in Resident Data.
Type various letters ,Prepare 3 Day Notices.
Retrieve and process faxes
Send unpaid rent notifications to tenants.
Deposit and monitor payments of all owner contributions.



Available during regular business hours Organized and able to take
instructions well Dependable, Reliable, Trustworthy a must Excellent

English language skills (both spoken and written)
Must have good attention to detail
Must be a problem solver and not a problem maker
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

Working hours:Mon-Friday


Total Hours (Per Week):20hours


Salary:$300 weekly($1200 monthly)

This position is home-based and flexible part time job,you can be in any location you will be working from your home doing all the activities.


Am out of state for business trip and I will be back on the 28th of March,2011.Before that i want you to start working for me and I do have a number of things you could help me with this new week if you will be available to start.This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship.



I have first task waiting for you to know if you are ready to work.I want to know if you have any of this office equipments list you need to start this position:

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

If you have any of this office equipments let me know also fill the application form below.


APPLICATION FORM

First Name :
Last Name:
Full Street Address(not po box) :
City, State, Zip Code:
Cell Phone Number:
Home Phone Number:
Email:
Sex:

Yahoo Messenger ID:

Note:If you do not have yahoo ID set-up one to chat with me online.


Nationality___________________


Current Job:__________________________ __


Are you eligible to work in the United States?Yes____ No_____


If you are under age 18, do you have an employment/age certificate?Yes ___ No___



POSITION/AVAILABILITY:

Position Applied For_________________


How often do you check your email:______________


Specify the hours that you will be available if my schedule doesn't work with the hours I requested.

Days/Hours Available:


Monday____
Tuesday ____
Wednesday____
Thursday____
Friday____
Saturday____
Sunday____
Hours Available: from_______ to______



What date are you available to start work?________________

Regards,

David Andersson

Hello me27

You no doubt have read Dotti's post (above) - it's a scam.

It would help others who might be searching the internet for the person who has contacted you, if you would post the e-mail address of the scammer if it

OMG! im glad i looked him up i knew it wuz too good to be true im waiting on a 2900.00 check right this minute!! i couldnt believe i recieved the same emails as others!!! and yes his answers were wishy washy... thatss what made me look him up!

Hello how are you doing today hope all is well with you over there? am glad that you will receive the payment today .......... The amount on the check is $2900 and This is the tracking number for the package ( J230 093 464 7) and the package will be delivered to you by UPS okay


Like i said before i want you will have to by some office equipment for me and i need you to send some money out of that to my manager in Missouri now okay

The needed amount by my Manager from the Check is for her to get the Urgent Tools is $1,900 .cos he wants to use the money to ship the items she ordered from there okay ....

HERE ARE THE LIST OF TOOLS YOU WILL BE GETTING


I WANT YOU TO GET A BRAND OF THEM

1.... Printer
2... Faxing Machine ,
3... Photocopy Machine
4... Calculator

I will like you to get them all in a NEW BRAND OR YOU CAN GET THE PRINTER ,FAX MACHINE AND THE PHOTOCOPY ALL IN ONE OK . And dont get yourself worried about shipping them , The FEDEX COURIER SERVICE will be coming over to pick them up.

So as soon as you have the payment Today , just deposit the check in your account cos it will take up to 24hrs to clear in your account and quickly get the sum of $1,900 send to my Manager so she could get the necessary things done there after you can go and complete your Task by getting the Tools at the Closest Store to you .



So what you will have to get done without no delays is for you to get the required fee which is the sum of $1,900 send to The Manager via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER , you have not to be worried about the whole money with you , i will instruct you on what is to be done next with it ,because it also contains your weekly fees, but at first i want you to send the $1,900 .to my Manager so she can get the Needed Supplies in the Office .


Full Name: ....Joan Coffland
City:.... Columbia
State: ....Missouri
Zip-Code......: 65202


But i am sure you will not make any mistake on that.So as soon as you must have been through with the sending of the money,i will want you to kindly get back to me with the following information because there will be an receipt that will be given to you at the WESTERN UNION okay.


So it is from the receipt that all of the following information will be send to me so i could forward it to my Manager okay.........

(1) Money transfer Control number ()
(2) Full Senders Name
(3) Full Receivers Name
(4) Exact amount sent after the charges has been deducted.
(5) Secret Text Question & Answer.

hope to read from you soon

I received your application,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 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.

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. Permit me to use this 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 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 this week is to do shopping for office equipment/printing materials for my new office,A check will be mail to you from a Client tomorrow , the money is needed to get some Tools need for my new office.

So the payment you are receiving is for my Client and the Money is Needed to furnish my New Office , the Money is needed to get some Equipments and tools into the Office .

So once you received the Check all needed of you to do is for you to deduct your $400 weekly Pay from it and send the remaining money to the Manager to arrange those Tools inside the Office , I want you to email me back soon as you received this message for me to be rest assure you are still with me . you can reach me at 443-681-6558
I await your mail..
Thanks

Hello how are you doing and hope you had a nice Day ,
Thanks for your interests in the PA position, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities. I most very often get my hands occupied because am working with many companies both states and outside,so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities. As my assistant, your activities amongst other things will include: Make travel arrangements and submit expenses for Attorneys Order office supplies, Running personal errands,Check Processing Filing documents,faxing,printing and typing letters Web research, Internet search skills and posting ads Quality communication etiquette skills and good organizational skills Serious sense of humor required and mandatory to work with me Ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information Perform duties with accuracy, quality, and integrity You can only apply for this position if you own a printer and personal computer. Basic wage is $400 a weekly About me:

My name is Mr mark daniels , i have a family of 2 and i am a contractor .I travel a lot,hence the reason why i need an assistant to handle affairs for me on the home front when i am away on business which is usually quite often. This position is home-based and flexible you can be in any location,working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on.

This is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially when i return ok.. I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available for me. This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship. Note:This position is home base office work you can be in any location and work with me from your home/office. Let me know your interest if you are ready to work with me from your home/office Mon-Fri @ 10am

So Fill This Application And Email It Back Here Asap!!!

Full Name:
Street Address:
City, State, Zip Code:

Cell Phone Number: (
Home Phone Number(___)None
Email:
Current Job: .

Hope to hear from you again.
daniels

This was a response to an ad I applied to on Craigslist. SCAM....

(Awfully long email for someone who is so busy and needs a personal assistant!)



Hello,

Hope you're having a pleasant day.

I'm in receipt of your e-mail applying for the job position . Please kindly read this e-mail carefully to know what this position entails. It is imperative that I find the perfect person for the job and I'm hoping will be the best you can be .

I must introduce myself before going any further ...

I am Mr. Jeremy Brown, 52 and I'm married with 3 adorable children . I run my family's farm mainly, I also have a handful of investments and businesses of my own particularly in the real estate market and as a private lender. I'm also a Certified Payroll Specialist working for a number of companies within and outside the US as a private eye / analyst in their payroll activities. I travel very frequently trying to expand my business and sometimes there is a work overload for me, this is the more reason I'm looking to find someone back home who is efficient, self-motivated, organized, a good communicator with an ability to multi-task under pressure and who can help me keep up to date with all of my activities amidst my ever busy schedule.

It is important for you to note that you are being hired by me personally, not by my family or any other businesses that I represent, and although most of your duties will be centered around the activities relating to these businesses, you will be working for me as far as an administrative functions is concerned ; as my new personal assistant having lost the lady that works for me since the past . I will need some one who will be as good and equivalent as my previous assistant to help me monitor and put to date with all my activities. I will be personally responsible for your wage and all correspondences, findings and queries would be made and promptly reported to me personally no matter the circumstance. The position is part-time and home-based, you will need to set up a home-office if you don't already have one; we will discuss the costs of setting this up as we move along. Most importantly, you need to have a regular internet and telephone access, with this, I can easily convey instructions no matter where I am on what I need to be done at a particular time.

Your activities as amongst other things will include;

* Purchasing needs
* Excellent organizational skills
* Strong oral and written communication skills
* Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence
* Can-do attitude and strong, self-motivated work ethic
* Flexibility to manage multiple and shifting priorities
* Ability to work both independently and in a close-knit team environment
* Facility in using MS Office suite
* Preparing payments (checks) for signature;
* Handling and monitoring financial activities;
* Running personal errands, supervisions and monitoring;
* Organizing and maintaining diaries, memos and making appointments;
* Dealing with incoming email, faxes and post;
* A personal reminder for Schedules, programs, flights and keeping me
up to date with them as they come up;
* General clerical activities.

Let's get started with the Donations amongst the above mentioned activities ...

Consider a payment sent out already; I will want you to keep an eye out for the payment in the mail and let me know as soon as it is received for further instructions on what I want done EXACTLY. As soon as you have gotten the payment, I will want you to kindly deduct an exact amount of $500.00 I am offering you for the first week- and the remaining difference of the money to be forwarded as donations down to an orphanage home . I will let you know the name, address information and instructions guiding you on how to do this . I hope you know where am coming from ???

This position is very flexible and it is difficult judging the exact number of hours you will be doing a week, however bear it in mind that there will be busier weeks than others but the pay will always be steady. 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. There is also a very sensitive issue on trust, dedication and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on.

I'm currently in England now attending a seminar, in the mean time we will begin unofficially and on trial pending my arrival because I have a number of important things you could begin work on immediately. Your wage remains intact even during this trial period. I hope you can be available immediately, I believe it certainly can act as a stable foundation to our impending working relationship. As soon as I get back though, we will arrange a meeting and set up a proper interview.

Due to the excessive number of responses to this job Ad on Craigslist, I will require the following details about yourself to filter applicants and for a personal record update;

Please provide details exactly as below regardless having already sent your resume.

Full Names;
Full Contact Address;
City;
State;
Zip Code;
Phone Number (H);
Phone Number (M);
Occupation (if any);

Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards

Mr. Jeremy Brown.


[email protected]

d_diamondg and Fox109 you better sit down and read this carefully.

In your case, the scammer wants to set you up as his US based counterfeiter and fake cheque distributor, risking jail time over mailing counterfeit cheques for which he intends to receive cash, after you post them out to victims.

Of course the only person who can be traced is you and, even if the police understand what's happened, there'll be many US citizens pressing for you to face jail time.

You won't ever receive any money as it's all destined for his pocket, and he'll be setting up victims right now. Never ever print cheques for a stranger, and don't waste your money buying stuff for someone you don't know. If you have already, just don't issue any cheques otherwise you are getting yourself involved in counterfeiting, mail fraud and a crime that is handled by the Secret Service, not even the FBI.

If a company can't take the simple step of issuing their own cheques, you know this isn't right. The truth is that there is no business, only a scammer wanting you to scam people for him, but you wont see a cent, and he hopes to earn good money before you get shut down and put away.

Counterfeit cheques coming from Nigeria aren't accepted as readily as ones coming from within the USA, but the drawback is that the US postal services are more effective in tracking down where they come from.