Potential Craigslist job scam?

I was lurking on Craigslist for some easy jobs and found one that seemed almost
too good to be true. After tossing a few emails back and forth with the guy, I think it is
probably a scam. Most of my questions he dodged completely.

He says his name is Daniel Beachy and he's with the Adams Charity Organization
the organisation has a site, I decided to visit before responding to his first email back.
At first I thought it was just a charity asking for help with one of the fundraiser items, but
I noticed the name of the group kept changing from Organisation to Home to Care. I started to
doubt it was legit. I didn't mind the fact that he'd be paying with cashier's check but when he was
saying I'd have to cash the check and send the remaining money back to some other person, I got slightly
more suspicious.

His email is [email protected] just in case someone might think to try and get a job with this guy.
I was just afraid I would have been given a bad check and did work for nothing.

Please tell me what you all think

L. Lou

Hello LucidLou and welcome to scamwarners,

Your instincts are correct, this is a scam. The check will be fake and if you had actually cashed one you will be liable for the full amount of the check when the bank discovers the fraud.

Please post the full email that asks you to receive the check and send money to a third party.

It's a shame, oh well. Glad I was cautious from the start

Daniel Beachy [email protected]
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 9:40 AM (10 hours ago)
Re: Technical Support

to me

Hi *****,

Thanks for your response....

I am glad to read from you as regards the computer repairs Job,also for accepting the offer.However I have Over 80 laptops to be done and i am sending the laptops in small Units of 20 for each week, i expect that you must have been done with the repairs of 20 laptops for each week until the whole laptops are repaired.I want to believe you are fit for this Job,I am offering you $500 weekly Also i want you to know that my client will be sending you a check which you have to deduct your weekly payment $500 plus $50 just incase something comes up and you need some money, so you will deduct a total of $550 from the Payment delivered and send the remaining money to the Freight forwarder agent who will deliver the laptops to you in units.

I have a reliable shipper that will get the laptops shipped to your location and pickup the Laptops when you are done. The main reason why the payment you will receive will cover your money and the shipping charges is because i have a cancel order which the funds will be return back to me via check which i will be directing the payment to you.
Get back to me with your information required below.

REQUIRED DETAILS:

First Name:
Last Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Home Phone Number:
Cell Phone Number:

I am looking forward to reading from you soon.
Thanks.


Daniel



Adams Charity Organization
http://www.adamscharity.jigsy.com
[email protected]

+1-520-720-0933

Glad I ran across this, I ran to this on Craigslist as well, although I only received one email from him after I emailed him about it. I have chosen to converse with him no longer. The email he sent me is below. The fact that he was willing to pay 500 dollars a week, to repair some really old useless laptops is what got me thinking it was a scam in the first place. If he wouldn't have said he was going to re sell them, I would have fallen for it thinking they were for use in another country for charity.

This guy has a Facebook page and everything created back in 2009, it's believable.

"Hi *****,

Thanks for your response.

This position is open is for a Skilled Computer Technician,someone who will be committed and ready to work with good Skills
I am Daniel Beachy Representing ADAMS CHARITY HOME i have gone through your and I am interested in your services. I Have some Laptops computers for Repairs(80).The PC are HP530 laptop Pentium M.
I want you to clean outer computer components,Upgrade memory from 512 MB RAM to 2GB RAM and Install the following list of soft wares.

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

I will provide you with the licensed copies of all the soft-wares and RAM sticks for the laptops too.
I am offering you $500 weekly until you are done repairing the whole laptops.

Note :These laptops are going to be resold so i suggest you put in efforts to make them perfectly repaired.I also like You to know that my mode of payment is by Cashier Check.
Get back to me with the number of laptops 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,

Adams Charity Organization
http://www.adamscharity.jigsy.com
[email protected]

+1-520-720-0933"

Very glad to have found this.
However, I have decided to dig deeper into it.
Tomorrow is Wednesday, might as well see what comes?

"I am touching base with you to keep you updated and let you know that your services is Important to Our Charity Home 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 before the End of Wednesday, 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 will be expecting all the necessary information that would be needed to wire the funds to my shipper.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 352-448-0101
I hope to read from you soon.

Thanks.

Adams Charity Organization
www.adamscharity.jigsy.com
[email protected]
+1-520-720-0933"

However, I have decided to dig deeper into it.

I'm confused as to how you intend to "dig deeper." This is not a new or unique scam. It is an everyday occurrence that is very well understood. He has already spelled out the scam for you. There is absolutely NO mystery to it.

When you have the check with you kindly deduct the payment for your services and have the remaining balance sent to The shipper

1) scammer sends fraudulent check.
2) Scammer wants you to cash/deposit the fraudulent check, then wire a large portion of the cash to his "shipper"
3) "Shipper" information will be fake, or will be the real information of an unknowing mule who has been pulled into a job scam.
4) The person who sent the check to you will also either be untraceable or an innocent mule.
5) The account used to ship the check to you will belong to an innocent party whose account details who have been phished or stolen, or the account itself was opened with a phished/stolen credit card.

Ultimately, in the end, if you were to send money, there would be no way to retrieve it, and you will have no actual information on the people behind this scam.

If you attempt to cash the check in your "digging" you will be committing a crime. Attempts to trace the criminal will fall flat. But, even though they are the guilty parties, scammers tend to get angry with people who play with them. So if he figures out that you were playing him, you will also be dealing with an angry scammer who has your real-life information. You may also be dealing with his retaliation (and a lot of angry victims who don't understand) when he decides to send the next batch of emails or even fraudulent checks in YOUR name.

We do play along with scammers to get information. It's called scambaiting, and we have an entire website (419eater.com) that is dedicated to the activity. But, the number 1 rule of scambaiting is "bait safely" and it means you don't try to play with a scammer who has your real life information.

What will arrive is a fake check. It's worth nothing at all. If you bank it, the bank may allow you access to the balance.
The clue is in the scammer's wording.

When you have the check with you kindly deduct the payment for your services and have the remaining balance sent to The shipper

If you pay the "shipper" you will have paid with your own funds. When the bank realises the check is fake, then they will deduct the amount back from your balance. You may also be charged a fee and receive a visit from the police.

The laptops will never arrive. The scammer may tell you that they are stuck in customs and need a release fee. Obviously, he will tell you to take the fee from the funds he has sent you (which don't exist - remember).

The scammer is playing the part of the shipper and any customs officer, or indeed anyone else that needs a payment.

Please drop contact with him. It will help you stay out of trouble!

Edit: Dotti is a Ninja!

Thank you for clarifying this for me. It's never happened to me before, didn't know what to expect.
Found a new job in construction anyways
Thanks guys!

I had a similar experience as pttraven but unfortunatley I "dug a little deeper" but not on purpose. I found the Craigslist ad and responded to it. I exchanged emails with the guy and after visiting the site(now its canceled) I decided to do the job. When he emailed me and said he was going to send me $3k+ and to keep $700 I thought woohoo! he's giving me an extra $200 than he promised. He instructed me to send $2400 to this lady in Iowa and I did so. A day later he called me and said the transaction didnt work and to cancel the transaction and to send it to South Africa. I got a little suspicious at that point so I checked out the charity and found no records of it online. It also wasnt listed in IRS.gov's list of tax-exempt organizations which also struck me a little weird. Thankfully I was able to cancel the transaction but instead of sending it to South Africa I put it in the bank. However to make matters worse the money got stuck in the ATM and now theres a significant amount of monry in "limbo". The bank said not to worry that the money will be found and accredited to my account the next business day.

My question is, should I take additional measures to avoid prosecution/fees/other adverse consequences?

naivetechie82 Yes you must tell bank. It is a forged cheque and stolen moneyand may take bank 3 or 4 months to find out. I suggest you are as frank as possible and take the scam letters with you. Also contact law enforcement. At this stage since you realise it is a scam nobody is going to heap wrath on you, because you are a victim too.
Now the "lady in Iowa" may be a seasoned money launderer and a money mule, and a criminal if she exists. That side is for the police to discover, but the sooner this matter is looked at the better.

Thank you for posting about this. I just got the same email from Daniel Beachy from the exact same craigslist posting.

I was a bit confused by the message and when I found the Adams Charity Organization website dead, I got worried and started searching and eventually ended up here.

Thank you again and I hope they catch this guy someday.

I have seen several of the same scams. They all sound to good to be true, and they all have the same page layout note the area where they want you to put your personal information every one I've seen looks exactly alike here's a copy of a couple of them.....
Example #1
Hello,
I got the application you submitted for the House cleaner/Janitor position (Housekeeping Job) posted on Craigslist, am sorry for the late response.
I'm James Harrison & my wife's name is Tranesha Harrison ,we have decided to put the Launtdry project aside for now as my wife is now heavy with pregnancy and she is suppose to manage the laundry,she's 8 months pregnant now and this is our first baby so we have no choice than to suspend the project till after the arrival of our baby.We are relocating from Florida so we have been using services of some agencies and companies to build the laundry shop which is now in it completion phase but we will no longer open it till next year say March. Am actually coming there to work on contract basis with United States Environmental Protection Agency on a private research work so we need someone who could help me take care of our house by doing some house work while am off to work. Someone that will also help in running some errands.
Like i said,salary still remains $500 weekly and I will be needing your services for three hours at any suitable time of yours, Mondays through Saturdays so I begin plan on how to fit it into our personal and daily schedule. I believe you are fit for this position in as much you will prove yourself to be a reliable , efficient and good person.
Our financier will be handling the Salary remittance and some other expenses due to my work. So he will be the one that will be taking care of your Salary. I will instruct him to pay for the first week before my arrival so as to secure your service, actually i should have paid for more weeks but i will to check your efficiency first then i may increase your Salary if am satisfy with your service after the some weeks, so that may be a kind of probation period (interview) as we wont be able to carry out any interview in person until when we move down.
I will direct our financier to make out payment to you before our arrival, you will be receiving fund in
the amount of $3,750 in which you will be using part to pay for our house rent, get some Groceries and
also your salary,all this should be done before we arrive on 24th Of December 2012.
I will also instruct the estate agent to get across to you about the apartment so you can check it out for us and also carry out all other necessary and needed preparations before we arrive. I will email you the shopping list for the new year. You have to get all these done before our arrival so that we wont have to start running around when we finally arrive. I would be needing the following Information in other to relay it to our financier who will be remitting the payment.


# First Name:
# Middle Name If Any:
# Last Name:
# Home Address:
# City:
# State:
# Zip Code:
# Cell/Home Number:
# Best time to call you:
# Current job:
# Marital status:
# 2 References:


All I need from you is total honesty and sincerity. I do assure you once you show total commitment and deliver good services you will enjoy working with my wife and also have nice period with us.
I need to know if you're ready to work for Us...
I will be waiting to hear from you.
Regards,
J.Harrison


Example #2

Hello,

Hope you're having a pleasant day today?

I got your email 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.

My profile briefly:

I'm a research journalist and I travel every now and then within and outside the US working on various independent projects ( Artwork ).I need someone who can help keep up to date with all of my activities, especially when I'm away and amidst my busy schedule.

I would love to meet up with you to talk about this job but I am currently away on business in Spain, so there will be no interview.I will be back by the end of December. I will prepay you in advance to do my shopping. I will also have my mails and packages forwarded to your address. If you will be unable to stay at your house to get my mails, I can have it shipped to a post office near you and then you can pick it up at your convenience. When you get my mails/packages, you are required to mail them to addresses that I will send you, and don't worry, all expenses and taxes will be covered by me. I will be paying you $450 weekly. I need your service because I am constantly out of town.If you don't mind, I will meet up with you when I return and then we can talk about the possibility of making this long term.

I will email you the list and pictures of what to shop for when I am ready,no heavy packages is involved.You can do the shopping at Sears, Wal-Mart, Kmart and Best buy or any other stores. I will provide you my UPS account number for shipping. I will provide clear set of instructions for each task I need to be done as well as the funds to cover them. I will mail you money to do my shopping plus upfront payment for your service.

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.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.

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

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

Salary : $450 weekly($1,800 monthly)
Also,there will be compensation for efficiency and hard working.
Thanks

Sara McGarry ArtworkStore
Carrer de Sicília, 250,
08025 Barcelona, Spain
TEXT-(916) 913-9315

Here is the newest version of the scam


Dear Applicant,

Thanks for your response.

This position is open is for a Skilled Computer Technician,someone who
will be committed and ready to work with good Skills
I am Daniel Beachy Representing AGALACHUMBA CHARITY HOME,I have gone
through your C.v and I am interested in your services. We Have Laptops
computers for Repairs(400).The PC are HP530 laptop Pentium M.
I want you to clean outer computer components,Upgrade memory from 512
MB RAM to 2GB RAM and Install the following list of soft wares.

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

I will provide you with the licensed copies of all the soft-wares and
RAM sticks for the laptops too.
I am offering you $500 weekly until you are done repairing the whole laptops.

Note :These laptops are going to be given to Children in Charity Home
so i suggest you put in efforts to make them perfectly repaired.I also
like You to know that my mode of payment is by Cashier Check.
Get back to me with the number of laptops 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,

Could you post the email addresses they were sent from? Or are they posts on Craigslist? They look like they were written by a West African.

Here is the follow up email you get from this guy.

Received on FEB 11 2013

Daniel Beachy

3:48 AM (6 hours ago)

Good Day ,

Thanks for your response....

I am glad to read from you as regards the computer repairs Job,also for accepting the offer.However We have Over 400 laptops to be done.We decided to Start sending the laptops in small Units of 20 for each week, i expect that you must have been done with the repairs of 20 laptops weekly until the whole laptops are repaired.I want to believe you are fit for this Job,I am offering you $500 weekly Also i want you to know that Our Donors will be sending you a Cashiers-check which you have to deduct your weekly payment $500 plus $50 just incase something comes up and you need some money, so you will deduct a total of $550 from the Payment delivered and send the remaining money to the Freight forwarder agent who will deliver the laptops to you in units on a weekly basis.

I have a reliable shipper/Mover that will get the laptops shipped to your location and pickup the Laptops when you are done. The main reason why the payment you will receive will cover your money and the shipping charges is because We have Some Donors who signed to Handle The Charity Repairs and services,and so Payments will get to you with No delays.I Expect to Have a Good Working Experience wit You
Get back to me with your information required below.

REQUIRED DETAILS:

First Name:
Last Name:
Residential Address: (UPS DOESN'T DELIVER TO P.O BOX)
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Home Phone Number:
Cell Phone Number:

Feel Free to Give Us a Call: 352-448-0101

I am looking forward to reading from you soon.

Thanks.