by Diamond
Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:01 am
This is an email I have recently received, a good example of goods forwarding scam.
Dear XXXX XXXXX !
Job Title: Customer Services Representative
Job Type: Part-time
Base Pay: Piece Rate about $1500 - $2000 a month
Shopfans is in search of three customer services representatives interested in working Mon-Fri4 hours a day. Job presupposes 12-14 business hours per week and is part-time. Our organization was a directreaction to the emerging needs of contemporary online global shoppers.With us users worldwide can establish a US based address for parcel processing. Our service allows our customers around the world to buy from their favorite US retailers and ship to their established U.S. legal address withour service. We then deliver their packages withhassle free shipping using our partners. The post is responsible for all incoming and outgoing shipmentsand for the impression made to clientele through the high-quality packaging of purchases. It is also responsiblefor reporting the status of packages, and making sure the user gets their goods on time. Packaging staff are a representation of the company to consumers and must maintain aprofessional and polite approach.
QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:* Only U.S. permanent residents or legal aliens.* Must be of full legal age.* Must possess average PC skills.* Capability to read and follow instructions very closely.* Candidates must be reliable and have ability to be on schedule.
DUTIES:* Establish and improve effective business connections with chosen supplier/existing user.* repacking, processing, and receiving packages.* Check all outgoing orders as final control point. Please attach your detailed resume to reply.
Well, as I said, a very good sample. Actually, although they try to use various disguises, all scam emails can be easily detected (as I had to figure out, receiving them myself regularly) by using a set of simple rules:
1) TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? - then it probably ISN'T true! I mean - scammers offer you conditions which no normal employer would. Take this email. They offer 1500-2000 $ as base pay for 12-14 hours a week. Taking 14 hrs/week we get about 60 hours a month, and with 1500-2000$/month it means a salary of 25-33 $/hour! Just for some supposed simple work with parcels. Does it sound true? I think not.
2) All their schemes, no matter how the email begins, always come to receiving goods and reshipping them or cashing checks and wiring money. So this must be the trigger to stop immediately. I even do not mention that it's against common sense - what idiot would mail checks or goods to an unknown person, to a home address? Obviously, something's wrong.
3) The company which they "represent", if you try to find it, is as a rule nonexistent. Or they have nothing to do with it. In this case - common sense again:a large well-known company would never use such crooked schemes of delivery. Or, like in this email, they just mention some name like "Shopfans" here without providing any further details. And we're suposed to take this seriously!
4) One more thing which always serves as an additional warning for me - the style of these letters. First of all, there are always mistakes in the text, both in grammar and punctuation. Second, the form - look at this email. The person does not properly introduce his/herself, does not explain where they found my contact details, does not finish the email properly, gives no contact details, no address, nothing. They also often sign emails like "HR manager" or something like that, but if you compare their messages to normal emails from recruiters, you'll see the difference immediately.
The bottom line is: pay attention to these clues and you won't get scammed. And in every case, just use your common sense, as I said, if someone offers you fantastic work conditions like $25-33/hr for repacking parcels at home for 14 hours a week, it's surely not because they love you so much! Quite the contrary.
Dear XXXX XXXXX !
Job Title: Customer Services Representative
Job Type: Part-time
Base Pay: Piece Rate about $1500 - $2000 a month
Shopfans is in search of three customer services representatives interested in working Mon-Fri4 hours a day. Job presupposes 12-14 business hours per week and is part-time. Our organization was a directreaction to the emerging needs of contemporary online global shoppers.With us users worldwide can establish a US based address for parcel processing. Our service allows our customers around the world to buy from their favorite US retailers and ship to their established U.S. legal address withour service. We then deliver their packages withhassle free shipping using our partners. The post is responsible for all incoming and outgoing shipmentsand for the impression made to clientele through the high-quality packaging of purchases. It is also responsiblefor reporting the status of packages, and making sure the user gets their goods on time. Packaging staff are a representation of the company to consumers and must maintain aprofessional and polite approach.
QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:* Only U.S. permanent residents or legal aliens.* Must be of full legal age.* Must possess average PC skills.* Capability to read and follow instructions very closely.* Candidates must be reliable and have ability to be on schedule.
DUTIES:* Establish and improve effective business connections with chosen supplier/existing user.* repacking, processing, and receiving packages.* Check all outgoing orders as final control point. Please attach your detailed resume to reply.
Well, as I said, a very good sample. Actually, although they try to use various disguises, all scam emails can be easily detected (as I had to figure out, receiving them myself regularly) by using a set of simple rules:
1) TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? - then it probably ISN'T true! I mean - scammers offer you conditions which no normal employer would. Take this email. They offer 1500-2000 $ as base pay for 12-14 hours a week. Taking 14 hrs/week we get about 60 hours a month, and with 1500-2000$/month it means a salary of 25-33 $/hour! Just for some supposed simple work with parcels. Does it sound true? I think not.
2) All their schemes, no matter how the email begins, always come to receiving goods and reshipping them or cashing checks and wiring money. So this must be the trigger to stop immediately. I even do not mention that it's against common sense - what idiot would mail checks or goods to an unknown person, to a home address? Obviously, something's wrong.
3) The company which they "represent", if you try to find it, is as a rule nonexistent. Or they have nothing to do with it. In this case - common sense again:a large well-known company would never use such crooked schemes of delivery. Or, like in this email, they just mention some name like "Shopfans" here without providing any further details. And we're suposed to take this seriously!
4) One more thing which always serves as an additional warning for me - the style of these letters. First of all, there are always mistakes in the text, both in grammar and punctuation. Second, the form - look at this email. The person does not properly introduce his/herself, does not explain where they found my contact details, does not finish the email properly, gives no contact details, no address, nothing. They also often sign emails like "HR manager" or something like that, but if you compare their messages to normal emails from recruiters, you'll see the difference immediately.
The bottom line is: pay attention to these clues and you won't get scammed. And in every case, just use your common sense, as I said, if someone offers you fantastic work conditions like $25-33/hr for repacking parcels at home for 14 hours a week, it's surely not because they love you so much! Quite the contrary.