I received this wonderful job offer through email the other day. Wow! To be able to make $3,000 for two hours a day, plus a few hours of doing touristy things with tourists to the U.S. Oh, and then I could take my family anywhere in the world on vacation once a year. Fabulous job! Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to work for a travel agency that paid such excellent wages for so little work?
You must, of course, provide bank information, credit card confirmation and you have to give them you social security number in order to validate you are who you say you are. But, wait. Didn’t they send me the job offer? Didn’t they solicit my résumé out of thousands of résumés? Yes, they did. They want a “financial manager” that will handle from $3,000 to $10,000 per week in travel fees/payments. It must be transferred to the supervisor within four hours of receiving it. Now that is a huge amount of money and they’re such great, trusting souls that they pick out a person off a job bank and offer the job without a few smart things like: Bonding, Credit References, Background checks. Just a few minor details left off the interview process. It’s my guess that once the money (which comes in the form of a check) is deposited, when the bank finds out it is no good, the employee is left holding an empty bag with no way to get his money back.
According to a great website, World Privacy Forum that pokes lots of holes in employment scams, there are some Red Flags that wave right in your face that you should be aware of when job hunting over the internet.
These scammers prey on those who are looking for a job they can do from home. Also, they look for those who have owned their own business and they use a lot of flattery. They’ll send a hook email, and if you respond, they will try to reel you in quickly.
Giving your bank number to someone you do not know is foolhardy. Even buying tickets from TicketMaster with your bank card can get you in trouble, never give it to anyone over the phone or through email. Email is not secure.
Direct deposit is a huge convenience, but your employer usually will give you checks and direct deposit is an option. There is no reason to give your PayPal account number to a new employer, nor a credit card number. You are providing a service for them. You do not need to pay for your job… not even $2.95 to sign up. It’s a scam.
Wiring money or transferring money for an employer is foolhardy. It is usually stolen money, and you are being used as the washer woman. Transferring money and retaining a portion of it as a “fee” or payment of services is not only unethical, it is stealing and you can’t explain that to any authority. You’ll be in as much hot water as the crooked employer, only you are in the states and most likely they are in Nigeria.
Those scammers from Nigeria have gotten smarter, but they still can’t speak excellent English. If the job description is full of misspellings and grammatical errors, you should also see that red bandana flapping in your face.
There is a lot of excellent information located on the World Privacy website.
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