I just got an email from so called "walter smith" claiming to be on business in europe and is looking for some one to be his personal assistant. How do these people even get our emails?

I received this email as well and it sounds funny to be but it was from a Walter Smith
people like this should be ashamed of their self taken advantage of innocent people that work hard to provide for their family what little they can.....Shame on whoever is doing this and sending these emails out...life is hard enough without help from misleading emails......smh

I too would like to know if this man is who he say's he is, I was asked if I'd be interested in working for him as a personal assistant.

I too got an e-mail from him to be his personal assistant, is he a real business?

Hello Amy,

Thank you for your response, I am in London (England) so there will be no Interview. I will pay 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. So this can be done from your location.

When you get my mails/packages, you are required to mail them to where I want them mailed to. You don't have to use money out of your pocket. All you have to do is have the package(s) shipped to wherever I want and do my shopping. You are Allowed to open the packages to reveal its content.

The content of the packages are Art Materials and Paintings, clothing& business and personal letters. All expenses and taxes will be covered by me. You will work between 15 to 20hrs a week.

The pay is $500 weekly. I need your service because I am constantly out of town. I own an Art Gallery in Australia.I will be returning to the US next month so this process will be going on till then.

When I return we can meet and talk about the possibility of making this long term. Well, let me know if you are able to handle the position.

I will email you the list and pictures of what to shop for when I am ready. No Heavy package is involved! You  can do the shopping at any nearby store.

I will provide you my personal UPS account number for Shipping. All you have to do is provide my account number to UPS and shipping charges will be billed to The account. I will provide clear set of instructions for each task I need done as well the Funds to cover them.

If I were to mail you money to do my shopping plus upfront payment for your services, where will you want it mailed to? How should your name appear on the payment? Provide me with the following details listed below:

Full Name:
Full Address(No POBox):
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
Age:
Occupation(If any):
Email address:


I would also need your cell phone number because that would be the best way to get a hold of you. You can start right away immediately I receive your information.


Thank you!
Walter Smith
817-760-7440 ( phone calls only)
805-256-1936 ( text messages only )

I received almost the same message with a few variations. He is now using the alias Trevon Hill and is mailing checks from the name Gary Hooper. I called fifth third bank where the cashiers check was sent from and they said it was a fake check because it starts with the wrong number.

Here is the 1st email he sent.

Good Morning,
I'm Replying to your email regarding the ad posted on Craigslist for the warehouse.Congratulations,your resume has been reviewed and you have been short-listed and given an appointment.Job opening for an experienced warehouse person who can perform several duties and responsibilities which include:delivering customer purchases,Maintaining excellent customer service,receiving parcels through USPS and you will also send   packages to our customers,and your address is been requested  for because of your payments .Mails and parcels can also be sent to a post office near you and then you can pick them up at your convenient time.When you get the mails/packages; you are required to mail them to clients/customers i want them mailed to. You don't have to put any funds out of you pocket, all you have to do is have packages shipped to your house and run few errands.You are allowed to open the packages to know content.The content of the packages are Parcels containing payments,electronics,. All expenses and taxes will be covered by me.You will be paid $300 weekly,making $1,200 a month as your services will be needed and as time goes on,your weekly wages will increase because when you  receive packages/parcels,you will be given instructions on how to disburse them.When this is been done without my supervision. I am constantly out of the city on business trips and meetings and this is what you will keep doing until we get to meet  .Respond if you are able to handle the position.I will email you the list and pictures of what the packages that will be disbursed to your care and You will send them to the addresses you'll be instructed to be delivered to.Kindly read this email carefully  as this is the job task you will have to carry out to be able to earn your weekly wages,Again you will have to receive parcels,electronics and  packages then take the packages to USPS office close to you  and  dispatch them to customers who ordered for them , as i have an account with USPS i will give you my USPS account so all parcels/packages that you will dispatch will be charged from my account. All you have to do is provide my account number to USPS and shipping charges will be deducted from my account. I will provide clear set of instructions for each task I need done as well as the funds to cover them. You will fill in the info,so you can begin the JOB TASK as from next week.

I asked him a few questions which he didn't respond to I was very suspicious from the beginning and when I received the check I knew something wasn't right about it.

The number he was using is different now 980-272-7839

Is there a way to track IP addresses from these people?  Where can you report this to the FBI or other officials.  This is so SICK.  I would be put in a cell under the jail if I were to do this to anybody.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: waltersmith@e-mail.ua
To: SherrieEstes@aol.com
Sent: 10/19/2012 3:01:26 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Thank you for your response,


Thank you for your response, I am in London (England) so there will be no Interview. I will pay 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 where I want them mailed to. You don't have to use money out of your pocket. All you have to do is have the package(s) shipped to wherever I want and do my shopping. You are Allowed to open the packages to reveal its content.

The content of the packages are Art Materials and Paintings, clothing& business and personal letters. All expenses and taxes will be covered by me. You will work between 15 to 20hrs a week.

The pay is $500 weekly. I need your service because I am constantly out of town. I own an Art Gallery in Australia.I will be returning to the US in November so this process will be going on till then.

When I return we can meet and talk about the possibility of making this long term. Well, let me know if you are able to handle the position.

I will email you the list and pictures of what to shop for when I am ready. No Heavy package is involved! You  can do the shopping at any nearbystore.

I will provide you my personal UPS account number for Shipping. All you have to do is provide my account number to UPS and shipping charges will be billed to The account. I will provide clear set of instructions for each task I need done as well the Funds to cover them.

If I were to mail you money to do my shopping plus upfront payment for your services, where will you want it mailed to? How should your name appear on the payment? Provide me with the following details listed below:

Full Name:
Full Address(No POBox):
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
Age:
Occupation(If any):
Email address:


I would also need your cell phone number because that would be the best way to get a hold of you. You can start right away immediately I receiveyour information.


Thank you!

Walter Smith

He's now using Alfred Miller.

He also goes by Bob Martins - i got all same story just dif name -

OMG!! I just did the same thing I felt like I was reading my own words! I purchased the greendot cards too & now I am out $3400 and my bank is saying the same thng that I owe back the $$ which 'i dont have or I would never have taken the job! Some one needs to catch this jerk & get out $$$ back!!!

I received an email a while ago about someone from Great Britain needing a babysitter. They had be cash two checks for them and send them with Western Union as a money in minuets which I did. They said they will meet me for an interview on Monday. After reading all this I'm so scared about sending that money. WHAT DO I DO?? Someone please help me.

Ive been applying for jobs and received an email about a personal assistant job saying it was paying $500 a week. Replied and then got one back saying he would send me a check, to deposit it and then take 500 for myself and then use the rest on bills and such of his. He also told me he was in London and owned an art gallery in Australia, but except this guy was going by the name John Rowland. Curious of the number given, I checked and this is where I ended up. Thanks everyone for posting!

i got a email rom this man with a number thats in my area but it sounded strang cus i didnt reconize name and he said he owned an art gallery well i know most art galleries in area and sorry to say i didnt reconize name so i googled phone number 214-253-9270 sure enough this is what i found out maybe he needs a dose of his own med should i go for it? oh and he goes by casper

I received the exact letter (word for word) as the one Amber copied above, except his name was Bob Martins and he didn't mention being on vacation in England just that he was out of the country and would be coming to the US in November.  I guess I am suspicious by nature so I haven't sent him my last name, address or phone number.  But the interesting part is that I had registered with a known online recruiting company for a position as a Personal Assistant just days before.  I decided to do that as a result of my adult daughter telling me about a friend's mother in another state who took a job over a year ago doing exactly that, but for a person who lives in her city.  I was beginning to think this might be legitimate, but was determined not to advance any funds or send him any excess.  A few years ago a friend got caught in a similar scam where he received a check from someone in another country who asked him to cash the check, keeping what their business arrangement was, and send him the difference. He deposited the check with his bank who accepted it, but called my friend two weeks later to say the check hadn't cleared.  His loss was $15,000!

Received the same message they are getting a little smarter as far as the job description and they try to con you with saying they will pay you 500 dollars they send fake checks. I gave them a po box and turned the checks in to the police

My wife has had correspondence with a man called James Wright about a personal assistant job as well. As with Deb who posted previously, he sent a check for $6550.00 that was from the Arizona State Credit Union. When you research the credit union you find a contact number of 800-671-1098. This James Wright is also using a cell phone number of 347-704-7902.

I didn't get a phone call. I got an Express Mail from a Pam Hooker in Mesquite, Tx which had a Cashiers Check in the amount of $6550.00 inside. Having been a victim of a scam before, I decided to look up the Arizona State Credit Union and get their numbers to call them tomorrow (Monday). Looking up the number I was to call, which by the way is to a James Wright and I'm to call him at this number for further instructions after the check clears my bank. I am so glad I checked the number here first and read all your comments. You saved me from a big scam!!  Thank you so much!

File a police report and have them go after this guy.

OMG I wished I had googled this man's name before I decided to work for him.  He sent me a certified check in the amount of
$8,680 and told me to deposit it and wait till it cleared.  I didn't deposit into my bank account, but opened one to be used exclusively for his business.  I had to wait three days before I could access the funds.  He called me on the third day when the funds were available and had me go to Walmart to purchase two Green Dot Money Paks with $1,000 each.  He asked me to scratch off the numbers nd read them to him.  Then, while was still at Wallmart, he asked me to purchase two more, but I was not able to use the debit card because there was a limit on the amount I could witudraw daily.  So he told me to go to the bank and withdraw $2,000 cash, plus my $500 weekly salary,  and buy him another $2,000 worth.  The next day, he wanted me to go and withdraw $3500 to pay a bill for him.  Told me to call him when I got the money.  when I went to the bank, they told me the account wias overdrawn by $4,500.  I was shocked and when I talked to the bank manager because I had a cashiers check and waited three days--I thought it was to make sure the check was cleared, but the bank manager tells me that you can get a cashiers check on line and it's not real.  Don't know why the bank didn't tell me that when I opened the account.  Anyway, I called him from the bank and told him that his chevk bounced and he said he would contact hius bankj.  Then he sent me a text to tell me the bank was researching it and they would need 3 hours.  The bank tells me that I am responsible for repaying.  I have no money.  My husband is gravely ill and if he dies, I doin't have money to bury him let alone pay $5,000 to the bank.  That's why I was trying to get a job to save my home and buy my husband's medication.  I'm 72 years old and am willing to work, but they're going to have to wait a while.  If not, they can put me in jail--at least I'll have a roof over my head!  Ha!  I WANT TO GET THIS GUY!!!!  Have any ideas??

I received the same email, he's going by Danny Hooper phone 3232303973, haven't received no payment told him money orders only but I haven't heard from him. I wouldn't put no check in my bank account anyways so if he sends that then I know its a scam.

Amber, I got the same email that you got.  No phone call, just the email.  He called himself Bob Martins, but the message was exactly the same with the exception being that he was in London, not Australia.

Beware ALL!  I suspected that the email was a hoax and went in search of his name and number, which is how I ended up here.

I just wrote him back and told him if this was a real job that the ONLY way he could pay me is in US Currency fedexed to me.  Absolutely no money orders.  Funny......I haven't heard back from him.  DO NOT FALL FOR THIS.

Take the check to your bank and talk with the bank manager. They will in turn report this individual to the government.

THIS IS A SCAM!!!!  SCAM!! SCAM!! SCAM!! THIS PERSON EMAILED ME FOR A PERSONAL ASSISTANT JOB. THEN SENT ME A CHECK FOR $8,682.00.  I WILL BE TAKING IT TO MY BANK AND REPORTING IT AS A SCAM.  I HOPE THIS PERSON IS CAUGHT BEFORE HE CAN DRAIN ANY ACCOUNTS. WHILE HE SITS ON HIS KEESTER AND WE WORK SO HARD FOR OUR MONEY.

received the same today,,a check and a phone call

received the same thing today,,looks like a scam

He's going by Danny Garry now, same phone number. What a joke! I got this email about personal assistant... what a dumb a**. I knew better than to fall for this, been there fell for this crap before! I didn't give him my phone number, just got an email. Wanted to add his new alias to the list

I have received an email to be Danny Hoopers personal assistant and I asked for his credentials but unfor-tunately he has my address.  He never sent me his credentials, so I did not bother to email him back.  Now he sent me a cashiers check for$7,800.00 and I do not know what to do with it.  Do I just send it back in the Express Mail and write send back to sender?  Pleae let me know as soon as possible.

Career link is the job search company that alot of these scammers are getting your info from. Since signing up with them I spend more time dumping scammail than I do looking at good mail. A group have filed suit against career link for opening us up to this kind of stuff ( giving our info to parties that have nothing to do with any position your looking for).

I got an email supposedly from Walmart saying they were hiring mystery shoppers. Saying they paid 200 dollars per trip. Since when does Walmart hire secret shoppers? :)  The message said Walmart but it was signed Danny Hooper.