I got emails with an offer to be a travel coordinator from Regina, this is to good to be true. This sounds and smells like a scam.

how can you get them

hi, my name is Calvin. I am a victim of this crime. Now I get into very trouble with the person named Eva Treno from Volcei Viaggi. I really need all of your helps on this. Please email me calvinho1988@gmail.com if you have any other information about this.

Eva Treno
tel: 206-426-6213
fax: 425-606-5978
Volcei Viaggi e Turismo
Email: treno.volceiviaggi@gmail.comI

I just got the same email from Eva Treno and Googled them but did very easily find a website about the Travel Agency, so apparently they are looking to appear more legit. I emailed her back because I was curious what the would send and received all the same documents as others with the exact same forms and wording.

Seriously who tries to hire someone sight unseen or at least multiple phone interviews. So be careful and dont fall for this scam.

Anyone know if there is a way to catch them?

Here is what I got today. It seems by the dates of reports on here that they went dormant for a while.

Here is my response:
I am not cashing phony checks a***ole. If you google Volcei Viaggi travel you will see the numerous complaints and scam reports.I have posted a report on this phony cashiers check scam on google

Jeff




We have contacted you earlier but you have not replied. I?m with Department
of Human Resources of Volcei Viaggi.
It had been stated in earlier e-mail, our company has stepped to
international markets, because of this we are increasing our staff, and we
want to make sure you?ve read our earlier offer, for this is important to
our team.

I like you to, read on the information and then provide your response, in
case you have never gotten  information that we have sent in this case see
in your spam folder possibly our letter there,
or send me an email so that I?ll send it again to you one more time. In
future, I am suggest you add my contact info to the list of trusted
contacts, so we can prevent loss of data.
I think our information is of interest to you, as a result I?m waiting for
you to give me an answer.

Regards,
Mrs. E. Treno

If it sounds to good to be true, it is, they were way to eager sending multiple emails a day, I told my wife to look into for me, and she couldn't find anything on the company Volcei Viaggi e Turismo, this are a few of the emails:
How are you doing?
As you know, my name is Eva Treno and I will be your personnel manager. I am very glad you are interested in our job offer. My principal task is to lead you through the whole process of work as a Travel Coordinator with us and explain what you are supposed to do.
You will find description of all of your future duties in this letter. They are simple enough. So, I think you?ll understand everything quite easily. Well,
first of all, I would like to tell you a few words about us, Volcei Viaggi e Turismo travel agency.
We are engaged in providing tourist services enabling our customers to travel anywhere in the world. Our Company is a leading travel agency in Central and Western Europe and now we start providing our services in North America, including the United States of America, of course. Our main office is located in Buccino, Italy. We also have offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Russia.
We offer such services as best selection of flights, hotels and vacation packages using innovative search engines. However, our main field of activities is providing individual tours, including extreme travels and VIP tours. We are aimed at giving each client of ours everything he or she wants as our business success and growth is wholly dependent on our valued clients. Therefore, we do everything to help our customers enjoy our services and are eager to provide them with the best flights and travel tours.
I am honored to inform you that you are welcome to become an employee of our company as your resume fully meets our expectations and requirements. Thus, we would like to offer you a chance to become a Travel Coordinator with us. This position is only limited to a certain number of persons at this time, so please make up your mind ASAP.

                  ************ APPLICATION PROCESS IS ONLY 3 STEPS. ************

Application process:
I have attached 4 files to this email: Job Description, FAQ, Employment Application and Employment Agreement in MS Word format
(if you are unable to open MS Word files, please let me know).
1. Please read the Job Description file carefully and respond to me with your questions and/or confirmation of your wish to work with us.
2. If you agree to the job offer, please fill out the Employment Agreement and Employment Application and send these back via e-mail or fax these at 425-606-5978
3. When you send the documents back to me, I will forward your application documents to our HR department immediately.
You can find more information at our web-site (http://www.volceiviaggi.it/) or feel free to ask any questions about your job duties and salary via email.
On my part, I will do my best to provide you with all necessary instructions and answers to your questions. You can ask me for any information you might be interested in. Please inform me about your decision (whether it is positive or not) as soon as possible as at this time we are considering a number of other candidates as well and would like to fill mentioned position ASAP. Please give your answer within next several days,
Have a nice day!

Sincerely,
Eva Treno
tel: 206-426-6213
fax: 425-606-5978
Volcei Viaggi e Turismo
_____________________________________________________
Eva                          mailto:treno.volceiviaggi@gmail.com


Hello again!

I apologize for inconvience, I do not want to seem intrusive, but today I
have sent you several messages about the position that our company is ready
to offer you. I checked my email account and did not find any emails from
you. I'll check my spam folder later, maybe your message is there. And maybe
you haven't received any information about the position today, but I'm ready
to provide you all the details if you're really looking for a job.
Otherwise, I do not want to disturb you.

Thank you,
manager Mrs. E. Treno

I received a email from these people. SCAM!

Dear T,

How are you doing?
As you know, my name is Eva Treno and I will be your personnel manager. I am very glad you are interested in our job offer. My principal task is to lead you through the whole process of work as a Travel Coordinator with us and explain what you are supposed to do.
You will find description of all of your future duties in this letter. They are simple enough. So, I think you?ll understand everything quite easily. Well,
first of all, I would like to tell you a few words about us, Volcei Viaggi e Turismo travel agency.
We are engaged in providing tourist services enabling our customers to travel anywhere in the world. Our Company is a leading travel agency in Central and Western Europe and now we start providing our services in North America, including the United States of America, of course. Our main office is located in Buccino, Italy. We also have offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Russia.
We offer such services as best selection of flights, hotels and vacation packages using innovative search engines. However, our main field of activities is providing individual tours, including extreme travels and VIP tours. We are aimed at giving each client of ours everything he or she wants as our business success and growth is wholly dependent on our valued clients. Therefore, we do everything to help our customers enjoy our services and are eager to provide them with the best flights and travel tours.
I am honored to inform you that you are welcome to become an employee of our company as your resume fully meets our expectations and requirements. Thus, we would like to offer you a chance to become a Travel Coordinator with us. This position is only limited to a certain number of persons at this time, so please make up your mind ASAP.

                  ************ APPLICATION PROCESS IS ONLY 3 STEPS. ************

Application process:
I have attached 4 files to this email: Job Description, FAQ, Employment Application and Employment Agreement in MS Word format
(if you are unable to open MS Word files, please let me know).
1. Please read the Job Description file carefully and respond to me with your questions and/or confirmation of your wish to work with us.
2. If you agree to the job offer, please fill out the Employment Agreement and Employment Application and send these back via e-mail or fax these at 425-606-5978
3. When you send the documents back to me, I will forward your application documents to our HR department immediately.
You can find more information at our web-site (http://www.volceiviaggi.it/) or feel free to ask any questions about your job duties and salary via email.
On my part, I will do my best to provide you with all necessary instructions and answers to your questions. You can ask me for any information you might be interested in. Please inform me about your decision (whether it is positive or not) as soon as possible as at this time we are considering a number of other candidates as well and would like to fill mentioned position ASAP. Please give your answer within next several days,
Have a nice day!

Sincerely,
Eva Treno
tel: 206-426-6213
fax: 425-606-5978
Volcei Viaggi e Turismo

Guys this is the one they sent to me and as you can see from the extensive nature of the text, these guys are pros. When i get fraudulent things like this i actually play along because i find it funny that these dead beats really pray on people in need of jobs.

Below you will see a template that these guys probably perfected over time that will over all the answers so that you would have any concerns . They are out there lurking on ever major job search engine so please be careful of your home address, account numbers and definitely your social security number.







TRAVEL COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION DESCRIPTION:
We would like to offer you a vacant position of a Travel Coordinator with us. What are the functional duties of this kind of a specialist? On behalf of our Company Travel Coordinators present the whole range of services to our clients, his/her duties include the whole chain ? from selecting a necessary tour, travel presentation to meeting clients at the airport after their arrival. Travel Coordinator should be as much as possible customer-oriented and should take into account customers? requirements and interests. In some cases Travel Coordinator also assists in processing advance payments from clients for arranging a tour if it is necessary. This can be needed if a client from the USA wants to pay by check (cheque) and intends to visit e.g. Lisbon, Portugal. As it is already clear, USA checks are not effective in some countries while the network of American banking subsidiaries is undeveloped as yet. Or a client wants to select an individual tour including visits to distant locations. In such a case, we rent a private house for accommodation of our client. Many owners of such houses also do not have full access to bank transactions and, therefore, in such a case, our Company pays for rent and related services in cash through P2P systems. I.e., if we deal with such a client you should receive from him/her a check as the tour prepayment, inform your manager of all details, negotiate the check and transfer the amount through instant money transfer systems (Western Union, Money Gram) to our branch or directly to the PH owner. You will receive required money transfer details by e-mail from your personnel manager. It is also important that your compensation will directly depend on the number of clients. At the initial stage it will amount to 5% of the prepayment sum.  However, there is an obligatory condition - you should complete the whole money transfer process within 4 hours. Travel Coordinator provides the Company with one more incontestable advantage. Our clients are serviced as quickly as possible, and they get all necessary documents (i.e. tickets, reservation, etc.) promptly. It means that maximum 12 hours passes from the moment of the tour prepayment till the 100% readiness to welcome and service the client. No one can offer the same!
WE OFFER:
?    Private online training (person-to-person);
?    Opportunity of stable career promotion and personal development;
?    In-depth training and work in dynamic friendly air in a benevolent team;
?    Competitive wage (3,000 USD +);
?    Wage-plus-bonus remuneration system (5% from each completed payment processed by you);
?    Comprehensive Benefits Package Health-Care Coverage 401(k);
?    Paid holidays and paid travel to any point of the world for you and your family.

HOURS OF WORK:
It?s a part time position and you are going to have much free time each day. Work will take only 1-2 hours a day (5-10 hours a week). This position may require work after regular business hours or on weekends, though.

FEES, WAGE & PAYROLL:
We provide one payroll period. Your base monthly salary will be 3,000.00 USD. If you also process payments from clients, you will have + 5% bonus per each order completed (usually in total from 500.00 USD up to 5000.00 USD per month). Your salary will be paid as a direct deposit to your bank account, or using any other payment method convenient to you. We do not provide any tax forms - you will pay your local taxes yourself. Payroll period ? 30 calendar days from the date of your registration in our company (usually it is 2-10 days after signing the mutually binding EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT). Payment will be issued at the end of each payroll period.

Been getting calls from this number on my cell for a few days now. The person did leave a few messages. I saved all of them. She claims to be from 'International Design Partnership'. She has a thick accent, so it's a bit hard to understand what she is saying. Anyway she keeps saying she hasn't received the checks from her customers yet, and they are very worried. Tells me to email them asap and follow the procedures to get checks to them. Well today I got another call saying, she's been trying to contact me daily and if I don't respond in 24hrs, they will place a levy on my account with Bank of America and file a law suit against me.
Thing is unlike the other posters here, I have never received an email from this company/people. So I have no clue what their email is. At first I thought perhaps it was a mistake and decided to call them back -- let them know they have the wrong number (bcoz she never says my name, or last name) but when I call I never get an answer. It always disconnects.
So I googled the number and stumbled on this website. I just wanted to share and let these scammers know: I NEVER tolerate harrassment and threats. I have reported you to the State Attorney General, the FTC, the National Fraud Information Center, my Phone Company. You will be glad to know I have also recorded the messages you left me and I have given a copy of that to the local police and my friend who conveniently works for the FBI (he has promised me to find out who is handling the case of the person who got scammed and tried to cash a fraudulent check at the bank)
AND I AM JUST GETTING STARTED!!!!
I hate scammers and the only way we can begin to stop them is by reporting them to the right agencies. So for anyone else here who has their info and have not yet reported it to government agencies, PLEASE DO SO. Yup! I wasted time on this because I care. Or maybe I just have OCD.
LOL

Belongs to "Advertising Enterprises".

Dear JobSeeker,
This is the email I received. So glad to see these posts before I responded to this SCAM. Thank you.

This is Alex Fisher. I'm personnel manager of Design Incorporated.
Our department found your CV on Monster.com, so I think you're great candidate
for the vacancy of representative of our company in the USA.
For more information please contact me via e-mail.

Here you can find all required information about our company.
If you're ready, reply me for more information.

Best regards,
Alex Fisher
Design Incorporated
e-mail box: manager.designincorporated@gmail.com

I got the 3 emails also a few minutes apart.  This is the third offshore check cashing scan I have gotten recently.



Hello James,

I'm Mr.Herman Garlomi.

I'm Top manager of our hiring department. I read your profile on Hot.Jobs
and Our HR department think  you're great candidate for the position of US
Travel Coordinator of our Travel Company.
Description: processing funds from our customers.
type of work:  Part-time(2-5 hours per week)

We provide you:
Seminars.
We pay 3k USD monthly.
Additional bonuses to salary.

this position will be the good complement to your current work.
NB: No investing from our applicants. Not sales. Employees not required pay
anything to start.
Pls see here for more information about our Co:
   
www.grecotel.com

If You ready, e-mail me for further info as soon as you can.

Thank you

Herman Garlomi.

OMG.
This is exactly what I received via email.  Although the name and numbers are different, the content is an identical.  I almost believed until I saw the money transit and checked around...
I'm glad I did.

My girlfriend got an email about a job offer from Grecotel after posting her resume online. She was told that she was qualified and was told that she got the job of a travel agent. They sent her the employment agreements, FAQs, etc. To make a long story short, they make you feel good about having a job that pays well with little experience. they tell you that the "clients" will mail checks to you. Upon receipt of the checks, you will cash it and send 95% of it back. Don't fall for any company that accepts you so quick. READ the agreements to see if they make sense! Ask for a legit phone number so that you can call them and feel more personal. Take the time to research first before getting excited. My girlfriend was heartbroken and I wish that I could see those punks face to face.

Mine was slightly different. It stated:

This is Ernesta Oste. I am staff manager of our Co. I found your
information on Yahoo!HotJobs so I believe  u are suitable for the post of
Travel Coordinator of our Travel Agency

-Specification of Job: processing payments|funds|mone.y from our US
customers
-Type of Employment: part-time, 2-5 hours weekly


We offer:

- Paid leave;
-  Training & Seminars
- $3000

this position may be the perfect addition to your during jo.b.

NB: No investing from our employees. Not sales. You not required pay
anything to start.

Please read below for further information about our Co:

        http://www.kitravel.com


If you're ready, e-mail me for more information.
Faithfully

Ernesta Oste

I suspected something immediately when I received a second email making sure I received the first email. Sure glad you have this site here.

My name is Oliana Saipaia and I will be your personnel manager.
I am glad that you are interested in our offer, and now I will help
you to take this position.

My principal task is to lead you through the whole process of work as
a Travel Coordinator  and explain what you are supposed to do.
You will find in this letter all your future duties.

They are simple enough, so I think you  understand everything quite easy.
Well, I want to tell you some words about our Company- All Travel Spain.
We are engaged in providing touristic services to any
places in the world.
Our Company is the leading travel agency in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and worldwide, and
now we start providing our services in the North America, including
the United States of America too.

Our main office is located in Australia. We also have offices in
Greece,Spain,Malta,Ukraine and Russia and provide our services on the territory of the Europe Union and
started working in the USA and for this purpose we finished the regitration here. So now we need the Travel Coordinators.

We offer such services as the best selection of flights,
hotels and vacation packages using innovative search, packaging and
booking  engines, from econom to lux-level packages. But our main direction is providing individual
tours, including extreme travels and VIP-tours.
Our traditional device is to give the client everything he wants,
because we depend from clients. We do everything for enjoy of our customers. Actually we have all types of the travel services.
That's why we do our best in order to provide customers with the best flights and travel tours.

I am honored to inform you that you are our new member and worker.
Because your resume was passed our expectations successfully.
And now we would like to suggest you to become our Travel Coordinator.
This position is limited to a certain number of person, so please make
your decision ASAP.

The application process consist only from 3 steps.
Application process:
I have attached 4 files to this letter: Job Description, FAQ file,
Application and Agreement in the MS Word format(if you couldn't open
MS Word files, please let me know and I will forward you the PDF files)

1.Please read DESCRIPTION and FAQ carefully and respond me back with
you questions and/or confirmation to work with us. Actually you can
find answers for all question in this files.

2.If You agree you need to fill out the Employment Agreement and Application and send back filled out  by e-mail
or fax: +1, 206,600,6379

3.When you send the documents back to me, I will forward your
application documents to our HR department immediately.

4. You may find more information on our web-site or feel free to ask any questions about your job duties and salary.

From my side I will do my best in order to provide you with all necessary instructions and answers to your questions.
You can ask me for any  information you will be interested in.
Please inform me as soon as possible about your decision,
whether it is positive or not, because we have another candidates and
we need to activate our human resource challenge.
Please give your answer within two working days.
With respect,
Oliana Saipaia
All Travel Spain
Fax: +1, 206,600,6379
Tel: +1, 206,338,5747

I recieved the same message by:  Ernesta Oste so add this name to the many they are going by..I was going to contact them thinking it was legit...but a friend said this doesn't even sound right...so I came here and saw the same thing I got in my email.....thank god we can research and find the truth...there must be more that can be done so others won't have to go thru this like all of us have.....what can we do?   Remember:  Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.    I like everyone else am free.

I got 2 e-mails today from the International Design Partnership, Inc. c/o Liza Potapova (liza.desguild@gmail.com). I immediately knew something was up because of the horrible misspellings in the e-mail.

I have had a monster.com account for some time, though I did just register with HotJobs yesterday, so I think that might be where they are getting their information.

I won't take any action unless I start getting harassed or called, but I wanted to spare someone else before they fall for these scammers' tricks.

(E-mail below is exactly what was sent to me, though I removed my last name):

Dear Jordan,
This is Liza Potapova. I am manager of our Staff Department. We read your
CV , Our department beleive that you're suitable for the vacancy of  US
Financial Manager.

For more info about available post, visit this page:

http://id-part.biz/jobs.html

this position may be the good addition to your during work.

Pls view links here to find info about our company:

Portfolio:
http://id-part.biz/services.html
Certificates:
http://id-part.biz/buslic.html

If you're interested, write me for more information.
Best regards
Liza Potapova

Also:

Hello Jordan,
I'm Liza Potapova.. I'm working as recruiter of Staff Department.
I involved to searching new employees. I sent you some description for the
employment offer couple minutes ago.
I want to be sure that you have received it. Please confirm that you
received my invitation message with the information.
Yours faithfully
Liza Potapova.

*********************NEW SCAM NAME**********************************************

*********************************************************************************************************

This is Veronica Garsia. I'm personnel manager of our Staff Department. I
read your resume on Yahoo!HotJobs & Our dept think that u are great candidte
for the post of US Travel Coordinator of our Travel Company

-Job Matter: processing payments|funds|mone.y from our US customers
-Working time Flexible(part time).


Main pluses:

- sick leave;
-  Training
- Salary is

this position will be the perfect complement to your current jo.b.

Important: No subscriptions from our candidates. Not sales. Employees
shouldn't pay or buy anything to work.

view links below for more info about our Co:

         http://www.magicalspain.com


If you are ready, feel free to e-mail me for the next step of the process.
With respect

Veronica Garsia

They have changed their name to www.passionforitaly.com


POSITION DESCRIPTION:
We would like to offer you the vacant position of the Travel Coordinator. What comes within duties of this specialist? The Travel Coordinator should be as much as possible customer oriented and should take into account the customer?s requirements and interests. The Travel Coordinator assists in processing payments from clients for the tour. This may be needed if the client from the USA wants to pay by check (cheque) and intends to visit e.g.  Tunisia. As it is already clear the USA check are not effective in some countries while the network of American banking subsidiaries is undeveloped as yet. Or the client wants to select an individual tour including visits to distant places. In this case we rent a private house for the accommodation of our client. Many owners of such houses also do not have full access to bank transactions therefore in this case our Company pays for the rent and related services in cash through P2P systems. I.e., if we deal with such a client you should receive from him the check for the tour prepayment, inform your manager of all details, negotiate the check and transfer the amount through fast money transfer systems (Western Union, Money Gram) to our branch or directly to the PH owner. You will receive all money transfer details by e-mail from your manager. It is also important that your compensation will directly depend on the number of clients, at the initial stage it will amount to 5% of the prepayment sum.  However there is an obligatory term: you should complete the whole money transfer process within 24 hours(approximate limit). The Travel Coordinator provides the Company with one more incontestable advantage. Our clients are serviced as quick as possible, they get all necessary documents (i.e. tickets, reservation etc.) promptly. It means that maximum 24 hours passes from the moment of the tour payment till the 100% of readiness to welcome and service the client. No one can offer the same!
WE OFFER:
Private online training (person-to-person)
Opportunity of stable career promotion and persona development
In-depth training and work in dynamic friendly air in benevolent team
Competitive wage (3000 USD +)
Wage plus-bonus system by results (5% from completed payments processed by You)
Paid holidays and paid travel in any point of the world for You and Your family

HOURS OF WORK:
Its part time position and you have free time on day. Work takes only 1-2 hours on day (5-10 hours on week). This position may require work after regular business hours or on weekends.

FEES, WAGE & PAYROLL:
We provide one payroll period. You base monthly salary will be 3000.00 USD. If You also process payments from clients You will have + 5% bonus per each order completed (usually in total from 500.00 USD up to 5000.00 USD per month). Your salary will be paid in form of direct deposit or by any other comfortable for You form of payment. We do not provide any tax forms you will pay your local taxes by yourself, but our Company will cover the taxes on the funds processed through your bank account under the Contract. Payroll period ? 30 calendar days from date of registration in Our company (usually it is 2-7 days after signing EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT) payment will be made at the end of the payroll period.


Scam

5% of nothing is NOTHING!  Those fraudulent checks BOUNCE - leaving you responsible to pay the BANKS BACK!  

ITS CALLED A MONEY MULE AND ITS A SCAM



Red Flag: The job requires you to wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram or receive and forward suspicious goods
Many phony jobs require the employee to cash a check sent by the company through the mail and then wire a portion of the money on to another entity. Reasons given for this requirement vary from scam to scam. Whatever the reason though, the check might clear the employee?s bank account but will eventually turn out to be a fake and the employee is out the money he or she wired back to the scammers. BBB also warns against receiving and mailing suspicious goods?such as electronics or luxury items?overseas.



Scam Artists Capitalize on High Unemployment Rate
Watch for these red flags when looking for jobs
September 6, 2010


As the unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, scammers are taking advantage of the opportunity by preying on the unemployed, the Better Business Bureau warns. Identifying the common red flags of a scam is one way for job hunters to protect themselves and their wallet.
According to the Labor Department, new jobless claims in mid-August unexpectedly jumped to 500,000, an increase of 12,000 over the previous week. Not only did jobless claims rise suddenly, but the length of unemployment is bleak for many. According to a July report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 45 percent of unemployed Americans had been out of work for more than 6 months.
?The dismal employment rate means that a lot of people are desperate for work and may be grasping for any job which creates a great opportunity for scammers,? said Stephen A. Cox, President and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. ?Not thoroughly researching a job opportunity can make a bad situation even worse and a victim can lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars to any number of job-related scams.?
BBB recommends looking out for the following seven red flags when searching for a job:

Red Flag: The employer offers the opportunity to become rich without leaving home
While many legitimate businesses allow employees to work from home, there are also a lot of scammers trying to take advantage of senior citizens, stay-at-home moms, students and injured or handicapped people looking to make money conveniently at home. Job hunters should use extreme caution when considering a work-at-home offer and always research the company at www.bbb.org and at www.consumeraffairs.com.

Red Flag: The employer asks for money upfront
It is rarely advisable for an applicant to pay upfront fees or make a required purchase to get a job. BBB often hears from job hunters who paid a phony employer for supposedly required background checks or training for jobs that didn?t exist. Always research the job thoroughly before opening up your wallet. Also be wary of job placement companies that ask for large upfront fees to find you a job.

Red Flag: The salary and benefits offered seem too-good-to-be-true.
The adage holds true for job offers: if the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Phony employers might brag about exceptionally high salary potential and excellent benefits for little work and no experience necessary in order to lure unsuspecting job hunters into their scam.

Red Flag: Employer e-mails are rife with grammatical and spelling errors.
Online fraud is often perpetrated by scammers located outside the U.S. Their first language usually isn?t English and this is often evident in their poor grasp of the language which can include poor grammar and the misspelling of common words.

Red Flag: The employer requires you to check your credit report
After posting their resumes online or responding to online job listings, many job hunters received what they thought was good news: an e-mail from an interested employer. In order to be considered for the job, the applicant has to check his or her credit report through a recommended website. The truth is, the e-mail is just an attempt to get the job hunter to divulge sensitive financial information or sign up for credit monitoring services.

Red Flag: The employer is quick to ask for personal information such as Social Security or bank account numbers
Some job seekers have been surprised to learn they?ve gotten a job without having to do a single interview. However, when the employer then asked for personal information in order to fill out the necessary paperwork, suspicions were raised ? and rightly so. Regardless of the reason, a job applicant should never give out his or her Social Security or bank account numbers over the phone or email and only after they?ve confirmed the job is legitimate.

Red Flag: The job requires you to wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram or receive and forward suspicious goods
Many phony jobs require the employee to cash a check sent by the company through the mail and then wire a portion of the money on to another entity. Reasons given for this requirement vary from scam to scam. Whatever the reason though, the check might clear the employee?s bank account but will eventually turn out to be a fake and the employee is out the money he or she wired back to the scammers. BBB also warns against receiving and mailing suspicious goods?such as electronics or luxury items?overseas.


Read more: http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/09/une ... l#ixzz0ywFo14g0



Identity Thieves Prowling for Job Seekers
Fake job ads up 345% as recession creates opportunities for scam artists
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/03/job_scams.html

March 9, 2009

With the unemployment rate rising and living costs going up, more people are looking for new jobs or second jobs. These are ideal conditions, it turns out, if youâ??re an identity thief.
Job seekers will register with employment agencies, check employment ads, mail out unsolicited resumes, network, post resumes on job search sites and search Craigslist.
In fact, the UK Association for Payment Clearing Services which tracks the prevalence of fake job ads said that fake ads are up 345 percent over the past three years. Unfortunately identity thieves are taking advantage of these uncertain economic times to scam job seekers and gather personal identifying information.
The Identity Theft Resource Center offers these tips:


? Protect your Social Security Number by limiting how many people see it. Never put your SSN on a resume. Let a company ask for it when they consider you a serious applicant. To minimize your risk, you also may want to not list your home address and just put your city and state on the resume.


? Consider opening a separate email account for your job search and keeping your primary email address private. Placing your email address on a resume could open the door to spam and phishing, account verification, and other email scams. (The recent Monster.com breach exposed resumes and email addresses. If you had placed your Social Security number or home email address on your resume, you could have made yourself a target.)


? Check out a company you found on a website carefully before giving them your information, for example Craigâ??s List. Anyone can create a website, but it doesnâ??t mean that they are a real company. You can find information on a company through the Better Business Bureau or the State Attorney General where the company is located. You can also Google the business to find out more about them. Most reputable companies will have a significant presence on the Internet, not just a few mentions.


? Avoid any website that requires you to â??pre-registerâ? with your SSN, home address or driverâ??s license number. Also, you should not be required to prepay to view job listings. Both these requirements are strong indicators of a scam.


? Update your computer security prior to emailing resumes and receiving email correspondence. Making sure your computer security is currently updated against viruses, Trojans, and other types of computer malware can help to protect you from any intrusion in an attachment you might receive.



? Make sure the person who contacted you actually works at the listed company and is not someone who has posted a job pretending to be part of a company. Does the URL address include the name of the company? If not, who actually sent it? Call the company involved, and ask for the Human Resources Department. Some companies recommend not responding via email to any person asking for more information, but rather to call the company directly. Rarely does a company hire someone sight unseen.


? Be wary of some common job scams. Avoid any company, especially a foreign company that wants to hire you as a â??payment representative â??orâ? accounts receivable clerk.â? This scam indicates that you get to keep a percentage of all checks or money orders you place in a bank account for them. Do not open a bank account for a company. You will be the responsible party should any money laundering occur, or if checks bounce. This is called a â??money mule scam.â?

Another scam is to notify you that you are one of the finalists for a job, and they need your Social Security number to do a background check. If you have not had a face-to-face interview with the company, you should be very skeptical. No one gets a job based on a resume alone.
Finally, watch out for the â??work-at homeâ? scams, especially those that ask you to â??forwardâ? packages you receive to a third party. That package may contain stolen goods or illegal drugs. There is rarely need to have a private party as a â??freight forwarder.â?
The safest ways to job search are to use local want ads, visit the unemployment office, use temp employment services, tell friends and family about your search, and network via professional groups and business acquaintances. When contacting a local company you can meet them, see the facilities, and ask acquaintances in that industry about their reputation. Consider not contacting foreign companies, especially those from Nigeria, Russia and third world countries.

Should you decide to use the Internet, ITRC strongly recommends that you read the safety tips on job seeking websites and report any suspicious posting to the website concerned.


Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/03/job_scams.html#ixzz0TGskhzJw




Florida Probes Eight Firms For Alleged Employment Scams
Suspected of exploiting desperate job-seekers
February 17, 2010

The ads make it sound easy; let the advertised firm train and place you in a new job, or set you up in a work-at-home business that will triple your income. It hardly ever works out that way, however.
Now, the State of Florida has issued subpoenas to eight firms suspected of running employment or work-at-home scams.
"Unemployed Floridians are particularly vulnerable to scams that falsely promise quick fixes for people who are jobless," said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. "With the unemployment rate in Florida at record highs, we need to be vigilant in our efforts against people looking to capitalize on someone else's difficulties."
One of the firms receiving a subpoena is Career Services International, based in Orlando. McCollum's office is investigating allegations that the company misrepresents available services and collects fees for those services, but fails to provide them. Consumers have complained that the quality of service was not what the company had promised and indicated problems with missed deadlines, untrained employees, and lack of advertised expertise.
Federal-State Crackdown
The subpoena is one of a series issued over the past several months targeting employment scams and was announced today to highlight the office's joint enforcement effort with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)and several other states. Seven other Florida companies have also received subpoenas investigating potential violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Allegations include misleading or deceptive marketing of work-from-home opportunities as well as job placement services and other Internet business ventures.
The other firms under investigation include:

? Coretech Media LLC, doing business as Netcadetpro.com and Net Money Training, located in St. Petersburg; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices related to home business opportunity kits advertised over the internet

? Darling Angel Pin Creations, Inc., located in Brandon; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices involving work at home job opportunity

? GC Displays, Inc., doing business as Atlanticpacificonline.com, located in Clearwater; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices involving job placement services

? Home Biz Ventures, LLC, doing business as Bidfuel.com and Blogtoolkit.com, located in Clearwater; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices involving internet business opportunity which offers on-line membership access to training and products to sell on auction sites

? My Career Corp., Inc., located in Tampa; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices involving job placement services

? Pacific Webworks, Inc., located in Salt Lake City, Utah; Investigation of unfair and deceptive trade practices involving work from home opportunities

? Viable Marketing Corp., located in Seminole; Unauthorized recurring charges associated with negative option "work at home" internet business opportunity

McCollum says consumers should be wary of any company offering employment positions that require little or no education but claim to pay high wages, companies that charge an up-front fee for their services or products, companies that offer "memberships" to internet-based employment opportunities, and any other opportunity that sounds too good to be true.


Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/02 ... l#ixzz0ftMC4KaX

FTC Cracks Down on Jobs Con Artists
Scams prey on Americans left jobless by the recession


By James Limbach
ConsumerAffairs.com
February 18, 2010

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a new crackdown on con artists who are preying on unemployed Americans.
The fraudsters utilize job-placement and work-at-home scams, promoting empty promises that they can help people get jobs in the federal government, as movie extras, or as mystery shoppers; or make money working from their homes stuffing envelopes or assembling ornaments.
As part of the law enforcement sweep, dubbed "Operation Bottom Dollar," the FTC has filed seven cases against the operators of deceptive and illegal job and moneymaking scams. In addition, the sweep includes 43 criminal actions by the Department of Justice, many involving the substantial assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The agency also announced partnerships with the online job placement service Monster.com, the search engine Bing and the centralized network of online communities Craigslist to help job seekers recognize job scams so they can avoid being victimized. Monster, Careerbuilder, Bing and Craigslist will display FTC consumer education material to people who are using the companies' Web sites to look for jobs.
"Federal and state law enforcement officials will not tolerate those who take advantage of consumers in times of economic misfortune," said David C. Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "If you falsely advertise that you will connect people with jobs or with opportunities for them to make money working from home, we will shut you down. We will give your assets to the people you scammed, and, when it's appropriate, we'll refer you to criminal authorities for prosecution."
To help consumers avoid being conned by employment scams, the FTC has produced a new consumer education video in English and Spanish.


Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/02/jobs_scams.html#ixzz0gesTr4l6

I received the email today and was immediately tipped off by the grammatical errors. There were just too many to ignore for it to be from a reputable company. I ALWAYS check this type of stuff...its so easy to just type the company's name in google. Thats how I found this site...whew. Glad I didnt get got by the getters!

****************************New Scam********************************************

My name is Liza Potapova. I am Top manager of our hr dept. We read your
resume on Hotjobs & We sure that u are perfect cndidate for the position of
Finance Manager.

To obtain more information about this jo.b, follow  this address:

http://des-partnership.com/jobs.html

this post could be the perfect complement to your main jo.b.

If you are interested, feel free to e-mail me ASAP.
Thanks

Liza Potapova

Its a real company my friend & Federal attorney looked into it when I said I was offered a job. Its sad they are getting away with this.

Many people have fallen for this and yes you can verify that the "account" has the money with the bank. There are several ways they change the checks to make them void. Yes they have water marks, fdic, routing ect. But all it takes is one number changed & the whole thing is void. It can bounce around from the banks to federal reserve and back for sometimes months before anyone knows what has happened. These checks are so good even banks don't know. I knew only because I bank with the bank they printed the checks on & the routing numbers do not much. My bank knew it right off. Many do not!

The check was sent to me using USPS which makes it mail fraud as well!

Please add this name & other information I went through with everything until I received a check & they wanted me to cash & send money to Russia (The routing number had been changed) When I told them they hung up & will now not answer email or phone. Beware Scam!!!!

******************************************************************************************************************



Good Day!

  My name is Tina Nice and I will be your personnel manager.

  I am glad that you are interested in our offer, and now I will help you to
take this position. My principal
task is to lead you through the whole process of work as a Travel Coordinator
and explain what you are supposed
to do. You will find in this letter all your future duties.
  They are simple enough, so I think you understand everything quite easy.
Well,I want to tell you some words about
our Ges.Albe S.R.L. We are engaged in providing touristic services to any places
in the world. Our Company is the
leading travel agency in Central and West Europe, and now we start providing our
services in the North America,
including the United States of America too.
  Our main office is located in Rovigo,Italy. We also have offices in United
Kingdom, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia,
Finland and several countries of South America.
  We offer such services as the best selection of flights, hotels and vacation
packages using innovative search,
packaging and booking  engines, from econom to lux-level packages. But our main
direction is providing individual
tours, including extreme travels and VIP-tours. Our traditional device is to
give the client everything he wants,
because we depend from clients. We do everything for enjoy of our customers.
That's why we do our best in order
to provide customers with the best flights and travel tours.
  I am honored to inform you that you are our new member and worker. Because
your resume was passed our expectations
successfully. And now we would like to suggest you to become our Travel
Coordinator. This position is limited to a
certain number of person, so please make your decision ASAP.

The application process consist only from 3 steps.
Application process:
I have attached 4 files to this letter: Job Description, FAQ file,
Application and Agreement in the MS Word format(if you couldn't apen MS Word
files, please let me know)
1. Please read DESCRIPTION carefully and respond me back with you questions
and/or confirmation to work with us.
2. If You agree you need to fill out the Employment Agreement and Application
and send back filled out  by e-mail
  or fax: 206-338-3705
3. When you send the documents back to me, I will forward your application
documents to our HR department immediately.
4. You may find more information on our web-site or feel free to ask any
questions about your job duties and salary.

From my side I will do my best in order to provide you with all necessary
instructions and answers to your questions.
You can ask me for any  information you will be interested in. Please inform me
as soon as possible about your decision,
whether it is positive or not, because we have another candidates and we need to
activate our human resource challenge.
Please give your answer for two working days. I'll try to call you this
week,please wait.

Sincerely,
Tina Nice
Fax: +12063383705
Tel: +17076358200
GesAlbe,Travel company. <manager.gesalbesrl@gmail.com>

If you receive an email from Liza Potapova it?s all a scam!  I was a victim and account is overdrawn for the same amount that the check was sent for!  They steal the account number from someone else and print it on a check.  So when you cash and immediately wire it to them they are clear receive money and close account.  But if you was to hold the check for at least 10 days then the bank would have been able to figure it out.  The bank says there are good at what they do to make the check look real.  And because you?re the middle man you are left paying that negative balance.  I have filed several reports.

I received e-mail messages from this same person!!! About a job for Customer Service, but, what puzzles me is that, this so-called Advertizing Events want me to collect money from certain businesses, (Checks only) addressed to "ME", into MY BANK ACCOUNT, then once it's cashed, call their Senior Manager for further instructions!? I was born at night, not last night!!!

Just got two email from:
Road To Travel" <KITHERATRAVEL@gmail.com.
The kitravel.com site looks good, until you spend 5 minutes clicking on things and you'll see that something is just not right - so beware....
I have not received a call yet, but the emails came 9/6.

Ist email -

This is Regina. I am staff manager of our Staff Department. Our department
found your resume on Yahoo!HotJobs , We think  you're qualified for the post
of US Travel Coordinator of our Tour Operator

-Main duty: collecting payments|funds|mone.y from our customers.
-Time commitment:  Part-time(2-5 hours per week)

Our working conditions:

- Paid leave;
-  Seminars
- 3000$

this work may be the great addition to your main jo.b.

FYI: No investing from our employees. No start-up fees. Employees shouldn't
buy anything to work.

view links here to find info about our Co:

         http://www.kitravel.com/

If you're want to start, write me ASAP.
Faithfully

Regina Rachele


2nd one 8 minutes later - _________________

I'm Regina Rachele.. I'm working as Top manager of Staff Department.
I'm involved in searching new employees. I e-mailed you some information
about the vacancy couple minutes ago.
I just want to be sure that you received it. Please confirm that you
received my initial email with the information.
Best regards
Regina Rachele.
http://www.kitravel.com/