The Scam Alert Blog

One of the many uses people have for the internet is looking for employment. This can be for many reasons; loss of a job, relocation, or just wanting to change careers. Many times, those looking for jobs are not in the best financial state and are willing to take a chance. Just beware, many employment scams are out there and if you’re not careful you can lose more than your seniority. A new one from this morning’s email:

Hello,

How do you do? My name is Richard Wales (Head of Public Relations,
Wahum WINGAS Companies).We are offering you a part-time paying job as
a cash Representative/Book Keeper for WINGAS Companies, at your location.
This job would be based on contract and commission terms, it is a part-
time. This project has also been developed not to affect your present job.

Wahum WINGAS GmbH is a joint venture of Wintershall AG in Kassel, the
largest German producer of oil and gas, and the world’s largest
producer of natural gas. The company has been active in the gas
supply industry since 1990 and supplies natural gas to public utilities,
major industrial enterprises and regional gas distribution companies in
Germany and other European countries via its network of pipelines
that is now more than 2,000 kilometers in length.
WINGAS is successfully using the opportunities offered by the
increasing liberalization of the gas market for the sustainable
expansion of its market position in Europe.

Gettting started with us is easy.
Your commission is a constant fee that is dependent on how long you
are ready to work with this Company.
Presently, we have just been granted a funding to head a research
project in Asia and Africa regarding Oil Drainage, Planning and
Management and this would be commencing very soon. However the
funding were made mostly in money orders,certified cashier checks while some
in bank transfers as regards the source of funding of this project.Your
willing to work as a Payment Representative now will help and save
time so that this project can be concluded as soon as possible and I am
ready to get you started.

We would be willing to accept your application on contract basis as a
staff of our company to be our payment representative back at your
present location, this way we could have our clients issue out
payments to you, so you could then cash them easily, deduct 10% of the total
amount on these payments as your commission and then remmit company
funds via Western Union Money transfer/Moneygram International Money
Transfer.

This offer is been made public due to logistics problem we encounter
during funds clearance over here.I would be glad if you accept our
proposal as we intend to commence transactions as soon as you are
ready. If interested, please get back to us with a comprehensive
detail of yourself in the manner below.

FULL NAME:-
HOME ADDRESS (NOT POST OFFICE BOX):-
CITY:-
STATE:-
ZIP CODE:-
COUNTRY:-
AGE:-
GENDER:-
MARITAL STATUS:-
PRESENT/PAST JOB EXPERIENCE:-
PHONE NUMBERS (Home and Mobile):-

Warmest Regards,
John Collins,
Head of Public Relations
Wahum WinGAS
Wahum WINGAS GmbH COMPANIES.
Head Office.
Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 160
D-34119 Kassel
Germany.

Not a bad deal right? Working from home for an international oil company! Ahh, the prestige that comes with this kind of position… plus, you’ll have extra time for the kids too. Extra time? The only extra time you’ll have courtesy of the Wahum WinGAS company is the extra time you’ll be spending at a second job as you try to earn enough money to recoup your losses from this scam.

The obvious part of the scam comes from the payment method. No legitimate job, lottery, or business opportunity sends money to you so that you can convert the payment to cash and then return part of the money back to the sender or the sender’s representative. What would happen is you would cash the money order or check, send the 90% back to the scammers (oops, I mean the International Oil Company) and then the check or money order would bounce. Your bank would then credit your account the 90% plus some fees and expect you to cover the difference.

This particular job offer comes with other signs of a scam. For instance…

You would think the sender may put a space or two between the question mark after the first sentence and the beginning of the next sentence. You may expect the head of public relations of an international oil company to be able to spell “remit” correctly (remmit). And then, there is just too much wrong with this sentence “Presently, we have just been granted a funding to head a research project in Asia and Africa regarding Oil Drainage, Planning and Management and this would be commencing very soon.” Don’t always bank on basic grammar and spelling errors pointing the way to scams, sometimes the scammer is reasonably intelligent and will make his attempt look quite professional. Remember, the old saying “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is” is right more often than not.

Protect yourself against employment scams by doing your research and using common sense. Don’t let scammers separate you from your family’s money.