Maybe I’m simply lucky.
Or, probably, frauds on Web are so many that it’s normal to frequently run into one of them. Especially if you apply to 30/40 vacancies a day.
I have been receiving unreliable e-mails from presumed companies for weeks. Some of them asked me to provide just some more personal details. Others, a scanning of my ID card or Passport. The rest of them even asked for a scanning of my Birth certificate. They said that those documents were absolutely necessary to complete my registration to their database. False! Never, ever give to recruitment agencies or companies a proof of your identity before meeting them for the preliminary interview!
Sometimes I have been asked to bring with me a document, of course, but only if I had to go to the agency for the interview. They do not need a copy of an an ID card or Passport or whatever document just to submit the CV and the application to a database! They have to take a look at candidate’s skills and experience and references and only then arrange an interview and ask for a document.
In my instance, they asked me to provide a scanning of my ID Card or Passport or Birth certificate through e-mail, otherwise I could send them a printed copy to their postcode. I don’t know, maybe they just wanted it to register a new candidate in their files – and probably get a bonus from that. Being unsure, anyway, I decided to simply cancel the communication. Why take the risk to become the next Salome Bally? In that case, scammers surely got Salome’s ID Card scanning with a similar request.

.
Anyway, as for the umpteenth scam they tried to involve me with, it came through my mailbox yesterday evening. There was no specific subject in the e-mail. It just referred to a generic “Part time vacancy”. No reference number, no job title. Not that strange: it’s not so uncommon to receive e-mails from real recruitment agencies with a simple “Re:” as a subject.
I read the first line. Something didn’t work in that sentence. Then two words were blindingly obvious: Western Union.
Right, I thought. Everything’s clear now. A scam.
Why the name Western Union has to be always linked to scam and frauds nowadays? All the frauds they proposed me relied on Western Union services. Unfortunately, in some countries its offices are out of control. A pity, for an international service of such importance.
I read the whole message. The presumed role had to deal with bank transfers. Through Western Union, of course.
IP address was from Mexico. E-mail address shown on the message was not the address that appeared when I clicked on the ‘reply’ button. They sent those messages at an address I use only for job applications. Read: they got it after receiving an application of mines or they are even subscribed to a website providing CVs and contacts to employers. In any case, they’re bastards. Attempting to scam unemployed people trying to steal money they’re not earning: what’s worse?

I wanted to be 100% sure I was right and really facing a new scam attempt. I wrote them a reply. I asked for some more infos about the job. Their answer, arrived at 7.40pm – ’cause all the recruitment agencies are opened after 7pm in the UK! – was almost indecipherable.
I got the confirmation I needed and immediately proceeded with a vibrant answer that would stop any further attempt to offend my intelligence.

I copy and paste the three letters below, hiding the name of the company.
Enjoy your reading!

___________________________

Subject: Part time vacancy
From: Dolores W****
To: Juana Romandini
Date: 22/3/2010 14:34 (but arrived at 7.20pm)

Ceff*** Cons***** & Finanace is 1 of the leading providers of consulting services in the world. Our success depends both on high quality of services and on professionally managed and reliable business processes.

This is the reason why quality is our main concern. However, the only way to reach top-notch quality in our business is permanent struggle for quality and engineering of very stable procedures.

It is not possible to reach high quality standards without dedicated personnel striving for flawless operation of processes and projects in their daily life. Currently we have a Financial Manager opening. No deadlines for applications are set.

The job of Financial Manager includes processing of money transfers, sent to his bank accounts by company clients. Upon receiving a transfer the Financial Manager has to redirect it to the account specified by our dispatchers. All you need for this job are: 3-4 free hours a day, your wish, ability to work in a team and responsibility. The initial wages will equal fivepercent of total turnover.

Requirements to employee:

* Foreign language, English.
* To have an opportunity in any working hours to go to closest Western Union location and make money transfer.
* Should have bank account
* Have a skill to communicate and access to the Internet.
* Be able to check your e-mail several times of day
* twenty years old and more

What we offer:

* Free seminars and training courses, after six months of good work.
* Increase in your salary.
* Generous wages. Your salary will originally make five % from every payment. After five remittances if you will operatively work and correctly, your salary raises up to 10 percent.

If you are interested in this vacancy, reply at our email: cefincfk@lav****.com

2010 © Cef*** Cons****** & Finanace
All right reserved.

—————

Re: Part time vacancy
From: Juana Romandini
To: cefincfqq@lav****.com
Date: 23/3/2010 19:22

Dear Dolores,

I will be pleased to provide you with all the information needed if you would be so kind to tell me a bit more about the role.
What should I do exactly on a daily basis?
I have no financial or credit control background. Is that a limitation to my application?

If you should have any question, please, feel free to ask.

Best regards,

Juana Romandini

—————

Subject: Cef*** Cons****** & Finanace
From: cefincfqq@lav****.com
To: “Juana Romandini”
Date: 23/3/2010 19:40

Greetings,

Cef** Cons****** & Finanace company thanks you for being interested in our
offer.
All additional information about our company you may read at our official
site.

http://www.ceff******.com

Below the details of vacancy operational scheme:
1. The payment notice and the details of the beneficiary for further
payment transfer will be e-mailed to your box. All necessary instructions
regarding the payment will be enclosed.
2. As a next step, you’ll have to withdraw cash from our account.
3. Afterwards you shall find the nearest Western Union office and make a
transfer. Important: Only your first and last names shall be mentioned in
the Western Union Form! No middle name (patronymic) is written! Please
check carefully the spelling of the name, as it has to correspond to the
spelling in the Notice.
4. Go back home soonest possible and advise our operator on the payment
details (Sender’s Name, City, Country, MTCN (Money Transfer Control
Number), Transfer Amount).
5. Our operator will receive the money and send it to the customer.
6. Please be ready to accept and to make similar transfers 2-5 times a
week or even more often. Therefore you have to be on alert to make a
Western Union payment any time.
Should you face any problems incurred in the working process, don’t
hesitate to contact our operator immediately.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail.

If you have understood the meaning of work and ready to begin working with
us, please send us your INFO in the following format:

1) First name
2) Last name
3) Country
4) City
5) Zip code
6) Home Phone number, Work Phone number, Mobile Phone number
7) Bank account info:
a) Bank name
b) Account name
c) Account number
d) Sort code

Scan you passport or driver license

2010 © Cef*** Cons****** & Finanace
All right reserved.

—————

Subject: Re: Cef*** Cons****** & Finanace
To: cefincfqq@lav****.com
From: Juana Romandini
Date: 23/3/2010 20:16

You are just ARSEHOLES! You steal CVs from websites to scam people who are UNEMPLOYED AND SEARCHING FOR A JOB! YOU FRAUDSTERS! How do you DARE to propose yourself as professionals? Shame on you!!! Your e-mail came through the wrong mailbox, darling!
But I am now being ungrateful. You are offering me a job and I am shouting at you… I want to do something to pay you back for your kind offer. I want to give you some advices:

1 – Be smarter and AVOID PUTTING THAT FUCKING WESTERN UNION REQUEST IN ANY SCAM YOUR BRILLIANT MINDS DECIDE TO GIVE BIRTH TO;

2 – If you want to scam Britons and people living in the UK, TAKE A DAMNED COURSE BOOK AND START LEARNING ENGLISH, THEN!

3 – If you want to be a believable company, if you really want to seem PROFESSIONAL, then YOU MUST AVOID OPENING AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION WITH A DREADFUL “GREETINGS”. For your information, “greetings” IS A GREETING that means BYE BYE, SEE YOU, HOPING TO HEAR YOU SOON, WHATEVER!!!

4 – Please, avoid answering to this communication. I fear that my brain couldn’t manage another BRILLIANT, CLEAR AND GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT E-MAIL OF YOURS!!!

Best regards – or greetings, you choose,

Juana Romandini

___________________________

No answer after my burst. Silence along all the line.
Did I left them speechless or did they simply ignore me and go on? I don’t care. It’s none of my business.

.
What’s outrageous is that in this instance they used a really existing company to make their scam even more likeable. I cannot write the compete company name, or in search engines results it’ll will jump out together with the word “scam”. Anyway, I can assure that’s a professional and big financial company operating in New York city. Existing and hiring people, not scamming them.
How did I get to the right web address? Because scammers put it at the end of their last message – see it above. I just had to compare the e-mail address given by the real company with theirs to discover that they used an indecently similar nickname – but with a different extension after the @. Of course. They can misappropriate of a name, but they cannot fake website address and extension.
I wrote an e-mail to the company straight away. Maybe they won’t care, but I wanted them to be aware of the problem all the same.

__________________________________________

UPDATE OF 7 PM:

The e-mail I sent to the “company” this morning bounced after trying to reach its mailbox for 5 hours. I immediately checked the e-mail extension: it didn’t match with the website address.
I browsed more carefully. I was astonished: 100% it was a fraud, but the website was so damned likeable that I barely could believe I was looking at a scam! I was absolutely angry.

I started an immediate control of the domain owner: a Polish man from Warsaw. The reference e-mail was, again, a Hotmail account.
Next step, typing “Cefin Consulting & Finance Fraud”. Here you are what I found on the Web:

http://www.bobbear.co.uk/cefin-consulting-and-finance.html

Administrators of this website have done the very same checks I did. Whois, IP address, complete and full website browsing.
I am still upset. It’s starting to be hard to identify those scammers at first sight. In the end, also Cefin Consulting & Finance is a fraud.

A small note before closing: if I have to select ads matching my CV among hundreds of ads, if I have to pay attention to avoid to be trapped in a door-to-door disguised as a Customer Service role and if now I have also to pay attention to not get scammed… well, mates, I know I’m unemployed and plenty of time, but I would like to use it for more productive and interesting activities than running away from those sons of a… yeah, you know of whom.