Craigslist job scam?? Please help!

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hneaz United States. Jun 16 2011 22:52. Posts 79

Hey all,

Recently, I have been job hunting through Craigslist and I applied to a bunch of jobs. I got a reply from this one. (quote means the scammer email and plain text is me replying the email). Now from here, its obvious that this is a scam. But I keep getting this long email and I dont know how to tell him to fuck off...

*UPDATE*

Scammer has a similar job post on these sites

http://greatjobsoverseas.com/healthcare-jobs/office-manager-abilene-texas/ ---> Texas

http://www.market4free.com/classifieds/ads/jobs/admin-office/29340272 ---> Minnesota

http://california-job.us/tag/hanfordcorcoran/ ---> California

Part time office assistant Date: 2011-06-13, 9:55AM CDT Reply to: job-v7yvb-2437495273@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] This is a part time position, (20 hours per week), with a great established company! Hours: Mon-Fri. 10:00am-2:00pm Requirements: Please be prompt and reliable, with proficient computer skills For consideration, please e-mail your resume Compensation: $19/hr

So I replied with this email

Hi, I saw the ad for the Part Time Office Assistant position on craigslist and I am interested in it. Attached in this email is my resume. Thank you

get back to me
Hello how are you doing and hope you had a nice Day , Thanks for your interests in the PA position, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities. I most very often get my hands occupied because am working with many companies both states and outside,so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities. As my assistant, your activities amongst other things will include: Make travel arrangements and submit expenses for Attorneys Order office supplies, Running personal errands,Check Processing Filing documents,faxing,printing and typing letters Web research, Internet search skills and posting ads Quality communication etiquette skills and good organizational skills Serious sense of humor required and mandatory to work with me Ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information Perform duties with accuracy, quality, and integrity You can only apply for this position if you own a printer and personal computer. Basic wage is $400 a weekly About me: My name is Mr john burnworth , i have a family of 2 and i am a contractor .I travel a lot,hence the reason why i need an assistant to handle affairs for me on the home front when i am away on business which is usually quite often. This position is home-based and flexible you can be in any location,working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on. This is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially when i return ok.. I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available for me. This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship. Note:This position is home base office work you can be in any location and work with me from your home/office. Let me know your interest if you are ready to work with me from your home/office Mon-Fri @ 10am So Fill This Application And Email It Back Here Asap!!! Full Name______________________ Street Address______________________ City, State, Zip Code__________________ Cell Phone Number (___)______________ Home Phone Number(___)_____________ Email:________________________ ____ Current Job:________________________ Hope to hear from you again. John

Hi Mr. John Burnworth, I have included my particulars in this email. Thank you.

This reply I got ringed some bells because of many spelling errors and the number of okays he used...

Application received ...get back to me

I received your application,I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point. Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week.If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side for now.

As I have said, I'd want us to get a head start with things as soon as possible. I do have a pile up of work and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually. Permit me to use this week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and on the long run we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.

I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss.I am also glad on the commitment in working. I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me this week is to do shopping for office equipment/printing materials for my new office thats am setting up sson ,A check will be mail to you from a Client this week , the money is needed to get some Tools need for my new office. and maind you i will meet with you in the nest 8days okay so you dont have to worry your self on how we are to meet okay.

So the payment you are receiving is for my Client and the Money is Needed to furnish my New Office , the Money is needed to get some Equipments and tools into the Office .

So once you received the Check all needed of you to do is for you to deduct your money for a week Payment from it and i will send you the nest of what to shop and send the remaining money to the Manager to arrange those Tools inside the Office , I want you to email me back soon as you received this message for me to be rest assure you are still with me .
I await your mail..
Thanks

Hi, I am still interested in this job. Thank you

payment update .....your urgent reply is needed

Hello how are you doing today hope all is well with you over there? am glad that you are willing to work with me and i want you to know that i will give you the best okay and why i need you to do this for me cos am on a business trip which i will be back soon as i have said in the email i sent you last.

So now i want you to know that the payment i was talking about has been sent to you and its a check of $2750 okay.... the check is from my client in Illinois okay and the bank the check came from is First National Bank of Omaha.

And the check will be delivered to you tomorrow beaning Friday okay by 10 30 am at most the ups is going to deliver the package to you and its coming from ups okay that's the courier service that will deliver it to you okay amount on the check is 2750 okay ......

All you need to do is to get back to me as soon as you receive this email that you are still with me then i will send you the tracking number of the package okay ... and you may ask why i sent you a check of 2750 i want you to shop for the office equipment and then take out your fist week payment okay then the rest of the money you will send it to my manager via western union cos there are some equipment i need him to get from Michigan okay as am talking to you now he is in Michigan now okay and he ran out of cash that's why you will be sending some money to him from the check you received okay

You maybe asking why dint i send the money direct to my manager instead of asking you to send some money to him well he called me that he ran out of cash and there is no way i can send him check cos he cant cash the check there, he is in a hotel okay. Am explaining all this to you so you can understand why you are sending money from western union okay .........

So soon as you receive this email i want you to get back to me then i will send you the tracking number and the instruction on what to buy and where you will send the rest of the money to okay thanks and hope to read from you JOHN.

WTF? He is sending money to me without meeting? Fuck, how do I get out of this??? I am pretty sure I will be held responsible for fake checks and be in deep trouble. I have not responded to his email yet, but if the check arrives tomorrow, I may have to report this to the police so that I wont be screwed over. Should I even respond to this email informing him that I will report him to the police or ignore the email?

Please LP, I need your input on this. I know this was long to read but here is the cliff.

Cliff Notes

1) Applied job on craigslist via email
2) Received reply from some dude claiming he is busy so he needs a part time office assistant to handle business
3) Dude wants to send me money to buy office supplies for his new office cuz his 'boss' is broke
4) He tells me he is sending me a check without meeting me in the first place
5) He has my resume that includes my address and phone number

0 votes

Make me a taco!

Last edit: 16/06/2011 22:59

qwerty67890 New Zealand. Jun 16 2011 23:05. Posts 14026

Of all the legit places you can look for work, you chose craigslist lol

gawdawaful Canada. Jun 16 2011 23:10. Posts 9012

dont cash the cheque and start ignoring?

Im only good at poker when I run good

hneaz United States. Jun 16 2011 23:16. Posts 79

On June 16 2011 22:05 byrnesam wrote:
Of all the legit places you can look for work, you chose craigslist lol

I have friends who found work through craigslist. After I got the first email, I sensed something fishy, but I wasn too sure, and after the 2nd email i realized it was a scam...

On June 16 2011 22:10 gawdawaful wrote:
dont cash the cheque and start ignoring?

Yeah, Im going to do that and maybe go to the police and report this?

Make me a taco!

Last edit: 16/06/2011 23:19

vlseph United States. Jun 16 2011 23:19. Posts 3026

def seems like a scam.

The only hands a nit balances in his range are the nuts, the second nuts, and the third nuts.

Sanity United States. Jun 16 2011 23:23. Posts 1076

craigslist jobs is full of scams, you just gotta use your head and common sense. tldr; but if it seems like a scam, it probably is. I have found work through craigslist, just be smart about it.

jeffv8x_-_16 Belgium. Jun 16 2011 23:25. Posts 2835

On June 16 2011 22:19 vlseph wrote:
def seems like a scam okay.

edited for the lulz okay.

how can u shove the river, he cant possibly call with worse -TalentedTom

trickybas789 Canada. Jun 16 2011 23:48. Posts 1

Hi, i work in a bank. This type of scam where the person sends you a cheque with an amount of more then what you need and ask you to send the extra money back to them is a very very common scam. This is because sometimes your bank won't hold your cheque or the hold period is shorter then clearing. So when you send the money back to the person from your acct, you actually ends up sending funds in your acct that the bank lends you and you end up owning the bank money.

whamm! Albania. Jun 17 2011 00:02. Posts 11625

lukeperry Sweden. Jun 17 2011 03:35. Posts 145

Don't see the reason to freak out? Just don't cash the cheque and you're ok. okay?
His use of "okay" is bizarre, borderline scary. Feels like some sick mind trick :S

Garfed Malta. Jun 17 2011 04:23. Posts 4818

On June 16 2011 22:48 trickybas789 wrote:
Hi, i work in a bank. This type of scam where the person sends you a cheque with an amount of more then what you need and ask you to send the extra money back to them is a very very common scam. This is because sometimes your bank won't hold your cheque or the hold period is shorter then clearing. So when you send the money back to the person from your acct, you actually ends up sending funds in your acct that the bank lends you and you end up owning the bank money.

All clear then

Thanks for clarification.

hneaz United States. Jun 17 2011 13:54. Posts 79

Make me a taco!

Last edit: 17/06/2011 13:56

NewbSaibot United States. Jun 17 2011 16:36. Posts 4946

The personal information he required seems mostly harmless. It's doubtful he could phish out your bank account numbers and stuff like that using this info. Just be careful with how much personal info you send to someone blindly over the internet, since half the time their scam is just to get enough info so they can try to steal your identity.

bye now

taco Iceland. Jun 17 2011 18:29. Posts 1793

Never thought I'd say this but... people need to start watching Judge Judy/The Peoples Court/Random shitty YouTube vids on internet scams.

Came into this thread thinking "Yup.. of course it's a scam you're on Craiglist", insta CTRL+F for 'check' and yes... confirmed scam.

Exhilarate United States. Jun 17 2011 19:27. Posts 5453

lol obviously a scam when it involves you having to send someone money without ever meeting them.
though craigslist has lots of legit job offers, this one isn't one of them.

hneaz United States. Jun 18 2011 15:08. Posts 79

The check never arrived, but I sent him an email saying that I will fuck him up, okay? I never got a reply after that

Make me a taco!

Fujikura United States. Aug 21 2011 08:51. Posts 1795

LOL good response :D

aka SouL)Z(Isadie and SouL)P(Fujikura