Fake Checks & Wire Transfer Scams, FakeChecks.org fights back!

1. 
   Traci said on April 13th, 2008 at 11:23 pm

   I received an email from someone claiming to have seen my resume on a job search website. I was looking for employment at the time. They said they were from an “investment monitoring company” and asked me to be a payment processor. Their clients would send check or money order to me to cash and wire the money to this company. I would cash the check and deduct 10% as a fee for me to process payments. I was desperate for employment and gave the company my name, address, phone number, and age. They said I could start right away because the girl who contacted me had too many checks to process and she needed help. I have still been waiting on a response from them on when I would start this. Until I read info on this website, I had no idea this was a type of scam. I am so glad I never cashed any of these checks. The company called themselves Crystal Group of Companies, based in the UK.

   Reply
2. 
   eddysalomon said on April 14th, 2008 at 7:47 am

   Hi Traci,

   Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you didn’t get victimized by this scam. Be sure to check out our other scam resources and material to help you avoid any others:
   http://www.workathomenoscams.com/work-at-home-scams/

   And if you’re visiting other sites be sure to share the information you learned here with others so they can avoid being scammed as well.

   We all need to do our part to stop people from being victimized.

   Thanks again for commenting Traci.

   Hope to see you on our blog again very soon.

   Eddy

   Reply
3. 
   Kelly Watson said on June 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm

   Thanks for referring me to the site fakechecks.org. I could have had a lot of money taken from me along with the heartache. Thanks for the help you provide to innocent people trying to make it and take care of their families. I’m glad I found this website. I’ll makr sure I shred that fradulent check.

   Reply
4. 
   eddysalomon said on June 9th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

   You’re welcome Kelly.
   Glad that we were able to help you avoid this scam.
   Be sure to become a subscriber so you don’t miss any other articles that may help you avoid scams:
   http://www.workathomenoscams.com/subscribe

   Take care.

   Eddy

   Reply
5. 
   Brittany said on September 19th, 2008 at 11:19 pm

   I am so glad i found this website. I too was desperate for work and posted my resume on jobplanet.com…I got several emails. one was for a cashier. It too was through crystal group. I gave them my name and address, telephone, age, and where I had previously worked. I was then contacted by email from a supposed higher up in the company and they said if i had any questions about the job to ask. My last email to them was about taxes and how i would go about doing that. You know, if they would send a w2 or if i would have to do them myself. I still have not heard from them. I have not cashed any checks for them thank god. With the info i gave them, could they steal my identity? Or is this just one of those scams that try to get you to cash the checks? I am glad that i took the time to investigate this before actually receiving and cashing anything for them.

   Thanks for the website!

   Brittany

   Reply
6. 
   eddysalomon said on September 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm

   Hi Brittany,

   Thanks for sharing your experience. You did the right things in this situation and helped yourself avoid being scammed.

   In terms of the identity theft situation, that is always a possibility. I set up a credit alert thing after coming close to falling for this scam. What that does is send me an email alert if someone opens a credit card in my name or any line of credit. So that’s given me piece of mind. Your bank or credit card company probably offers a similar service. So you may want to look into that.

   In any event, you’re a perfect example of what every work at home seeker should do in terms of getting involved with various opportunities. This is why I always refer people to the scam video on our scam page: http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams when they ask me if a company is a scam. That’s the way I research companies and its help me avoid a lot of crap.

   So its great to hear when work at home seekers like yourself are putting that into practice.

   In any event, I hope this doesn’t turn you off to working at home. There are plenty of legitimate opportunities out there. Fortunately you have found this site and you can explore many of the ones we recommend.

   Good luck to you either way.

   Eddy

   Reply
7. 
   Britt said on September 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

   My fiance received a check a few days ago from someone in California. Apparently, some woman had randomly contacted him through his e-mail, and she asked if he could wire $3,000 to her. She said that the money would be sent from someone in California, and it arrived through express mail. My fiance told me about it like two days ago, and as an attorney, it sent up a huge red flag. I requested that he forward the e-mails to me, and upon reviewing them, I discovered that the lady was in need of X amount of dollars to get back to the U.S. My fiance has not cashed the check, and I told him not to. I consulted with one of my senior colleagues, and he said that if my fiance were to cash the check, he could be found guilty of money laundering, passing of a counterfeit check, and a host of other charges. Has anyone ever heard of this scam? When my fiance asked where she had gotten his information, she was very vague. My fiance had the check sent to a previous address, and his step-father signed for it. I have advised my fiance to not spend the money. What should the next steps be?

   Reply
8. 
   eddysalomon said on September 24th, 2008 at 6:49 pm

   Hi Britt,

   Thanks for sharing your fiance’s experience with us. I’m not sure if you read the article above but what you described is basically the same thing. There might be some variations but at the end of the day anytime strangers are asking you to cash a check for whatever reason its usually a scam that can lead to a lot of headaches. From what I understand the government is very aware of this scam and isn’t punishing the victims. Your local bank may not be as forgiving though. In any event, under no circumstances should your finance cash the check. If
   anything you should contact your local police department as I’m sure they will have detectives that have seen similar cases and this may help their investigation.

   You should also visit the site we mentioned in the article above for further tips and advice.

   I hope this helps.

   Good luck.

   Eddy

   Reply
9. 
   brittany said on September 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

   hi,
   i had talked about the crystal group scam…i did indeed recieve a check for over 3000 dollars from them…they are sending me emails now asking why i have not cashed it…i called the local fbi office and asked them what i should do…the lady told me if i knew it was a scam to just rip up the check or send it back to where it came from…what should be my response back to the company??

   thanks

   Reply
10. 
    eddysalomon said on September 24th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    Hi Brittany,

    Honestly there isn’t much more to do. You contacted the feds and you let others know about the scam on this site. Just tear the check up and ignore the emails being sent to you.

    Or if you really want to get the message across send them an email referring them to the FakeChecks.org site. That should let them know you’re on to them and they should leave you alone.

    Hope this helps.

    Eddy

    Reply
11. 
    Crissy said on October 2nd, 2008 at 2:01 am

    I naively sent my resume to a “company” called AIF Investment Consulting today. Their website is http://www.aif-invest-consulting.com, which looks pretty legitimate until you look very closely and realize the grammar and spelling is off. They responded with the following questions:

    Hello.
    We are glad you manifest an interest in our job
    offer!
    We have a few questions
    for you and if you answer them with answers that suit
    our needs then you may
    consider yourself hired!
    1) How many days are you spending per month out of
    your town?
    2) Are you checking your e-mail daily?If not how
    often?If YES how many times a
    day?
    3) Do you have a personal bank account?If the answer
    is NO can you open one with
    a bank in your area?
    4) Are you able to go out of your home to a bank/post
    office nearby your area?
    5) Upon notifications from us that a wire
    transferl will
    reach you in 24 hrs or so will you be able to wait
    for it or go to the bank to
    cash it or withdraw the money?(Please note: we shall
    never ask you to stay at
    home 24hrs/day but you should be aware that our
    clients can not wait for us
    days in order to receive wire
    transfers).
    6) Are you able to move around your area fast enough
    ?(e.g. Go to your local
    bank and withdraw money from your account and/or
    afterwards sending a wire to
    another person/company we will indicate to you? )
    7) Can you supply to us a valid scanned copy of your
    I.D. (driver’s licence OR
    passport ) and a landline in
    order to verify your
    identity?
    Do you have Money Gram branch or Western Union branch in your area?

    Respectfully,
    AIF Investment Consulting
    Thank you.

    I replied to this with “Yes” answers but have not heard back again from them. After checking out all the info on your site and the fakechecks.org site, I sent them this e-mail:

    If I receive any further e-mails from you or detect any further suspicious activity, I will be contacting my local FBI agency and police department immediately. Check out fakechecks.org if you want to know where my information comes from.

    Hopefully, this will be the end of it but now I’m worried about identify theft. They have my address and home phone number, not to mention my work and education history. I don’t know how much they could do with it, but I feel really stupid for sending it. I’m usually much better at recognizing scams!!!

    Any advice?

    Thanks.

    Reply
12. 
    eddysalomon said on October 2nd, 2008 at 5:02 am

    Hi Chrissy,

    Thanks for sharing this latest variation of the check cashing scam with us.

    You took the right actions. You may still want to contact your local police department or the FBI. Sometimes they can track these criminals down with the header information of the email you received.

    Don’t feel stupid about sending your information. The scam artist are a lot smarter than they use to be. They use a lot of tricks to lure you into a sense of security such as using legitimate company’s name and physical address in their emails, asking questions that legitimate employers would and not requesting fees.

    So I can see how most people fall for it. After all yours truly has been in this industry since the early 90′s and I fell for it. But knowledge is power. The word is getting out that no matter what these folks may say, as soon as they start talking about cashing checks, processing payments, wire transfers, you know it’s the same old check cashing scam.

    In terms of the identity theft, the only thing I can suggest is getting a credit monitoring service.

    It’s a paid monthly service where they instantly email you alerts anytime a credit inquiry is being made or a new line of credit is opened in your name.

    I recently opened one when I saw some weird charges showing up in my checking account that weren’t initiated by me. It’s a good way to protect against identity theft.

    Your local bank or credit card company may offer the service or just do a search online. With that said I don’t think the scammers can do much unless you gave them stuff like your social security number, license, etc.

    But it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

    I hope this helps you.

    Eddy

    Reply
13. 
    Crissy said on October 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 am

    Here’s what I received today:

    We are not working with checks!!!!
    Only wire transfers! You’ll withdrawing money only after money will be
    cleared on your account!!

    I only hope by posting all this that someone else will benefit from my experience. Thank God I didn’t go any further than I did with these scumbags!

    Crissy

    Reply
14. 
    eddysalomon said on October 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Hi Crissy,

    Thanks for the follow up.
    What do they think we’re idiots? Wire transfers or checks, it’s the same crap. It’s all a scam. Thank goodness you know better!

    Thanks again for sharing.

    Eddy

    Reply
15. 
    Marie M. said on October 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    I recently recieved a letter and a check (drawn on a bank I’d heard of). Was told to deposit the check, keep some as my Pay, spend some as a mystery shopper and wire transfer most back to them.
    I was hesitant, but after discussing it with my husband, decided to go for it. There was a promise of a substansial weekly salary if I was Hired after my trial period.
    What I DID do was open a separate checking account, for just this check, so it would not be connected with our primary checking account.
    After a few days, I checked with the bank and was told the money cleared. I withdrew $100..which I was to use for my mystery shopping trip.
    When my ATM card came today, I tried to activate it, and was told the account had been “captured”. Cometo find out they were investigating the check for possible fraud, as there was a problem getting the bank to clear the funds.
    The guy from MY bank said it was a smart thing I opened a separate account. I filed a report at FakeChecks.org. I was told that my bank would contact the BBB if it determines the check was a fraud.

    Reply
16. 
    eddysalomon said on October 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    Hi Marie,

    Thanks for sharing. This is a slight twist to this scam. Mystery shopping is actually a legitimate way to make money but the way you described it is definitely not the way it goes down. Goes to figure how scam artist are always evolving.

    Would you mind providing us the person’s name, website address, email etc so others can avoid them.

    All the actions you took were totally spot on! So good for you.

    Thanks for sharing!

    We really appreciate it.

    Eddy

    Reply
17. 
    Marie M. said on October 14th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Hi Eddy

    The information on the letter I received was from Premier Consumer Solutions. With a PO box in Brooklyn NY as a address. The letter was signed my a Martha William.
    I did an internet search for them, and came up empty. Which should have raised a red flag there. My bank gave me a copy of the check I deposited. The company on the check was called Occidental Permian Ltd, in Houston Texas.
    Now, there IS an Occident Permian, with offices in Texas and California. I did find them on the internet..and they have something to do with oil refining.
    The letterhead for Premier also said “mystery shopping, market research, consulting & counselling” I just now noticed the misspelling of counseling.
    I called the 800 number today, and the man I talked with seemed surprised at what happened. He said he was “very busy” now, but would get back to me. I am not holding my breath waiting.

    Reply
18. 
    eddysalomon said on October 14th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    Hi Marie,

    Thanks for the further details.
    Sometimes what the scammers do is use legitimate company’s name address and telephone numbers. But you’ll notice that they tend to email you from some free email account and never from the real company address they refer to in their email.

    Another dead give away is the p.o. box. So these guys stayed true to form.

    Thanks again for the further details. Now when people do a search, hopefully this post will come up.

    Eddy

    Reply
19. 
    Marie M. said on October 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm

    OK Eddy
    I have a question for you. As I said, my bank gave me a copy of the check so I could call the bank of origin to verify the funds. If I called the bank, would they be able to tell me if this is fradulent or not? The teller at my bank said they would at least tell me, as the holder of the check if the funds were available.
    At least now I know that, and may do so if I get this in the future.

    Reply
20. 
    eddysalomon said on October 15th, 2008 at 7:13 am

    I think you should definitely call the bank of origin.
    Let them know you’re worried about check fraud and was advised to contact them. Most banks are aware of this scam and will be happy to help.

    Eddy

    Reply
21. 
    James Robinson said on January 28th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    I recently replied to an ad on craigslist ant this is what i got back

    “What this position entails: You have to post classified ads, such as sales ads, employment ads or real estate ads in your local newspapers and magazines.
    The company is located in Germany and prices for newspaper ads are almost double for foreign citizens/companies, this is the main reason we need your services in the US for the specified position, Newspaper Advertiser. You will spend max. 2-4 hours weekly, in your spare time. You do NOT need special skills or degrees. The position is very easy and can be done by anyone without the necessity to leave current job! It’s as easy as placing an ad in a newspaper.

    This work does not require any money out-of-pocket from you. We will provide the money to post in newspapers. Once you have received the money and the ad content necessary for the postings from us, all you have to do is place the ads from home by calling newspapers’ toll free numbers or by using their online services. There will be 4-10 ads placed weekly, for each ad you post you are paid with $100, you will deduct your share from money we send you to post the ads. For example, if we need to place an ad that costs $500 we will send you $600, you pay $500 to newspaper or website that places the ad and you remain same day with $100 commission. This is possible because for a foreign company the same ad costs around $900-$1100.

    Almost all of our ads are employment ads from various European companies that want to have ads in the US. We may also have some ads from US companies wanting to advertise in European newspapers.

    Requirements:
    - Reliable internet access OR the ability to check your email daily
    - You must be over 20 years old
    - 2-3 hours free during the week (mainly in the evening / non-business hours) for communication;

    You will enjoy working independently from home in a way that meets your scheduling needs. You can earn a full-time income in as little as 2-3 hours/week. This is an excellent way to supplement your current income. It is possible to work for us for a few hours daily and increase your income by up to $800 weekly. If you have any questions about an assignment, you will generally receive a response from us within the same day, often within few minutes. NO account SETUP fees or fees of any kind are required for this work.
    To start the job today please reply with the information below:

    First name, Last name:
    Full Street Address – NO PO Boxes please:
    City, State, Postal Zip Code:
    Two E-mail addresses:
    Phone#:

    We will select papers from the US where the classified ads will be placed and send you the funds to post. You need to place the ads in max. 48 hours after you receive the money from us! This is the only condition we ask. How you are paid for your services: As specified above, there will be 4-10 employment ads placed weekly. For each ad you post, you are paid $100. You will deduct your share from money we send you to post the ads. After a satisfactory 30-day trial period, we will establish a long-term contract with you. You will be registered as our employee and we’ll pay taxes every time you will place an ad. You will then receive a 1099 form at the end of each year from us.
    Although the requirements for this position are very simple and all terms are clear, please do not apply for this job if you are not responsible. Your agreement will be considered a US binding contract, so we expect you to follow through on your commitment to our requirements.

    Thank you”

    The domain it was sent from was a new domain and the contact info was invalid. so i reverse look up the registered owner and call him. he says he never registered this domain. unlimd.com

    the following day i received this

    “Here is William Kohl from Adlink Media Company,

    Like we specified, a cashier check of $1,425 will be released today for the Advertising Job you applied for. Simply cash the payment when you receive it at your bank and follow instructions.
    It is very important to post the ads exactly like we will send it to you, all words. After ads are posted you still have 24 hours and you can modify the content, no problems if you make a mistake first times, simply forward us the confirmation emails that publications will send and we will correct if needed.
    Please confirm again your full name and address that we have on file:

    First name, Last name (No Nicknames please):
    Full Street Address (NO PO Boxes):
    City, State, Postal Zip Code:
    Two E-mail addresses:

    You will place 2 job ads after you receive first payment in LA Times and Sun Sentinel newspapers. You will call an 1-800 number to do this task. You will receive instructions and complete “how to” specifications, also the text that will appear in the ad. Simply let us know when you will receive the cashier’s check next week. Your commission is $200 from this order. You must place the order in max. 48 hours after you receive the money. Of course, we will instruct you 100%.
    Please reply with specified info to confirm that you received this email.

    Thank you

    AdLINK Internet Media GmbH, Contact William Kohl
    Kaistraße 20B , 40221 Düsseldorf , Germany
    Tel.: +49 (0) 211 1 02 77-0 Fax: +49 (0) 211 1 02 77-111 adlinkmedia.net”

    The contact info is all fake except the website that is very legitimate.

    What should i do? I am very angry at getting my hopes up.

    Reply
22. 
    Eddy Salomon said on January 28th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    Hi James,

    Thanks for providing such great detail!
    That should help many people avoid this scam artist.
    What you should do, is continue to spread the word about this company on other sites dedicated to fighting spams
    so it’s harder for this person to scam folks. We’ve listed some other scam fighting sites here:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/2008/01/21/top-5-scam-fighting-sites

    Just don’t cash the check. As long as you don’t cash the check you should be fine. You can report this
    person to the FTC or BBB but chances are they’re using a free email address and may be outside the country.

    So the best thing to do is just warn others by posting this to as many other places as possible. Don’t get mad. You were smart, you did your research which saved
    you a lot of trouble. There are plenty of legitimate ways to make money online:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/recommendations so don’t fret.

    If you don’t mind please post this scam in our scam section:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams A lot of people visit that page and it will help more people avoid these guys.

    Like I said in past posts, scam artist are getting smarter. They’re varying their scams and actually including the contact information of real
    legitimate companies in the emails. But the thing is the scam artist tend to be emailing you from a free email address. But they’re hoping that because you
    see a legitimate company address within the email you won’t bother to verify if they work for that company. So again you did a great thing by doing
    further research.

    Thanks again for reporting this!

    Eddy

    Reply
23. 
    Reeves said on February 6th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    I recently recieved one of those scams. Me, being the naive person I am, bought into it. They sent me a check for $1925. They told me to cash it at my bank. Well, I didn’t cash it…but I did deposit it…like a dope. Here’s the thing, they said they’re from overseas and want to post ads in America. So the money was to go to American Newspapers around my area and I keep commission. To me this sounds legit, and the website they provided was theirs. So I deposit it and then they tell me I need to transfer the money via Western Union to…AUSTRIA! What!? My red flag went up and immediately figured out it was a scam. This was all yesterday morning. Right now I’m going directly to my bank and talking with someone to see if they can reverse this. Luckily I didn’t actually cash this check or have touched any of the money. I’m going to speak to one of my bank superviors to see what can be done to reverse this catastrophe. Any recommendations for what else I could possibly do? Contact local authority, perhaps, and let them know so others won’t be as gullible as I?

    Reply
24. 
    Eddy Salomon said on February 6th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    Hi Reeves,

    Thanks for sharing with us. I am sorry to hear that you’ve fallen victim to this scam. But you’re taking the right steps by reporting this scam here and contacting your bank and local authorities. You could help more people avoid this scam if you can post some of the emails you received online so when others may do a search they’ll find your report here.
    We’ve had quite a few victims do that over on our scams page:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams

    and its really helped a lot of people. So I would encourage you to head to that page and share as many details as possible. We actually just finishing talking to a couple about their recent scam experience on that page. You may find the information useful.

    Eddy

    Reply
25. 
    Ben said on March 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    Hi Eddy,

    Hoping you can help me out. I’d been looking at jobs, and applied for literally 100s. Got a reply from a company looking for accounts assistant(my job) and sent them basic info (name, address, telephone & email.)They then said they were going to send me money to cash for them take 10% etc. SUSPECT. But, I couldn’t see how I could be scammed and in my nativity didn’t reply to say that I wasn’t interested. They also said they would contact me before anything was sent so I figured if they said anything then that I wasn’t happy with I could just say no. They didn’t call or email, and I’ve just received 1500euros in a brown envelope and nothing else. Would of course love to take the money(even just 10%) but now I just wish I didn’t say anything to them. Really paranoid about the whole thing now and have no idea what to do. Could go to the police but also worried about getting kneecapped for stealing or snitching on money laundering mobsters. Arrrrgh! really screwed myself over here and just hoping that you or anyone migh t have some advice for me.

    Reply
26. 
    Eddy Salomon said on March 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    Hi Ben,

    Did you receive an actual check or money? Either way, visit the site mentioned in the article and they provide you with advice for these type of scams. Personally I would contact a bank official or police and get their advice.
    They’re both very aware of these scams.

    Reply
27. 
    candice said on March 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    @Traci: I received a similar e-mail and even contacted them with my information. I was sent 3 $300.00 postal money orders to cash @ my bank and then wire the remaining money to them after keeping my 10%. well something just didn’t feel right so i figured they r postal money orders so i can take them to the post office and cash them. when i got to the post office i was asked where i had gotten them from cause they were fakes. i turned in all the information to the post office that i had received and when i received another e-mail from them i informed them that the post office had the fakes and (not too nicely) informed them that i hope they get busted cause they could have gotten me in trouble.

    Reply
28. 
    Kage said on March 23rd, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    I received a job offer by email from a guy named Fernando Flores, who appears to be running an international web consultant firm out of Spain: flores-ecommerce.com. The job they offered me appears identical from the story in the main article. I only sent them my contact info and where to fax the “contract,” but I have a gut feeling that something is off here. Actually, I found this website when I trying researching check & wiring schemes.

    Does this look suspicious to anyone, also? http://flores-ecommerce.com/acc_payable.html

    Reply
29. 
    Eddy Salomon said on March 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    Kage,

    Just go with your gut. If they’re talking about processing payments and you keep some of the money, then the answer is pretty clear. These type of scams should be avoided and that’s it. I would avoid any further emails with this person if you’re gut feeling is telling you it’s not right. Your instincts are usually right.

    Reply
30. 
    Ben said on March 24th, 2009 at 4:48 am

    @Eddy Salomon:

    Thanks everyone for comments – yeh Eddy they posted me nearly £1500 american express travellers cheques in euros. Can’t figure out if they’re real or stolen – don’t mind going to the police but more worried about the actually people. There’s loads of them from “Bab-Bell Mechanical Company” or “Bab-bell United Group Ltd”. on jobsites (especially european ones) and I can’t find even one website from them. I know scammers are usually reclusive but still thinking about ohw they know where I live. The police are totally bent where I live too . They say they’re based in Sussex but not listed – just about as obvious as it gets which is probably more worrying. thanks again all

    Reply
31. 
    Grant said on April 1st, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    @Kage:
    Kage,
    It seems to be a total scam! I was suckered into giving my contact info. I did not fax them the contract, but yet they still sent me checks in the upwards amounts of $2,000 each. I am sending the checks back with “FRAUD” written in bold red print. I think I might just go ahead and spam the crap out of the little Flores f#%ker.

    Reply
32. 
    Kage said on April 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    @Grant:
    Even though I stopped contacting with them, and didn\’t even look a the contract, they mailed me a check to my address. I\’m thinking it should be forwarded to the FBI or IRS… but I\’m not even sure how that works. What exactly do you do if you get checks from someone you suspect of money laundering, anyone?

    Reply
33. 
    Eddy Salomon said on April 1st, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    You might just want to give the FBI a call to see what your options are. They’ll tell you the proper procedures,

    Reply
34. 
    Love said on April 29th, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    @eddysalomon:
    I have recieved a check the same form that you talk about the check was legit it doesn’t say who sent it just to deduct 10% for myself aand send the rest through western union I don’t knbow how people can be so lame and stupid. I would like to contact one of you to futher find out about this more .my email is listed please reply back asap

    Reply
35. 
    Eddy Salomon said on April 29th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Hi,

    I don’t think its fair to call people stupid and lame because they fell for a scam. We all make mistakes in life. You get blinded by desperation or the desire to make a living at home. So I don’t think victims are stupid. At the end of the day, these are learning experiences that should be learned from.

    In any event, I’m not sure what other information you need regarding these check scams. I think the article is pretty clear. You should just destroy the check and move on.

    Reply
36. 
    Tracy said on June 25th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    I received an email today that I have a package with funds in amount of $800,000. The funds are waiting on outstanding pymt of $215.00 which I will not pay.

    Reply
37. 
    Eddy Salomon said on June 25th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Thanks for chiming in. Feel free to post the email if you want so others can avoid this ridiculous scam.

    Reply
38. 
    Pam said on July 10th, 2009 at 10:02 am

    I received an email for a job interview with an actual legitimate company, but the persons involved are claiming to be involved with this company but are not, obviously. During the “interview” (I got the job by, the way) I was told that they would send me a check that i was to cash and purchase a money gram and send it to another party for my equipment to do the job. When I told the HR manager that my bank would make sure the check cleared before issuing me any cash, all contact was severed, by them. I have learned to also be careful of scammers pretending to represent a legitimate company, because of this issue.

    Reply
39. 
    Alicia said on July 20th, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    My husband and I are so happy to have read this information before giving this company a try. Spread Group Inc. is the company that claimed they saw my resume on hotjobs and would like me to be a part of their international business. As a part of my job I would accept checks and then wire the money to another account….seemed fishy, but we are desperate!! Thanks for the posting, now we know our gut instinct was right!

    Reply
40. 
    Eddy Salomon said on July 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    Hi Alicia,

    I’m so happy you were able to find us and avoid this scam! Thanks for sharing this information about this company. Hopefully many more people will avoid it. You may want to check the following pages:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams (For more scams to avoid)

    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/workathomeguide (To find real work at home jobs)

    Take care.

    Reply
41. 
    Christina Rosing said on July 28th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    Hi Eddy, thank you for talking about the crystal group, was going to buy into it. But my gut told me no, the cashing checks and taking 10% then sending them the rest of money sounded sketchy to me. So my sister was researching and found you. So I sent your story to a friend of mine that has received a western union ck from them for doing their payable. She got only one so far, so maybe I got to her in time.

    The only thing I did was answer their email and told them I need time to think about this and talk to my husband. But like you they got my address, hopefully it will be over because I never said yes I want the job.

    Is there any legit work at home out there?

    Thanks
    Christina Rosing

    Reply
42. 
    Eddy Salomon said on July 28th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    Hi Christina,

    I’m glad I helped you avoid this scams.
    Being that you’re looking for work at home and want to avoid scams. You came to the right place. We have all the information here. It’s just a matter of you reading it.

    So you should start here:
    http://www.WorkAtHomeNoScams.com/workathomeguide

    You should also read the scam section from top to bottom. You’ll learn so much there:
    http://www.WorkAtHomeNoScams.com/scams

    And finally my personal recommendations can be found here:
    http://www.WorkAtHomeNoScams.com/recommendations

    So everything is at your finger tips and its free to use. So kick back for a few hours and learn about a world of possibilities.

    Good luck. Spread the site to anyone else you know that can help. The more people, the better for all of us.

    Reply
43. 
    Donna said on September 24th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

    @Traci:
    seeking help to get away from crystal group donna_yemaya@hotmail.com
    my chking acct is messed up…

    Reply
44. 
    Alfa said on November 10th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    Hello, my name is Alfa, i was just looking for a job in the internet and i found a company from the USA given me the opportunity to work at home, i live in Spain. At first time it sounds really good to be truth, so i put the name in the internet to find more information about it (Bab-Bell Mechanical Company) and just appear information about job offers. In the search i saw your page and after reading it, believe me ´am no gonna trust on them. Thanks! @eddysalomon:

    Reply
45. 
    James said on April 22nd, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    I’m selling stuff on eBay and I get a question that claims to offer a part-time job. Desperate for cash, I respond. I get an email the following day from Erin Jacobs from International Trade Solutions LLC offering me a job as a transfer agent. They will send money to my PayPal account that I then withdraw and send to a third party via Western Union or Money Gram. I’ve already signed up out of desperation for cash giving them a copy of my ID and the last four digits of my social security number. Now I’m worried that they’ll steal my identity. Though, with my credit rating, its not worth much. What do you think Eddie?

    Reply
46. 
    Eddy Salomon said on April 22nd, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Hey James,

    Sorry to hear about this but I think you already know what I think based on the article I wrote above. My suggestion is to look into some identity theft service this way if someone does try to open any accounts you’ll know about it for the most part. Other than that I’m not really sure what to tell you. Try contacting your local bank and see if they have any advice. Ultimately the con artists is probably untouchable because they’re probably abroad. So there isn’t much you can do there. But you just want to make sure your identity isn’t being used for other things.

    At the end of the day let this be a lesson. We’ve all been victims of work at home scams. But in the future don’t let desperation cloud your judgement. Follow your instincts. Always do your research! The good thing is that you’ve found this site and we have tons of information on avoiding scams:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams

    But more importantly we’ve provided a lot of legitimate ways to make money:
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/recommendations
    http://www.workathomenoscams.com/jobs

    So as long as you make use of the material we’ve provided, you should avoid a lot of these issues in the future. I hope this helps for better or worst.

    Reply
47. 
    Shahida said on June 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm

    Hi
    I read that wire transfer scams is harsh world. Hacker did it from computer at bank in nigeria. It’s really about it. I lost usd $500 from someone is hacker make from computer at bank. I was very angry about it. It sound scary coz some bank don’t have security lock pin ID from where. Every 3 months bank officer suggest to make somebody change secret pin ID from bank and ATM from overseas coz it’s very safely.

    Reply
48. 
    Deborah said on August 23rd, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    I fell victim to a similar scam 3 yrs ago,but i actually cashed the check because it had a # on it to a bank and i called the # and the check was verified.Needless to say a month later i was arrested and charged with first degree forgery and spent 8 days in jail. I have never even had a traffic ticket before that.The charges were dismissed because i was able to prove that i had no idea that the check was counterfeit,but i could have spent time in prison for a stupid mistake if i hadn’t have had witnesses to back up what was saying so i consider myself VERY LUCKY!Just saw this posting and wanted to share my horrible experience.

    Reply
49. 
    Eddy Salomon said on August 23rd, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    Deborah,
    I’m so sorry to hear that you fell for this scam and ended up going to jail for a bit. I’m sure those 8 days felt like 8 years. You’re so lucky that you were later found innocent. It’s just terrible that this scam can continue. In any event, thanks for sharing this with us. Hopefully it will inspire people to take heed to my advice about doing one’s research and avoiding things that sound too good to be true. Obviously there was a part of your gut that felt something wasn’t right which is why you called the bank. It’s just unfortunate there wasn’t a mechanism at the bank to red flag this for you. Thanks again for sharing.
    I’m just so happy to hear you’re not in jail anymore!

    Reply
50. 
    Bookkeeper Work At Home Scam said on October 30th, 2007 at 5:41 am

    [...] received the email listed below. It’s a variation of the notorious wire transfer/check cashing scam. But this scam is disguised as a legitimate work from home job offer. Basically you’re asked [...]

51. 
    Receivables processing specialist - part-time position with a foreign investment company said on November 2nd, 2007 at 8:18 am

    [...] amazes me how many variations of the fake check scams that are out there and how often they are sent out. Well I just received another one in my email [...]

52. 
    Universal fabrics and Fashion Inc Job Opportunity Scam said on November 4th, 2007 at 9:09 am

    [...] work at home job opportunity email that is a real scam. It’s just another variation of the wire transfer scam or fake check scams that are so common on the Internet nowadays.  The alleged company that is [...]

53. 
    Part Time Job Offer Scam - WUJIANG TEXTILE CO.LTD said on November 26th, 2007 at 8:14 am

    [...] has to be done to protect you guys. The email listed below is yet another reiteration of the common wire and check cashing scams that are pervasive on the internet. The scammer may be using a legitimate company’s name and [...]

54. 
    Recruitment Offer Scam By Apex Paperworks? | Work At Home No Scams.com said on December 7th, 2007 at 9:17 am

    [...] email listed below which is the same type of Payment Processor, Bookeeper work at home scams and Fake Check Scams that seems to be the favorites of dubious individuals. If you’ve read my blog enough [...]

55. 
    Top 5 Work At Home Scams of 2007 | Work At Home No Scams.com said on January 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    [...] & Wire Transfer Scam: A company claiming to represent countries outside the U.S. needs you to cash check or wire money on behalf of their international clients who can’t cash these checks for some elaborate [...]

56. 
    Derby House Fabrics Bookkeeper Job Scam! | Work At Home No Scams.com said on January 18th, 2008 at 12:20 am

    [...] please don’t fall for them under any circumstances! They’re all just variations of check processing and wire transfer scams that we’ve covered here many [...]

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