Scam?

FlightSimBoy

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Hey, guys. I have been recently looking for a job and am wondering if something I had found is a scam or not.

This is the first email I had received from a Craigslist posting.

SMillers Creativity Shop
29 stock Well Street
Glasgow, G1 4rt
United Kingdom.
www.millers-art.co.uk
Tel; +447522098520


Dear Sir/Madam


I am Mr. Charles Miller, the Assistant .Manager (International Operations) of Millers Creativity Shop, Glasgow, UK .We are an international trading company dealing on the importation and exportation of Art work and paintings to America, Canada, Australia and some other European countries.


We are presently having problems handling our logistics from America and Canada as well as trying to tackle how our payments are remitted to us back here in United Kingdom. Hence, we need to recruit a Book-Keeper/Representative. I like to know if you will be interested in working online from home and get paid weekly without creating inconvenience to your present job. As a book-keeper/Representative for the company all you have to do are below:


JOB DESCRIPTION
*. Receive Documents/Payments in form of Cheque, Money Order, and Bank Drafts.
*. A Deduction of 10% of the cheque sent to you is your wage, for your conveniences.
*. Forward balance after deduction of percentage to the company accountant details which you shall receive.
* Act as an agent for our company representative in the respected country. which u reside.


BENEFITS ARE AS FOLLOWS:-
* The average monthly income is about $3000 to $4000.
* No form of investments from you.
* This job takes Less than 1-2 hours per day.
* You do not pay any form of taxes.

Provide the following information in this application;
LAST NAME;
FIRST NAME;
AGE;
OCCUPATION;
ADDRESS;
CITY;
STATE\ZIP CODE;
PHONE NUMBER;
E-MAIL;

Your provided information will be sent for the first internal screening and comparatively assess your application information. Please if you are interested in this position don't hesitate to get back to me.

Regards
The Manager
Charles martins

This looked like a legit email to me. The website for the company looks legit. I think the monthly income of 3000 dollars is too good to be true, but I just don't know. I decided to reply back with the information that was requested.

This is the response I got from that:

Dear Rowley James,

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BEEN SLECTED FROM THE LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR THE JOB IN QUESTION.
Thanks for your response to our job offer and also for your willingness to work for us.

I am using this medium to congratulate you on your employment at SMillers Creativity Shop and i want to inform you that you have been added to our database successfully.
I urge to be God fearing and sincere with this current position in this Job. I have put forward your data's to our customer's correspondence list and purchase payments will be directed to your profile in the database and as soon as payment is coming your way I will direct you on how to go about the transaction.

Kindly confirm that you read the email properly and that you understand the nature of the job. I shall expect to hear from you effectively.

We insist that you provide compulsorily, 2 items from this 5 requirements; this is for verification process and to proof of identification to ensure our online employees are consistent. Choose and provide only 2.

(1)A valid driverʼs license
(2)A valid international passport
(3)Your statement of your bank account (a month)
(4)SSN
(5)Identity card

Provide scanned copy of any 2 items out of the 5 requirements in this information and send it to this box .This last stage completes the registration process. You should understand that this is only a security measure to check our employee credibility based on the information you have provided and we affirm that the requested information is stored in our database for company records only.

This information cannot be made public. Looking forward for your quick response. We already have payments for you to make.

please send us the requirement ASAP, so we can forward to you the cheque. Thank you!
Regards,
Charles Martins
Manager
SMillers Creativity Shop

Now this is when I get skeptical. I don't want to send them any of that information without knowing if they are legit about this. I am thinking about calling them, but the only time I can here, it would be at night over there (5 hour difference between me and England). I might call the number anyway just to find out. The person who is sending me emails is using a Yahoo email address, but I have known most all scammers that have emailed me have used a Yahoo address.

What do you all think?

Thanks.
 
It's coming from a Yahoo email address? I would be skeptical too. If they are a legit company then they would almost certainly have a corporate email address to conduct business wouldn't they? I dunno, call them and see whats up. 3000 bucks a month seems sketchy as well for an online job.

I wonder what the equivalent of the better business bureau is over there? I would check with someone and see if the business is legit.
 
Honestly it is hard to tell if it is legit or not. Most companies you work for will ask you for exactly the same information but I'd be really skeptical of doing this online. I would definitely call them and talk to a real person and make sure its all legit. If they are using you as a medium for sending payments then for security purposes on their end they need to know you are who you say you are.

My questions are: are you receiving money from their "customers" processing the payment through YOUR personal account and then forwarding a payment from your funds to them? Or do you get access to their accounts here in the US and just keep track of all the transactions and payments they make...And why don't you have to pay taxes on any of this seems either like tax evasion or money laundering operation to me...

Millers Art Shop opened initially in Glasgow in 1834 and now ranks amongst the largest and best in Britain, having won the NAMTA "Excellence in Communications" Award in the USA, and Best Dealer in the U.K. Award in 1992.
Well I just found this on the about us page on their website, you might want to do some research to verify the facts and that might give you some information about the company being legit...

It does really seem to good to be true but hey if it is it's definitely a good way to earn some easy cash....
 
it's a scam...

and this is how it works.

they send you a cheque, (say for £3000) and that's the complete amount money for the artwork and your wages.

so you cash the cheque,
as soon as it's cashed and the money is in your account, (that's 3 days time). you;re asked to keep your £300 and send £2700 to the 'seller' or whoever it is that you're meant to pay.

so you send a cheque, they cash it, wait 3 days, cancel their cheque, (because it actually takes 7 days for a cheque to clear),
you don't realise until a few days later when you get a letter from the bank that you have no money,
they take their £3000 back,
their accomplice takes £2700 from your bank.

and there is very little that can actually be done about it, because it's practically impossible to prove this kind of thing.

this is a well known scam, it's often done with people who you;re buying a service off.

for instance people will say to a wedding dress maker that they want to pass the fee on to them to pay the 'photographer'.

or people will give you a cheque and say that they don't get paid till the end of the week and you can cash it then.

it's almost certainly a scam, (now I'll go read the second mail that concerned you more).

yes, there is no reason why they'd need that sort of information since they won't be making tax contributions on your behalf, though you have to understand, whenever you work 'for' someone, you'll be required to give some information...

anyway...

google the company a bit...

firstly, look at the letter headers.

firstly, I'd have thought that anyone with their offices at 29 Stockwell St would be able to spell Stockwell Street, (not stock well street), it's one word, not two.

Second, if you go to the website it clearly says that it's based at 28 stockwell street.
if you google 29 stockwell street, glasgow you;ll find that there are two business based there.
first a warehouse.
http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/canmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=259829 (21-29 Stockwell St).

Whilst i see that an art supplier might be in a warehouse, if your business had five concecutive units in a warehouse, you wouldn't only list one.

the other business based there is http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/90348/Stockwell Newsmart a news agent.

Secondly, (i don't know how american systems) work so I'll explain this.
houses are *usually* numbered with odd numbers down one side of the street, even numbers down the other side.

postcodes identify specific blocks of houses.

the postcode on that address is for 28 stockwell street G1 4rt (likely lifted from the website), the postcode for 29 stockwell street is G1 4RZ

Also the telephone number is a mobile number, one that you can get for a few quid, is practically untraceable and disposable.

so... my advice, start running away from this 'business' and don't stop running any time soon.
 
it's a scam...

and this is how it works.

they send you a cheque, (say for £3000) and that's the complete amount money for the artwork and your wages.

so you cash the cheque,
as soon as it's cashed and the money is in your account, (that's 3 days time). you;re asked to keep your £300 and send £2700 to the 'seller' or whoever it is that you're meant to pay.

so you send a cheque, they cash it, wait 3 days, cancel their cheque, (because it actually takes 7 days for a cheque to clear),
you don't realise until a few days later when you get a letter from the bank that you have no money,
they take their £3000 back,
their accomplice takes £2700 from your bank.

and there is very little that can actually be done about it, because it's practically impossible to prove this kind of thing.

this is a well known scam, it's often done with people who you;re buying a service off.

for instance people will say to a wedding dress maker that they want to pass the fee on to them to pay the 'photographer'.

or people will give you a cheque and say that they don't get paid till the end of the week and you can cash it then.

it's almost certainly a scam, (now I'll go read the second mail that concerned you more).

yes, there is no reason why they'd need that sort of information since they won't be making tax contributions on your behalf, though you have to understand, whenever you work 'for' someone, you'll be required to give some information...

anyway...

google the company a bit...

firstly, look at the letter headers.

firstly, I'd have thought that anyone with their offices at 29 Stockwell St would be able to spell Stockwell Street, (not stock well street), it's one word, not two.

Second, if you go to the website it clearly says that it's based at 28 stockwell street.
if you google 29 stockwell street, glasgow you;ll find that there are two business based there.
first a warehouse.
http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/canmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=259829 (21-29 Stockwell St).

Whilst i see that an art supplier might be in a warehouse, if your business had five concecutive units in a warehouse, you wouldn't only list one.

the other business based there is http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/90348/Stockwell Newsmart a news agent.

Secondly, (i don't know how american systems) work so I'll explain this.
houses are *usually* numbered with odd numbers down one side of the street, even numbers down the other side.

postcodes identify specific blocks of houses.

the postcode on that address is for 28 stockwell street G1 4rt (likely lifted from the website), the postcode for 29 stockwell street is G1 4RZ

Also the telephone number is a mobile number, one that you can get for a few quid, is practically untraceable and disposable.

so... my advice, start running away from this 'business' and don't stop running any time soon.
Good detective work by mr. root.
 
That's definatley a scam. He list's the businesses contact number as a mobile number... that is very often a bad thing (allthough for some it cant be helped, builders etc).
 
I'd like to thank root for an amazing post. that must have took awhile to write, so thank you very much.
 
scam.. why would a british company quote the monthly wages in dollors.. or a legit company use a yahoo address.. or have a mobile as a contact.. stay clear of them
 
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