I was contacted by the above company and offered a position as a part time assistant controller. They said they needed a US representative to handle payments from their US customers. As part of my job I would be receiving payments from the company's customers. They said the reason for this was that it took too long to clear checks from the US. I was to deposit these checks in my bank account and then wire them the money keeping 10% for myself.
I emailed him back and said i was interested provided he could give me the following information;
The official name, address and telephone number for your main office. The country where your company is domiciled
I will need your articles of incorporation and the name of the agency they are filed with. Any business licenses you are required to have and the agency they are filed with.
Your most recent audited financial statement or the name of the accounting firm who prepares your statements
the address for your company's website
3 references from your US customers and their address and telephone numbers.
Well I never received this information instead I received a letter from UPS two days later with a letter with 3 USPS money orders in the amount of 825.00 from a different person named'
Robert Green Phd Account General Accounts
The letter instructed me to fill out the blank money orders with my name as the payee and the name of Kenneth Whitehouse 81 W Freeway Street Grand Prairie TX 75051 as the payer and deposit them into my account. Taking out my 10% I was to wire the balance of the funds to a Yanick Jean in Haiti. This was all being done without my accepting the so called position and I had to act fast.
I went to the USPS website to the Money Order page. There they instruct you what to look for. The M/O's I had had all the right markings described by the USPS. Not being satisfied I called the USPS to verify the serial numbers on the money orders. They informed me that they were bogus. So the scam was to get me to deposit these bogus M/O's wait 24 hours then wire good funds from my account. A week to two weeks later the M/O's bounce and Im on the hook for the funds.
The internet is rife with these kinds of scams. Any legitimate company is going to have a license, financial statements, a CPA/Accountant. or some way you can get good independent 3rd party validation of who they are.
0 comments