I mean honestly, there is nothing lower than trying to scam a person out of their money.
Monday 14th of September:
Received what I thought was a job response after posting my resume to several jobs on seek.com.au (One of Australia's largest job search websites). I replied, of course, excited I was finally going to have work.
Tuesday 15th of September:
Filled out their little agreement form, which all seemed in order, no hidden clauses and professional enough. I also had questions, I emailed them, of course. No response until... I received a phone call from an Indian man who I could barely understand, but he seemed to have a fair grasp on the English language, it's common with companies based in the capital cities here, he asked me to begin working the next day. Ever eager, I agreed.
Wednesday 16th of September:
Received emails detailing what I had to do, this is where I got suspicious about it. I was required to take the money they sent, take my 5% cut and send it on through Western Union. They said the company took care of the taxes, but I wasn't sure that was how it worked, it was one of the questions I asked in my email previously; I also asked for a contact phone number.
I chatted to a couple of friends about it and they said it definitely sounded dodgy and to go to the police, so I did, I got told it was a money laundering scam and to change my account details to make sure I didn't lose anything. As I was leaving the house, I received a phone call from the same Indian man as the day before, he asked me whether I had received the money yet and I said "No" and he said a few things I didn't quite catch, not like I cared.
It took me an hour and a half to change my account details and it's still not done because I had linked accounts that I'll have to get shut down seperately... I'm glad I picked up on this before they managed to take anything as I had almost $3,000 in that linked account, when I got home, I sent a lovely email to the scammers telling them where they could stick it.
So, I definitely think I've learned my lesson - If it looks too good to be true, it damn well is.
Heh, they transferred money into my account. So I have $1,500 AUD sitting in my bank account and I've gotta wait for it to disappear because it's either fake/counterfeit or they still expect me to do their illegal work.
Heh, they transferred money into my account. So I have $1,500 AUD sitting in my bank account and I've gotta wait for it to disappear because it's either fake/counterfeit or they still expect me to do their illegal work.
Since you already went to the police with that, I'd say to go see the police again, and inform them of the transfer, don't risk being accused of passive complicity.
You are a sucker so you take the gig, they send you a western union check, you cash it, take the 5% and then forward the rest along. After youve done this, the bank realizes that its not a legit western union check, and they then hold you responsible for the amount, which you sent to some dude in India. So if the check is never cashed by you, there is nothing to do other than chalk it up as a learning experience and that any job where you get paid to do nothing is probably not a legit job.
You will get a ton of these if you have your resume on any of those sites. I was getting 4 or 5 a day when I was on monster.com and careerbuilder. All the same deal, you cash a check, take your cut, and then forward them the difference.
Yeah, I didn't have my resume up publicly though, but I've definitely learned my lesson now. Anyway, I contacted the federal police and the guy said that, from experience the money usually disappears within a few days and he said I was doing all the right things and the only thing I have to watch out for is identity theft, but they don't have nearly enough details to do that, thankfully.
I have a few friends with friends in high places that are going to push this through the federal police and get something done about it.
Also, I didn't get an actual check, they deposited money into my bank account as far as I can see it, from some bank called "Big Sky Credit Union"
Oh the cash is physically there? Well thats an interesting difference. I don't see how it could dissapear then...maybe youll get lucky haha.
Maybe, but that account is no longer linked with my others, so I can't get to it anymore unless I go into a bank. But I don't know that it's physically there, but my bank account says that it's in there as "available balance"... so I don't know.
But yes, other than that, the deal is the same. They wanted me to take the money out IN CASH, keep 5% for myself and forward the rest on through Western Union.
And I'm not sure if it was an echeque either because it came through within two days of the initial contact. :S
Oh the cash is physically there? Well thats an interesting difference. I don't see how it could dissapear then...maybe youll get lucky haha.
Maybe, but that account is no longer linked with my others, so I can't get to it anymore unless I go into a bank. But I don't know that it's physically there, but my bank account says that it's in there as "available balance"... so I don't know.
But yes, other than that, the deal is the same. They wanted me to take the money out IN CASH, keep 5% for myself and forward the rest on through Western Union.
And I'm not sure if it was an echeque either because it came through within two days of the initial contact. :S
Don't do anything with the money.
The way that the scam works is that they pay $1500 by cheque into your account.
You wire $1450 using western union to a western union branch.
They go to that western union branch and receive $1450 cash.
Your bank calls you 5-10 days later to say that the cheque you received was a fraud and that the cheque has bounced and not cleared. It corrects your account by deducting $1500.
You have a claim against the scammer who paid a dummy cheque into your account and got you to turn it into hard cash in an anonymous way before it cleared. Good luck with collecting that...
People are losing tens of thousands of dollars before the first cheque bounces through this scam and they realise it is a fraud - usually people who are desperately in need of money and cannot afford to lose these sums. Despicable.
Oh the cash is physically there? Well thats an interesting difference. I don't see how it could dissapear then...maybe youll get lucky haha.
It disappears because deposited cheques show up as available balance (for customer convenience) but the cheques still have to go through a clearing system that takes 5-10 days - after which the cheque can be refused and the funds will not transfer. The bank customer is at risk if he/she uses uncleared funds or in the case of, say, eBay sales sends the goods off to the buyer before the cheque clears.
Technically - a cheque is a revocable instrument. An example of an irrevocable iinstrument is a bankers draft (which is a good way to carry a large amount of money using a single bit of paper - eg when buying a car).
... bankers draft (which is a good way to carry a large amount of money using a single bit of paper - eg when buying a car).
I'd love to walk into a dealership with a paper bag full of hundred dollar bills to buy a car outright. I wonder what flexibility that would create with their price. :-D
... bankers draft (which is a good way to carry a large amount of money using a single bit of paper - eg when buying a car).
I'd love to walk into a dealership with a paper bag full of hundred dollar bills to buy a car outright. I wonder what flexibility that would create with their price. :-D
Actually... not much.
I walked into a dealership in 2008, haggled over the price, got the best price I could then offered to pay cash for it... Guess what...I must be a real good haggler cause the price remained the same.
Haha, I wasn't intending on using the money. Thing is, I put through some Paypal purchases before I got involved in this so I have to put the money in there so I don't get charged dishonourment fees. I'll wait it out.
Oh and of course I moved all my money out of that account... simply because I don't want to lose my savings.
Also, the thing says "No cheques found" underneath my transaction history. :/
I walked into a dealership in 2008, haggled over the price, got the best price I could then offered to pay cash for it... Guess what...I must be a real good haggler cause the price remained the same.
Of course it did. The salesman was thinking "Oh sh*t, another deadbeat that wants to pay off his car all at once instead of financing through us...there goes [insert interest rate] of compounded free dollars!"
Trust me, car dealers, real estate agents, credit card companies...they want you to carry a balance owing. That's how they actually make money.
I walked into a dealership in 2008, haggled over the price, got the best price I could then offered to pay cash for it... Guess what...I must be a real good haggler cause the price remained the same.
Of course it did. The salesman was thinking "Oh sh*t, another deadbeat that wants to pay off his car all at once instead of financing through us...there goes [insert interest rate] of compounded free dollars!"
Trust me, car dealers, real estate agents, credit card companies...they want you to carry a balance owing. That's how they actully make money.
Exactly. Our dealer even told us that straight out when we asked if cash would get us a better deal.
