Emails like this are scams. They are not legitimate jobs and you should not contact the sender – it’s part of a money mule scam.

Some words in this email can change but the general part of it remains the same:

Hello,
My name is Earnest and our company currently has several positions it needs to fill in your region.
We are a well known company with offices throughout Europe, Asia and North America.
Our current turnover is over 130 million annually and we are still seeking for expansion.
I have 12 vacancies of Financial Assistant that need to be fulfilled immediately.

Major operational duties are prompt receiving and processing customer’s payments for their further transfer according to the specified method. Detailed work scheme will be provided upon request.

I am looking for self-motivated individuals with strong work ethics and ability to schedule work hours effectively.

Requirements:

* Expert skills in managing payments and transfers between our company and clients
* Knowledge of basic payment systems
* Bank account (personal or business)
* Advanced PC and Internet skills
* Minimum 24 y.o.

Benefits:
*Salary plus commissions
*Full reimbursement of banking and Western Union fees.

NOTE: This vacancy is valid for American residents ONLY.

Contacts: <removed>

So if you see an email like this delete it. Don’t fall for the scam.

I’ve written about money mule scams before, here’s another one.

When a scammer has a large amount of money to move, such as stolen money they want transferred into their own bank, they don’t do it themselves. That would make them too easy to get caught.

What they sometimes do is ask other people to transfer the money. They tell these other people that it’s a legitimate job, and trick them into making these bank transactions.

They even go so far as to invent a company in order to recruit innocent people, or sometimes borrow the name of a legitimate company.

One such example is a job ad that claims to be from a US company called Texaco. The scammers sent a forged email with a link to a fake website, made to look like the read Texaco.

The scam email says:

Texaco/Chevron Downstream Europe
  1 Westferry Circus Canary Wharf
  London E14 4HA

Dear Job Candidate,

The TEXACO Online Employment System wish to inform you that your posted information onlinehas been carefully and confidentially reviewed by our Recruitment Team Professionals and we have considered under our current vacant opportunities within the Firm to employ you for work in our company.

TEXACO Online Employment System is affiliated to various job recruitment websites and your information was submitted to us by our online agent that submit job candidate resumes for consideration of employment depending on the vacancies we have in any branch of TEXACO Company Worldwide.

As regards to this, you have been automatically granted this employment to work in TEXACO Oil & Gas Field with a monthly salary of Eight Thousand
Five Hundred Pounds (£8,500).

Kindly acknowledge the content of this message by reconfirming your interest in working for us and indicating your area of job interest, ensuring that you
have quoted your vacancy title below or send your CV with a covering letter.

For further details relating to your employment, kindly send an email to
Texaco/Chevron Downstream Europe H/R Recruitment Service Department
texaco@post.com / http:// texaco.us.ms / http:// texaco.com/portal_default.asp/.

  Regards,
  Paul Matins
  HR Recruitment Manager

This email is a scam. The web site that they give ends with .us.ms – this is not the real Texaco’s domain name.

So the next time you see a job ad too good to be true, consider if it might be a money mule scam. Does the job ad promise to pay an unusually large rate? Is the work unusually easy? Is the job description vague? Is the web address correct? Did you receive the job ad in an unsolicited email? These are all questions you need to ask yourself.

There’s a fake email being circulated in the UK asking for donations to help with the recent earthquake in Haiti. The email claims to be from the Red Cross but it’s really just a scam.

This is what the email looks like:

The British Red Cross Society
British Red Cross
UK Office
44 Moorfields
London EC2Y 9AL

MAKE YOUR DONATIONS NOW
=====================

Dear reader,

A devastating earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on 12 January 2010 sending the Haitian Capital Port-Au-Prince into chaos, killing hundreds and affecting thousands more. Please give what you can today to help thousands of people there in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

Relief aid workers from the Red Cross have already been arriving at the Haitian capital with relief materials.

Donations have been grouped into two cartegories:

1: Group A (£250 British Pounds to £1,000 British Pounds
2: Group B (£1,000 British Pounds and above)

Donations are to be made payable immediately via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER immediately and directly to our donations accounts liason officer as RECEIVER’S name:

DONATIONS ACCOUNT LIASON OFFICER:
LOCATION: 44 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AL

Please provide us via return email the following informations below as they appear on the Western Union Money Transfer slip;

1. Name and Address of Sender
2. Exact Amount Sent ***
3. MTCN ***

NOTE: At British Red Cross we are committed to protecting your privacy as a STANDARD practice. We will not share your information unless you have previously indicated that you are happy for us to do so.

Hope to receive your donations soon as thousands need your help.

Please send return email with donations details to

Yours Sincerely,

For and on behalf of The British Red Cross Society

The email has a few spelling and grammatical errors. They unnecessarily capitalise a few words. Both of these things are unprofessional and would not be done by a serious organisation. Also, they want money sent to Western Union! Any legitimate organisation would have a professional method of accepting money. All these things should make you suspicious of the email.

If you see this email remember that it’s a scam. And there’s no doubt that there’ll be dozens more emails with similar Haiti scams. If you want to donate to help with humanitarian efforts then find an official (and recognised) charity organisation and donate to them. Don’t click on links in emails that you receive.

Also be aware that scammers will use every event that makes the news as an excuse to send these type of emails. When celebrities die they send out similar emails, asking for money or asking you to click on a link (that goes to a malicious site). They never stop sending out these emails.