Job Offer Too Good to Be True?

Life on the Internet for a job seeker can be rough. How many times have you looked into a job listing and discovered that it was an offer too good to be true?

That situation is most often the case with work from home opportunities - they're a rare find in comparison to the volume of fake offers posted.

The Internet has become a breeding ground for fraudulent offers from money con artists wanting an accomplice for money laundering, or repackaging of merchandise to wash their dirty money.

Either way, it's become a nightmare for someone looking for a legitimate job offer.

For those of you looking for a reliable site online that doesn't allow any work at home scams to be posted, is there even one to consider?

From my viewpoint it seems it would be very difficult for a career site to fully determine if an offer was legitimate or not.

Even if the job offer appeared to be from a legitimate corporate giant, there are ways con artists can work around that to post fraudulent offers.

Some career sites provide listings claiming that it provides the ability for legitimate employers and prospective employees are able to contact one another directly, cutting out any middle men headhunter companies, and cutting out any scam artists looking for trouble.

However, the sites that claim that are - well you may have guessed it - a middle man! Did you read the prior paragraph? I brought up that some claim to cut out the middle man, yet essentially that's what a career website is!

If a job offer seems too good to be true, here's my best advice for you:

• For large corporations or other legitimate employers, they should have a presence online that's easy to find.
• From there you should be able to locate their career search.
• They may be using a career site, but at least if you landed there as a result of clicking from the employers site it gives you greater assurance the employment offer is legit.

Even then, proceed with caution!

• Carefully screen any potential opportunities you find. Especially true if they are work from home offers.
• Why is that? Simply because the vast majority of those positions do not require you to meet them in person, in an office or brick and mortar.

Don't give up, but search smarter! You can search smarter if you first educate yourself to recognize the characteristics of money laundering!

No Can for Forum Spam

Just when you think the spam may be under control, think again. If you're like me you hang out in numerous forums.

Due to the possibility of forum spam I never have a personal email address posted, but it doesn't prevent the possibility of receiving spam through a private message from the forum.

Typically, the spam that circulates in a forum are from spam bots promoting a product or web site.

However, money laundering scams have been on the increase within forum spam.

As we've shared in previous stories, one never wants to open an account for the purpose of receiving funds transferred from another, or collect a percentage of the funds received.

That is a form of money laundering. Here's an example below of one such money laundering phishing trip.

For those who are unaware of what money laundering is, it serves as a good example. Forum spam often includes links to so-called work from home jobs, which are actually money laundering schemes!

As silly as it may appear there are those who actually fall for the scam, and find themselves in serious trouble. Don't take their bait!

Money laundering can be difficult to detect!

It will help to become familiar with our article (updated 2019) about money laundering traits - from right here on Money Illusions!

Money laundering is a serious crime with serious consequences for those who take their bait! The Nigerian scam is also on the rise, which this example below is also demonstrating the Nigerian scam.

One last point; will the spammers ever learn how to spell? And, where's the can for forum spam?

Forum Spam Money Laundering Solicitation (actual names have been deleted), but I broke it up into paragraphs for easier reading:

Dear One,

My warmest greeting to you. (Yes, these ridiculous greetings are typical in spam).

I am Name Changed and I inherited an important some from my late father who died in recent crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. I wish to request for your assistance in investing this sum in lucrative venture or manufacturing and real estate management in your country.

I have Five million, seven hundred thousand United State Dollars. USD ($5,700,000) to invest in this transaction and I will require your assistance in receiving the fund in your account in your country. I will gladly give you some resonable percent from the total sum for your assistance.

Before his death on September 2005, he gave me all the necessary legal documents to the deposit of the fund in the bank, I am 23 years old and a university undergraduate and really don't know what to do.

Now I want an account overseas where I can transfer this funds and after the transaction I will come and reside permanently in your country till such a time that it will be convinient for me to return back home if I so desire.

This is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of incessant political crisis here in Ivory coast. The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life. I also want to invest the fund under your care because I am ignorant of business world.

I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards. Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded. Now permit me to ask these few questions:

1. Can you honestly help me from your heart?
2. Can I completely trust you?
3. What percentage of the total amount in question will be good for you after the money is in your account?

Please, consider this and get back to me as soon as possible. Immedaitely I confirm your willingness, I will send to you my picture and also give you more details about myself and the bank were my late father deposited the fund, so that you can reach the bank and confirm the existence of the fund as well, because seeing is believing.

Please always reply me through this my private email: namechanged01@namechanged.

Awaiting your immediate response and may God bless you.

With love,
Name Changed

As you learned above, forum spam is not an ethical practice, and not a good way to promote a website, product or service. And obviously, one does not want to promote illegal activities as demonstrated above!

Are You a Victim of Money Laundering?

Every day a money con artist star is born, and the scammers have have attacked the Internet at full force.

Avoid Becoming a Victim of Money Laundering!

They are often found hiding within the offers for work at home (WAH) jobs, careers, and telecommuting opportunities.

Under an easy disguise their proliferation is accomplished by advertising in free job and career posting sites.

Career sites are a legitimate place to find many good job offers, but unfortunately, the money con artists have used those sites in their pursuit to recruit those unaware!

Many people become participants in money laundering schemes simply by not being aware of what money laundering really is!

I'm always happy to alert someone of the signs of those scams. Perhaps the example below will assist you to guard yourself against one such scam.

In the example below, there are some characteristics to identify, which reveal that their operation was nothing more than a disguise for money laundering. These are just a few traits:

• Instructs their victim to open a bank account for receiving funds from customers or clients
• The victim of the scam is the worker bee, who thought they were being hired for a legitimate work from home opportunity. But, instead they became what's known as a 'Money Mule'!
• So called employee (the Money Mule) keeps a percentage of the funds received, and then forwards the remaining monies to the so-called employer - thus laundering the money.

If you're not familiar with the phrase, "Money Mule" it's easy to understand and remember what it means. A Mule typically carries a pack, and they transport what's in the pack - removing the labor and possible injury from the owner. Get the picture!

For greater clarification, a Money Mule in a money laundering scheme is the person who takes on the most significant risk, as they use their own bank account to move the money in, and out of.

The Money Mule Becomes One of the Victims of Money Laundering!

Now that I've pointed out several key characteristics, it makes it easier to identify the operation as a federal crime waiting to happen.

However, if you were not given the points above, would you have recognized this example below as money laundering? If not, I hope next time you will.

Either way, you can learn quite a bit by reading the article right here, to know more about the con artist money laundering scam. You will learn how to recognize what money laundering is, and how they use it in a work from home offer.

Example of an actual money laundering scam - posing as a work from home opportunity:

A lady applied for a job with a company. They sent her an email with information about the position, and she responded back telling them that she wanted to apply.

Fortunately, before she replied she was smart enough to recognize that something was not right with their offer! She then shared the information to ask the opinion of others as to whether or not it sounded like a scam.

She was able to avoid being yet another victim of money laundering!

Please note the spelling errors here are from the original she received, and spelling errors are often another sign that it is not a legitimate offer.

This is the offer the woman received (complete with their spelling errors):

This is what the process consist of: As you applying you need to forward us your bank information (account name, account number, routing number, bank name) that we may able to register merchant account to it, we suggest you to use separate bank account to exactly this job.

The merchant account registration process will take up to 7-10 days to complete. Once merchant is ready, it will be configured in 24-48 hours on our website and will start receiving payments from customers.

After we start selling, your exact duties will be in collecting payments from customers, it means that all payments will be forwarded to your bank account, you will be reporting to our sales manager about current status of how much orders collected.

In some cases you will be making or receiving calls from/to customers to discuss the order status or any other concerns, our sales manager will inform you if it will be required.

Corresponding payments to our financial department each payment day, this day will be set in further when orders start coming, usually each week. You will be get paid in the same day. Your salary will be equal 10% of the total amount you receive from our clients.

Hopefully this provided a greater understanding of how money laundering operations going about their dirty business.

Share the information so we can collectively reduce the chances of yet another person becoming a victim of money laundering!