WORK AT HOME SCAM

Job Seekers Beware!

Check Processing, Payment Processing Business Scam

Analysis of a fraudulent Payment Processor job offer

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• The parties involved in this scam • Elements of the scam • Where the scammers are located •

• What the scammers tell the truth about • What the scammers lie about • What's really going on •

• Who the scammers target • How people find the job offers • Where the money comes from •

• Where the money goes • How this scam got started • How the scam works •

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Recognizing the fraud: Analyzing a Payment Processing Fraud letter.

The letter you see below came from Toronto with attempted misdirection.  It is devised to tap in on the current open-heartedness incurred by the tsunami disaster.  Fraud-Aid commentary is in dark red.  The first part of the letter is The Set-up, then comes The Pitch, the middle is The Turn, and the final part is The Close.  And at the bottom - the Marketing Tracking Code.

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From: pastorcamara2000@yahoo.co.uk

Subject: CHARITY -[Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:05:17  +0000]

Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 15:05:17  +0000

01/21/2005

REVIVAL CHURCH OF GOD MISSION (RCGM)

ADDRESS: 08BP20100 ATOBAN COCODY

ABIDJAN COTE D'IVOIRE.

Dear Beloved in Christ,

It is a privileged to here from God and it gives me Joy to relate my testimony to you haven received instruction from God through divine revelation. This sentence has two purposes: (1) to lend the appearance of a sincere, humble man of God, and (2) to appeal to those who are either religious or feel they should be.  This is the Set-up and it is a lie.

With due respect and humility I am writing this mail letter to you which I believe that this letter will not embarrassed you as we have not met or seen each other before. This sentence is meant to mitigate the fact that the letter is outright spam.  The only bit of truth in this sentence is that the reader and the swindler have not met before.

My name is Pastor Steve Camara, from republic of Benin in west Africa region, pastor in charge of Revival Church Of God Mission (RCGM) here in Abidjan Cote D' Ivoire. There is almost no way for anyone to verify that there is any such church, even if one contacts the Cote d'Ivoire Embassy.  The swindlers know that most people wouldn't even know how to check out this part of the story, and they know that many people do not question a church.  This is The Pitch and it is a lie.

After fasting and prayer through divine revelation the almighty God revealed to me that you are appointed to be our representative in your area. The statement made by the swindler may sound outlandish, but it is designed to further the perception that this pastor only lives in his own God-dedicated world.  This statement is also designed to make the reader feel important.  However, please refer to the sentence below where the swindler asks for the reader's first and last name, then to the explanation of the Tracking Code at the bottom of the letter.  Of course, this paragraph is all a lie and is only meant to set the hook deeper into the intended victim: the reader.

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We have started a charitable organization for the blind and orphan because it is written in Holly Bible 1 Peter 4:8 that in above all things have fervent charity among yourself, for charity shall cover the multitude sin, 1 Corinthians16: 14 that we should let all our things be done with charity, Mattew 6:1-6 that we should give alms but in secret and not openly for people to know who gives out the alms, 11 Corinthians 9:6 that we should sow as we expected to reap. Please notice all the grammatical and spelling errors in this sentence and throughout the letter.  They are carefully constructed to give the reader a feeling of comfort, to make the reader feel that the good pastor is not well educated; that he is a simple man of God; that he really doesn't speak English very well and therefore must be in a foreign country. That the pastor must be safe because he is not a smooth-talking con man.   It is a lie.  Because in fact he is a smooth-talking con man.

We have lots of organizations and people in your area (North America) trying to donate money to our charity but we don't have a representative in North America and we shall be glad to make you our representative and this will not occupied your time.  All we need from you is FIRST AND LAST NAME, YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE  This sentence is called The Turn.  It is where the swindler has moved from working on gaining the reader's confidence to hooking the reader into becoming involved in the scheme.  It is constructed to make the reader start to take a financial interest, to begin using that part of his or her brain that is open to possibilities.  It is a lie.

People and organizations have offered to donate between US$30,000.00 to US$500,000.00  This is written to impress the reader with numbers.  It is meant to create an image in the reader's mind - an image of prosperity and to increase the concept of financial reward.  It is a lie.

In return we offer to give you 10% of any donation. We already have lots of offers waiting.  Please your reply is needed as soon as possible.  Ah.  Here we have the beginning of The Close.  Note that the second sentence just took all the labor out of the job of being a representative.  The swindler has just turned this into an "easy money" proposition.  "...lots of offers [already] waiting."  No need to go knocking on doors and making cold calls.  AND the reader better act quickly - the offers are waiting.  It is a lie.

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Reply to pastorcamara2000@yahoo.com so that we refer some of the offers to you. And here we have the final Close, "... so that we refer some of the offers to you."  Here at last we have the truth - with more pressure to act NOW.  Unfortunately, the offers consist of stolen funds that the reader will be asked to receive into his or her bank account, then send all but 10% on to the swindlers.

Expecting your Urgent reply.

God bless you

Thank and remain bless

Pastor Steve Camara

[uaxrxqfd0p6]  <<  And here we have the Marketing Tracking Code.  Those funny number and letter combinations you see at the bottom of almost every offer you receive in your snail mail.  What do they mean?  Here's how it works: this same letter is sent out to hundreds of email addresses, but with slight or major changes.  You do not receive exactly the same letter that is sent to another geographical area, for instance; or maybe the email addresses that start with B receive a different letter than those that start with A. 

The versions that receive responses are keepers.  The versions that don't are tossed out.  The same is done with the each response during the correspondence until finally a truly successful, money-making letter is developed.  Then that letter is sent out by the thousands.

Any time you see a Tracking Code at the bottom of a letter, you know that the letter in question is being test-marketed.