[Tags: scam, internet, hints]
I just received an email offering a position with Advan LTD "Advan Group LTD". This is indeed another poor attempt at a scam.
How do I know this is a scam?
The senders address is different then the reply address provided in the email and the company has little history in a Google search.
Why am I writing about this?
Hopefully this blog will show up in search results and prevent potential victims. Since this is a new scam there were no search results for this company so I thought I should make some.
How does a scam have such a sophisticated website?
Anybody can create a professional looking website in a matter of minutes by copying an existing website. You can do this is Firefox by selecting File->Save as File->Webpage Complete. A scammer would then change the logo and text to coincide with the name of their fictional company.
What's the purpose of this scam
They want to get information from you... SS#(from application), bank account number (from direct deposit info), email address (for spamming), or they are going try get you to transfer your money to them using wires.
What are Common things to look for to spot a scam?
- Are they using a free email provider (ie: @gmail, @hotmail, @aol)? Reputable and professional companies have their own domain and use it in their emails (IE: @thesitename.com).
- Is the "reply to" address stated in the email? Is this different then senders email address? Scammers often distort the header to show different senders addresses so they get passed email filters
- Does the email provide a link to the companies website? Look up the urls registry info by going to http://whois.sc/thesitename.com. Check to see when it the registration was created and if the registry addresses match the companies address. If the website domain was just registered then this means the sender probably created the website just to scam people.
- Use Google and search for "the company scam" or that turns no results just search for the "company name with quotes".
- Does the email offer a Work at home opportunity? It is very hard to find a legitimate work at home job online so these should require extra caution before replying to
- Broken English, misspelling, poor grammar. Most of these scammers are foreigners and can not create a professional sounding email in english.
We have an opening position for your attention. This job offer is limited and can be offered for US citizens only. Our Company is looking for persons for part-time based vacancy. This is home based, online, part-time, fast-paced position. Part-time employees usually works over 4 hours every business day (from Monday through Friday) and typically do not work on weekends or regular holidays. During working process you will accept orders from our clients about purchase of tourist permit. Your starting salary will be from $3,500.00 (depending on employees plan), which will be paid to you in accordance with our standard payroll procedures. In addition, you will be eligible for bonuses. What we do? We buy/sell/exchange touristic tickets, tours, airline tickets, booking and etc. Our marketing management department decided to accept sales orders from international customers, that is why you are reading this job offer letter. During all working process you will be official representative of our company with full rights and standards. You will receive orders/payments/billing records/payment invoices/transactions from our clients, customers and investors Our part-time employees also receive an attractive benefits package. Please note that these opportunities are part-time only working approximately 16 hours per week. Actually we do not require any work experience or base requirements. This job if perfect for students, moms and those who are looking for good part-time/online job. This is a great chance to start your career with us, we are fast growing international company, dont waste your time, start your career right now. Hurry up, this job opportunity is limited.
If you are interested in our offer, we shall send you detailed description of the vacancy. Write to me on e-mail: maloof.marcie@gmail.com
You will get a response in 2-3 days.
Thanks for your time and interest.
NOTE: This is original e-mail letter from ADVAN LTD. This not any kind of: MLM, scam, spam. We will never ask to you to provide any kind of investments.
What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
- Do not respond to further communications.
- If you sent bank Information: call your bank immediately and tell them what happened. They should be able to change your account number or cancel your account.
- You should consider signing up for automatic credit monitoring LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
- You can also file a claim with The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). They are probably overloaded with these types of claim though, so I would not expect an individual response.
- If the email you received was different then the one posted in this post paste it below (or explain the differences) so others will find this warning.
If this post helped you I would appreciate if you left a comment so I know to keep posting these alerts. Thanks!
- Related Articles:
- Job Scam: Vacancy for you - Premier Group - CareerBuilder
- Craigslist Job Scam: Green Group Plastics LTD Office Administrator
- Finally I am getting the respect I deserve
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 12:10 PM
I didn't give my account#, i only gave my application with my signature. I'm afraid if they forge documents...
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 12:26 PM
Well just think about how many other times you give people your signature. Everytime you use your credit card at a store someone is getting you signature? Are you afraid they will forge you documents?
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 12:39 PM
No, but this time it is a spam..
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 12:57 PM
True, but sadly not much you can do other than enroll in credit protection.
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 01:11 PM
How do i enroll in the credit protection?
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 02:56 PM
Here is just one of money offerings:
LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
Saturday December 6, 2008 @ 08:28 AM
It seems we just need to use some good old common sense in these situations; thanks for the research and good advice TJ!
Saturday December 6, 2008 @ 10:17 AM
I recieved the same company name but different email
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 08:35 AM
I am looking for a job and was told I would make $4000 USD per week, working 3-4 hours per day. The sender was Maloof Marcie, and I was told to email Lisa.BessoADV[at]gmail.com. Thank you so much for doing this. I cant believe, with people trying so hard to find a good job in this market, that their would be others trying to scam those out of what little money they (I) have left. THank you Thank you Thank you, for this website.
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 09:42 AM
I am pretty naive and admittedly got pretty excited about this offer! There are soooooo many scammers out there. I really appreciate those who report these things! I have wised up a lot in the past month on my job hunt. Well, it just goes to show you, that old saying stands true - when something seems too good to be TRUE, it usually(always) is!
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 09:47 AM
I just received an invite from this "company". They must REALLY want to lure someone in. They have raised the salary to $4k.
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 10:56 AM
I got the email, too, and was laughing at how phoney the who thing was! Considering that I've never posted a CV on a site called Employment Center, I knew that anything in this email was going to be good for a laugh! Gee? Do the scammers think that we're not going to Google them to find out just how phoney they are? (BTW, that's how I found this site! Great job! More sites like this are needed to keep the idiot scammers exposed!)
And my sender was Gerard Hayes <lucas[at]valona.com> who promised "Your monthly salary will be 4000 USD but in the future it will be increased. It's a part-time job you have to work only 3-4
hours daily."
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 11:06 AM
I just received the email and responded - they sent an offer letter and I did my research - Thank you for the heads up!!! I also sent a complaint on them - I'm sure I'm not the only one who has complained. Hopefully someone will be able to shut them down! Keep up the good work!
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 11:58 AM
I just received this email and it is an scam "Watch Out"Tourist firm "Advan Group" has job on position of "Tour Manager". We
received your CV from Employment Center so now we propose you
opportunity to work for our company. It's not a Spam and it's sent
only to you as you've been chosen among many candidates.
About us:
"Advan Group" was founded in 2001 and Head office is located in
Sweden. We are part of the best 10 tourist agencies in Europe. We have
been working in USA since 2006. Please visit our site for additional
information.
About Job:
You will be official representative of our company in USA
Your duty is supporting our american clients during their tours around
Europe. We don't require any special knowledge from you. Our manager
will train you and will be happy to assist any time. We encourage our
employees who carries out responsibly in their work. Your monthly
salary will be 4000 USD but in the future it will be increased. It's
a part-time job you have to work only 3-4 hours daily. We'll provide
you with career opportunity, after 3 months employment we review the
results if our clients are pleased with your work your salary will be
increased and you will be promoted. So your career will depend on how
you cope with a task.
If you are interested in this job you can email us
maloof.marcie[at]gmail.com after that we will send you detailed job
description: Our company "AdvanTour" don't offer you any kind of fraud
and do not demand investing money in our company. We just offer you to
be a part of our company.
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 12:17 PM
Thanks all for your comments. And I appreciate that you all took the time to add additional notes on the variations in the scams emails as that will help more find this post and prevent more potential victims. So far this post has been viewed 700 times!
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 03:17 PM
Thanks for this info. I got a similar letter and it sounded fishy to me, particularly the high amount of compensation for so litte hours.
Wednesday December 10, 2008 @ 05:40 PM
Thanks for the search hit, it seems these guys target Job Boards (workopolis, Monster etc) and get access to your info.
Thursday December 11, 2008 @ 07:57 AM
I just received the same $4000 offer that EP shared a few posts before this one. The usual warning signs : a reply to personal email address at gmail; no website address despite referring to it; lots of grammar errors. Googling the company name, always a good thing to do, brought me here.
Friday December 12, 2008 @ 07:40 AM
I've received the scam e-mail skeptical about things like that, it sparked my interest enough to make me do the web search. I've immediately got your site as a result, and I am very glad to have this useful reference. Thank you!
Tuesday November 25, 2008 @ 12:09 PM
If that's the most you gave them, I wouldn't be too worried about. I would be more worried if you gave SS# or Account #. With just a signature they could try and forge documents but I don't think these people are out to do that and I think the risk is small.