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Posted by TJ on Wednesday December 5, 2018 @ 03:05 PM
[Tags: guide, business, events]

USPS Holidays - 2019

Tuesday, January 1 - New Year's Day
Monday,January 21 - Martin Luther King Jr. birthday
Monday,February 18 - Washington's birthday
Monday,May 27 - Memorial Day
Thursday, July 4 - Independence Day
Monday,September 2 - Labor Day
Monday,October 14 - Columbus Day
Monday,November 11 - Veterans' Day
Thursday November 28 - Thanksgiving Day
Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Day

USPS Holidays - 2020

Wednesday, January 1 - New Year's Day
Monday, January 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. birthday
Monday, February 17 - Washington's birthday
Monday, May 25 - Memorial Day
Friday, July 3 - Independence Day
Monday, September 7 - Labor Day
Monday, October 12 - Columbus Day
Wednesday, November 11 - Veterans' Day
Thursday November 26 - Thanksgiving Day
Friday, December 25 - Christmas Day



Posted by TJ on Friday December 14, 2012 @ 01:53 AM
[Tags: guide, business, events]

Below is a list of Federal USPS Holidays for 2013. Note that Tjshome.com will still be open for business on these dates :)
Read More...






Posted by TJ on Monday November 14, 2011 @ 05:37 PM
[Tags: careers, tips, business]

I just finished the task of going through 90+ resumes for an office administrator position and am quite sick of the mistakes people have in their resumes when they are trying to sell me their best qualities.

I will give you my biggest critiques now:

1) If you're not really an office administrator but are going to apply to the position anyway, AT LEAST change your objective to not say "Looking forward to a position in the teaching community "

2) That's great that you added that you want to be a part of our "growing organization" however, we never put anywhere in the job description that were growing.. maybe we just canned somebody for not being attentive

3) I am very glad that the your only skills include Facebook, Twitter, and that your advanced at the internet... was a specific course needed for this?

4) Actual Words in a resume:
SUMMERY OF SKILLS
• Proofreader,

Summery /=Summary Words spell checker won't catch everything



Posted by TJ on Thursday May 26, 2011 @ 01:45 AM
[Tags: shopping, tips, business]

1) You can avoid getting short changed ... Avoid the chance of the cashier giving you back the wrong change
2) Easier Expense Tracking - Most credit cards have great tracking online, so say, you want to know how much you spent at Starbucks in the last year that will be a lot easier to figure out if you used your credit every time.
3) Avoid going to the ATM --- I know ATM's are everywhere but why waste your time or risk having to pay an ATM fee when you run out of cash?
4) Rewards - most credit cards offer rewards -- which might not be much but its still free money or travel miles.
5) Protection - If you buy something with cash and it is a lemon you won't get your money back unless the seller agrees but if you use a credit card you may be able to issue a charge back claim and have the charge reversed by the bank.
6) Better credit rating - Charging your purchases and paying off the balance each month with build good credit history. The longer you keep a credit card the better your score will be. It will be harder and more expensive to purchase a house or car if you do not have a good credit history.
7) Change is nuisance -- Avoid change jars where the money will just sit in your house for years not accruing any interest.



Posted by TJ on Monday November 29, 2010 @ 10:12 PM
[Tags: shopping, internet, business]

I wanted to give props to Excaliberpc.com for my recent online purchase. I was a little hesitant at first since I have never heard of this online retailer. The item I originally ordered was the QNAP TS-439 II selling for $700. However, it apparently went out of stock before they could ship so they called me to let me know they will instead ship me a free upgrade to the QNAP TS-439 II+ (selling for $760) since they do not have the model I ordered in stock. I agreed and they shipped that day and it arrived in excellent condition.

I do appreciate when retailers go out of their way to keep the customer happy, and I would definitely recommend them if you're looking for great prices.

http://Excaliberpc.com



Posted by TJ on Monday October 4, 2010 @ 03:37 PM
[Tags: internet, tips, business]

The number of mailing list (or RSS feeds) I am subscribed keeps dwindling and here are some of the reasons why:

1) You are off topic - Your newsletter is suppose to be about monkeys in Africa but you keep sending emails about the contest on your website .

2) You are trying to sell me stuff that is not related to your newsletter. This kind of relates to the first one, but if you continue to send me newsletters with lousy sponsored sales pitches for products I do not need I am more than likely to unsubscribe than buy anything.

3) You send too many emails - You send too many low content emails instead of good-content less frequent emails.

4) Your emails are too pretty - I prefer text emails that get right to the point over image heavy emails so if you are going to use a bunch of images and html formatting I might just unsubscribe. And no I didn't have time or don't remember to check my preferences (text vs html emails) when signing up for your email so that won't work either.

5) You screwed up - I canceled a couple of newsletter in the past because it seemed like every time the newsletter came in two messages once was the original email and the next email was a "Sorry disregard the last email", etc. Make sure you read and reread your stuff before you send it to thousands of readers.



Posted by TJ on Sunday June 27, 2010 @ 03:45 PM
[Tags: guide, business, internet]

1) Google Maps - Add your shop to Google Maps. This is free and it will help users find your store when they are looking for store's near them. This is completely free service and should be a no-brainer for any store owner. link: http://www.google.com/local/add/analyticsSplashPage?hl=en&gl=us

2)Facebook fan page - This enables customers to "like" your store which adds a link to your store in your customers profile. This is great way to get referrals from you happiest customers. It also gives you an easy way to post news and updates on your store. This is completely free and easy to setup. All you need is a facebook account to link your page to.
link: http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages

3) Domain name and email address: Don't use free email address providers or your ISP provided email address for your business (IE: @gmail.com @verizon.net, or @msn.com). For $10/year you can register your own .com domain and get a personalized domain for your business and have a more professional and more trusted address (ie: yourname@yourbusinessname.com). Once you registered a domain you can get free email forwarding from zoneedit.com/. This will forward emails sent to your domain to your existing personal email account. Link:Godaddy.com


4) Simple Webpage - You should have at least a simple web listing. At the very least your webpage should include your address, brief description of products or services, hours, and phone number.

5) Yellow Page Listings - Add a free business listing to superpages.com and yellowpages.com. These are the two most popular online yellow page directories. You can add a free listings to both of these: supermedia.com/ and http://yellowpages.com/.



Posted by TJ on Thursday February 18, 2010 @ 08:05 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Yes I know it's a scam, a pretty funny one actually. A donation from from the United Nation, interesting.


[quote]
Date: 18th Febuary 2010.

Customer Service!

This mail is to remind you of your registered package. CONTENT: Bank
Draft of
$890 000 USD officially registered by an Official of the United
Nation. The
Fund is a donation to you from the U.N through e-mails Balloting.
For your information the VAT and COD have been paid. Please Contact
FedEx
Delivery Department Mr. Grege Silva for shipment details and
requirements.
Email: fedex_unit2@msn.com
Tel: +2348071208793
It is mandatory to reconfirm your Postal address and telephone number:
Full Name:
Address:
City:
Postal Address:
Phone:
Country:
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Margaret Blair
©Federal Express Corporation
All rights reserved. © 1995-2010 FedEx.
******************************************************************
This E-mail is only for the above addressees. It may contain
confidential
or Privileged information. If you are not an addressee you must not
copy,
distribute, disclose or use any of the information in it or any
attachments.



Posted by TJ on Monday October 12, 2009 @ 05:56 PM
[Tags: link, news, business]

Bernie Madoff is the top selling costume this Halloween. I kinda agree he is a bigger creep than most costumes on the market.

http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-madoff-masks,0,601399.story



Posted by TJ on Monday October 12, 2009 @ 05:26 PM
[Tags: scam, craiglist, business]

Note: This is part 25 in the Job Scam Series.

Thanks goes to Monica Fornaro for sending in this scam.

Monica said:
In a subsequent email Susan Chambers had me order the MCAS kit and it turned out to be from Video Professor. It was ordered through the internet and I was charged $9.95, however when the kit came it was $198.99. I called their customer service and was told I had only 10 days to return or I would be charged the full amount. I immediately sent it back certified. I don't know how Adaptive Tech is connected with Video Professor, but this is definitely a scam. If this company wanted a certified employee they would test them during the interview, she says in the email that she will send a kit, but the next email she sends me has the link to Video Professor.


My guess is this scam is probably requiring new "hires" to purchase the "Video Professor" teaching software and profiting off the affiliate fee paid when somebody purchases the software. You will not get a job from this offer but an overpriced video professor kit.

Adaptive Tech Co may be a real company, however, this job offer is a definite scam. These scams often use real companies to try and appear real. Do not respond to any job emails from "Adaptive Tech Co" or "Susan Chambers".

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
(This email address does not accept attachments for security purposes)


How do I spot a job scam?
  1. The message is for a position that you did not apply for
  2. The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
  3. The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
  4. The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
  5. You are "hired" for the position with no actual real life interview.
  6. The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
  7. The job list few or no qualifications
  8. The message is written with poor English
  9. A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
  10. The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
  11. The work at home position involves receiving payments, money transfers, or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Scams could meet any one of these or none at all. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Copy of Original Scam Email
Susan Chambers said:

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:38:10 -0500
Subject: Re: Administrative Assistant Position-1385165783
From: susanchambers@adaptivetechco.com
To: [[address removed]]

Hello Monica,

Thank you for your interest in becoming a member at Adaptive Tech Co.

The exact position that you are replying in reference to has been filled; however, we do have different office assistant position available.

Your main responsiblities will be record keeping and data entry. You will need to be able to use Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Power Point, Access, and Excel.

The position is either full or part time. The full time position requires 40 hours a week; Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm. The part time position requires 25 hours a week; Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm. We are looking to fill both positions in 2 weeks. Pay is $16/hour and benefits will be discussed during the in person interview.

In order to qualify for this postion, you must possess your Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) certification. If you already have this certificate, please bring it with you during the interview.

If you do not yet have your certificate, we will provide material for you to learn and take the test. The learning kit will cover Microsoft Office 2007, and once you finish with the kit, a test will be provided at the end for you to earn your MCAS.

If you are interested in the full time or part time position, please submit your job application and include your resume at the following link. Note: To speed the interview process up, we are checking for your background online via the link. You will make an account, and able to also check your own records.

http://www.adaptivetechco.com/apply

We here at Adaptive Tech Co. look forward to meeting and further discuss this postion with you.

Susan Chambers
Adaptive Tech Co


Follup - Email #2
Susan Chambers said:

To: [[address removed]]
Subject: Adaptive Tech Co. Application Followup
From: susanchambers@adaptivetechco.com
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 16:27:04 -0400

Hello Monica,

We have reviewed your application, and you have all the credentials and attributes to fill the position. We will setup a meeting with you at the most readily available time, and will call you shortly. Please bring your MCAS certification. If you do not have one yet, don’t be alarm.

We have a DVD learning kit that will let you take the MCAS test with ease. In it will include the exam to earn your MCAS certification. You can get the kit from our source at

http://adaptivetechco.com/video-professor-ms-office/?mn=6891

Please select the Microsoft Office Integration kit. There might be a slight shipping charge, but you will be compensated for at the interview. You will be scheduled for an interview after we receive word that you received the MCAS certification from our neighboring company.

We here at Adaptive Tech Co. look forward to meeting and further discussing this position with you. Feel free to ask any questions.

Susan Chambers
Adaptive Tech Co.


If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Friday October 9, 2009 @ 11:02 AM
[Tags: business, accounting, careers]

Apparently, as a Certified Public Accountants (CPA), I have the 6th best job in America. According to the article the wave of new accounting laws are making the job more important.

Oh good, does these mean I'll be working more hours in the future?

Link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2009/snapshots/6.html



Posted by TJ on Sunday September 27, 2009 @ 12:16 AM
[Tags: scam, craigslist, business]

Note: This is part 24 in the Job Scam Series.

Thanks goes to Chris Rolston for sending in this scam. This is an email scam sent in reply to ads placed on Career Builder.

McKechnie Automotive & Engineered Plastics may be a real company, however, this job offer is a definite scam. These scams often use real companies to try and appear real. Do not respond to any job emails from "McKechnie Automotive & Engineered Plastics" or "Stuart Sonley".

Do not deposit any checks received from the this offer. They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
(This email address does not accept attachments for security purposes)


How do I spot a job scam?
  1. The message is for a position that you did not apply for
  2. The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
  3. The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
  4. The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
  5. You are "hired" for the position with no actual real life interview.
  6. The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
  7. The job list few or no qualifications
  8. The message is written with poor English
  9. A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
  10. The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
  11. The work at home position involves receiving payments, money transfers, or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Scams could meet any one of these or none at all. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Copy of Original Scam Email
Stuart Sonley said:

From: Stuart Sonley [mckenzieautos@live.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 1:53 AM
To: Chris Rolston
Subject: RE: Office Administrator

Detailed Job Description – Payment Collection

Please Read Carefully For better understanding

McKechnie Automotive & Engineered Plastics moulds and extrudes all known types of plastic from its two UK sites, based in Stamford Bridge (Yorkshire) and Pickering (Yorkshire). Both businesses have a high degree of technical competence in the field of injection moulding.

MPC Stamford Bridge houses the divisional technical centre inclusive of a wide range of CAD design and Moldflow tools to assist customers with in depth product development. Advanced automotive and Multi shot moulding are featured throughout this diverse and high tech facility.

MPC Pickering is the divisional centre of excellence for automotive work where high volume output and statistically repeatable quality are fundamental to our customers needs. We also offer extensive painting and assembly facilities on this site.

Together these facilities provide customers with an unrivalled set of technical and manufacturing competencies from design and development to fully automated production.

Since the position for “Office Administrator” is no longer available, We have accepted your application for Another job and We have your information in our database. The primary goal of the Account Receivable Clerk is to provide local customer assistant to our clients within North America. You will be assisting our clients within North America, the assistance to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service. The HR Managers checked your resume and you have been picked as one of our possible candidates for Accounts Receivable Manage due to some factors of the Company, Your primary task would be receiving payments for our company and Customers. We are about to open a representative offices or authorized sales centers in some local city in the States. Your Accounts Receivable Clerk duty would be that you become our Account Receivable Manager (ARM) and it’s a contract –to-hire position which is a 1 month trial after which the position is made full time.Please be advised that we need total dedication for the job.

Your duties will include: Collecting Payments When a buyer in United States decides to purchase an item through an online auction from our sellers he has the following payment options:pay pal, international wire transfer, international check, or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local wire transferring. Local wire transfers are the option that the sales support representative will provide to the clients.

- Forwarding of the Payments

Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 10% as commission and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

Here is an example of a brief report:

Date: 15 07, '09
Buyer: Bluestone Medicals
Item: Plastic Wares / Hospital Plastic Eqiupments
Price: £ 2,921.27
10% Commission :£292
Fees: £ 115
Total Forwarded: £2514
Forwarded to: John Adams, England, United Kingdom
Money Gram Reference Number: 9932091
Sender : Emmanuel Elijah

- Fees, and Transferring Procedures

All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments, along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be forwarding the received payments by wire transfer.

: Additional Information

Salary:

During the trial period, you will be paid 1,250USD per month while working on average 3-4hours per day, plus 10% commission from every payment received and forwarded. The salary will be sent in the form of wire transfer directly to your account. After the trial period your base pay salary will go up to 1,650USD per month, plus 10% commission.
-Taxes
You will receive a monthly invoice stating your total income. All applicable taxes are covered by the company at the end of the year.

Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments)

1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or any cashing facilities near you.
3. Deduct 10 % which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to, you'll have a lot of free time doing another job, because this job schedule is flexible, you'll get good income .But this job is very challenging and you should understand it.

Please kindly fill your details below to apply :
------------------------------------------------

Full Name : ___________
Full Address: _________
City: _________________
State: _______________
Zip/Postal code:________
Home phone :__________
Cell phone: ___________
Recent occupation: ______
Gender: _______________
Personal Email Address:___


Human Resources Manager
McKechnie Automotive & Engineered Plastics

- Stuart Sonley
- Website : http//www.mckechnie-platics.co.uk
- Bridge Works
- Stamford Bridge
- York
- YO41 1AL
McKechnie Engineered Plastics Limited is a member of the Melrose Group registered in England, No 3984537.
Registered Office: Precision House, Arden Road, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 6HN.


If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Sunday September 27, 2009 @ 12:09 AM
[Tags: scam, craigslist, business]

Note: This is part 23 in the Job Scam Series.

Thanks goes to Chris Rolston for sending in this scam.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from
"iZZi Computers" or "Angela Hynes"


Do not deposit any checks received from the this offer. They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
(This email address does not accept attachments for security purposes)


How do I spot a job scam?
  1. The message is for a position that you did not apply for
  2. The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
  3. The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
  4. The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
  5. You are "hired" for the position with no actual real life interview.
  6. The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
  7. The job list few or no qualifications
  8. The message is written with poor English
  9. A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
  10. The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
  11. The work at home position involves receiving payments, money transfers, or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Scams could meet any one of these or none at all. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Angela Hynes said:

From: Angela Hynes
Date: Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 10:45 AM


Dear Candidate,

We got your resume and your application for our advert on Craiglist. We are sincerely sorry to inform you that the position for the Business

Management/ Customer Service Executive / Administrative Assistant has been occupied. Our managers went through your resume and you have been picked for an alternative Job which is the Accounts receivable. This position is also a Business Management position only that you work from home till September 2009 when the new office in your state is open for business then you would be the Administrative Assistant there.

About US

iZZi Computers is a U.K and U.S. Based Company and with established leaders in Printing Products such as Ink Cartridges, Toner, Ribbon e.t.c. and also Engraving. We are involved in supplying printing materials worldwide. We serve the entire United States and a growing export market efficiently. Once orders are received and sorted we deliver the product to a customer. After this has been done the customer has to pay for the products but in most cases we make our clients prepay for orders or items they ordered for. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through, Certified Checks or Money Orders drawn from the United State based on the amount involved why Only few decide on other forms of payment.

Your primary task for now, as a representative of the company is to coordinate payments from customers and help us with the payment process. You are not involved in any sales. Once orders are received and sorted we deliver the product to a customer. After this has been done the customer has to pay for the products but in most cases we make our clients prepay for orders or items they ordered for. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through Cashiers Check, Certified Checks or Money Orders drawn from the United States based on the amount involved.

We have decided to open this new contract to hire job position for solving this problem. Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments).

WHAT YOUR NEED TO DO FOR US

1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or Deposit payment and let us know how long its going to take before it clears at the Bank
3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payments processed, also you will be earning $1,000.00 for a Monthly payment at the end of every Month
4. Forward balance after deduction of your 10% pay to any of the offices you will be instructed to send payment to.


You' will have a lot of free time doing another job, because this is a part time job, you will get a really good income. But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are considering your application because you satisfy our requirements and we are sure you will be an earnest assistant till we start running our branch office in your state. For example if you recieve 4000.00 USD, your 10% should be
400.00 USD. Here are the information you are to provide then we will get back to you after we must have gone through it all. Get back to us with
information required below, so that we can add your mailing address to our Regional database and forward it to our customers for them to send payments.

MAIN REQUIREMENTS
* Responsible
* Ready to work 3-4 hours per week.
* PC knowledge, E-mail and internet experience (minimal)
* Ability to record work activities.
_________________________________________

APPLY BY FILLING THE INFORMATION BELOW: _________________________________________

* Full Names.................
* Address(NO P.O. BOX).......
* City.......................
* State......................
* Zip Code...................
* Phone.....................
* Email .....................
* Present Occupation.........

Thanks for your anticipated action. And we hope to hear back from you.

HR Director
Angela Hynes

Note: This is also a medium of challenging the possibilities inherent on the online technology according to my research work titled "Staff development for online delivery: A collaborative, team based action learning model" you can check the website below for a more comprehensive reading of the article.

Please cite as: Ellis, A. and Phelps, R. (2000). Staff development for online delivery: A collaborative, team based action learning model.

Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 16(1), 26-44.


If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Tuesday September 15, 2009 @ 12:58 PM
[Tags: scam, business, economy]

Note: This is part 22 in the Job Scam Series.

Thanks goes to C Beattie (chuckbeattie.com) for sending in this scam. This is an email scam sent in reply to ads placed on Career Builder.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from
"Premier Group Company" or "Premier Group Inc."


Do not deposit any checks received from the this offer. They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
(This email address does not accept attachments for security purposes)


How do I spot a job scam?
  1. The message is for a position that you did not apply for
  2. The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
  3. The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
  4. The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
  5. You are "hired" for the position with no actual real life interview.
  6. The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
  7. The job list few or no qualifications
  8. The message is written with poor English
  9. A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
  10. The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
  11. The work at home position involves receiving payments, money transfers, or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Scams could meet any one of these or none at all. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Ray Vega said:

From: Ray Vega
Date: Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Subject: Vacancy for you (careerbuilder.com)
To: [[email removed]]

Dear ,

My name is Ray Vega and I represent Premier Group Company.

I have found your resume at careerbuilder.com. Judging from your resume, Premier Group Inc. I feel that you are a good match for this available position!

Premier Group Inc. is a world-famous company founded and based in the USA which deals with financial services such as escrow services for buyers and sellers of online auctions around the world. We offer our services to both closed commercial auctions where the number of buyers is limited and popular online auctions such as ebay.com, amazon.com and yahoo.com.

Financial Agent position is:
- part-time (on average 2-3 hours a day Monday through Friday)
- work from home (most of the communication is made online)

What do you need? Internet access and e-mail.

This position is offered on a trial period (first month) basis. You will receive on-line training, on-line support and assistance from a personal supervisor while working and being paid.

Trial period is paid at $2300/month. In addition you will receive 8% commission for every payment received and successfully processed. Total income, with the current volume of clients, amounts up to $4,500 per month.

My goal is sparking your interest. In the present economy, our position offers training, support and a pay scale comparable to entry level position requiring 40 hours per week. I hope you will explore, compare, and then contact me with your questions.

If you are interested in our offer and would like to learn more about the Financial Agent position, please send the form below with your updated contact information to emp.premier.group@gmail.com

Our representative will contact you within 24 hours.

++++++++FORM++++++++FORM+++++++++++
First name:_____________________
Last name:___________________________
Country of residence:__________________
Contact phone:______________________
Preferred call time:_______________________
++++++++FORM++++++++FORM+++++++++++

We found your resume at www.careerbuilder.com. This letter confirms that your resume has been duly processed and your skills and past employment meet our basic requirements for the Financial Manager vacancy.

Best regards.
Ray Vega

Premier Group Inc.




If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Tuesday September 15, 2009 @ 11:03 AM
[Tags: scam, business, taxes]

If you EVER receive an email claiming to be from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) that email is a scam. IRS agents are not even allowed to send emails as their current internal policy is they are only able to receive emails (and respond with a fax if needed).

Use common sense before clicking a link in any email you receive.

Here is the email that prompted this public service announcement:
noreply@irs.gov said:

from Internal Revenue Service
to [[address removed]]
date Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 7:54 PM
subject Notice of Underreported Income
Taxpayer ID: timothy-00000174073547US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: timothy-00000174073547US

Internal Revenue Service


Note also that "Underreported" is not even an English word. Most of the time if you're good with English you're good at catching these scams because these scammers put no effort in writing their "official" emails.

Below is additional information straght from: IRS.gov
Quote:

How to Report and Identify Phishing, E-mail Scams and Bogus IRS Web Sites


  • The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail.

  • The IRS does not request detailed personal information through e-mail.
  • The IRS does not send e-mail requesting your PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
  • Report suspicious e-mails and bogus IRS Web sites to phishing@irs.gov.

If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be the IRS or directing you to an IRS site,

  • Do not reply.
  • Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
  • Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing Web site and entered confidential information, visit our Identity Theft page.
  • Use the following steps to report the e-mail or bogus Web site to the IRS.

How to report phishing, e-mail scams and bogus IRS Web sites
If you receive an e-mail or find a Web site you think is pretending to be the IRS,

  • Forward the e-mail or Web site URL to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
  • You can forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender.
  • After you forward the e-mail or header information to us, delete the message.

How to identify phishing e-mail scams and bogus IRS Web sites

You may also report misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms or other IRS property to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration toll-free at 1-800-366-4484.





Posted by TJ on Monday September 7, 2009 @ 11:08 PM
[Tags: scam, business, craigslist]

Note: This is part 21 in the Job Scam Series.

Thanks goes to CJ Hayden for sending in this scam. This is an email scam sent in reply to ads placed on Craigslist. This scammer picked an interesting company to use in this scam "Fuchs". Just seeing the name alone makes we wonder is that real company? It is a real company but this offering is not...it's a scammer who has no affiliation with the real company. CJ also sent me similar for these jobs: " PERSONAL ASSISTANT", "Office Assistant", Mystery shopper - Great America Inc, Mr Poun J Lintakoon (Lintakoon@live.com). If you received any offers for these companies they are scams and should not be replied too.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Alhamrani-Fuchs Petroleum Ltd

Do not deposit any checks received from the this offer. They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job list few or no qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor English
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
10.) The work at home position involves money transfers or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

lindabarr006@gmail.com said:

From: emp_goldenage@yahoo.com
To: [[email removed]]
Sent: 9/7/2009 8:09:56 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Personal Assistant wanted ASAP

Hello,

How are you doing today? Thanks for the quick response, I am Public Relations Manager, a native of San Antonio, TX. based in Saudi Arabia. we are a crude oil merchant based here in Saudi Arabia & Kuwait for 13 years. We have lots of business associates, clients and customers round the globe and this is what prompted us to contact you.
However, due to our large business empire we are finding it difficult to handle most of the international transactions with our clients, investors and business associates....would like to employ your services as my Marketing, Clerical & Sales Manager for investors and customers in the states and Canada.
Below is what this position entails:
1...JOB ENTAILS
* Taking records of crude oil sale to my customers in the state...
* Sending price increment or decrement notice to our customers in the states via phone, email or fax.
* Be in charge of the company's account in the states.(An account will be open on behalf of the company, which i will let you know when to do that, funds will be made available)
* Printing and packaging payments, mailing payments to suppliers in the states.
* Receiving payments from customers and clients in the states.
* Deposit payments into the company's account or wait for further instructions from me.
2....PAY RATE.
* $680 weekly is what i am willing to pay. If you are interested, get back to me with the below details so as to get started.
3....REQUIRED INFORMATION.
* Name:
* Address:
* City:
* State: * Zip code:
* phone :
* Age:
* Sex:
* Present occupation:
* Bank name:
You are providing your information for a proper screening in other to confirm maybe we have branch in your environment and to confirm if you are capable of the job that will be giving to you.
On the company's website, you will find a field where you could send your resume, do not use that because it's for applicants within Saudi-Arabia only, i hope you understand this very well.
I await to read from you as soon as possible.
Thank you and God bless.
MANAGER, LESLIE WILLIAMS.
PRO/MD
Alhamrani-Fuchs Petroleum Ltd
11 Kumaranyakae Road.
P.O. Box 7103
Jeddah 21462
Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia
Email emp_goldenage@yahoo.com
Yahoo messenger id: emp_goldenage
Website: www.fuchs.com.sa



If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Sunday September 6, 2009 @ 11:56 PM
[Tags: business, accounting, taxes]

My friend recently asked me about taxes and structure for starting his own landscaping business. Here is my response.

Should I do business as LLC or a S corp?
If your only going to have one partner (yourself) you would set up a single member LLC. A single member LLC doesn't need a separate tax return as the income is reported on Schedule C of your individual tax return. I believe the annual fee for a Delaware LLC is $250 (this doesn't include additional income taxes).

Can I deduct mileage?
You can deduct all business expenses against the business income. If you use your personal automobile the easiest method to use would be to use the standard mileage rate where you would use the IRS standard mileage rate (2009 is $.55/mile) and keep track of all business mileage and deduct that instead of taking the actual expenses for gas, auto insurance, repairs, etc.
(see IRS Pub 463 for more information) . If you form an LLC I would suggest opening a separate bank account under the business to properly segregate your business from personal expenses.

For equipment like lawn mowers you may need depreciate over the 7 year life, however currently you can deduct the whole cost in the year purchased with section 179.

Do I have to go on payroll?
If create an LLC and you don't have any employees you would not need to file payroll. Once you make money you can take distributions from the business. Distributions are generally not taxed because as a partner you will pay tax on the income of the business each year. The profit of the business is subject to self employment tax (15.3%) (see
Self Employment Tax ) so to calculate roughly your tax:

Income - Expense = Income * (15.3% + Effective tax rate (mine is 27%)) = Tax

So if you had 20k in revenue and 12k in expenses your tax is:

$20,000 - 12,000 = 8,000 * (.153 + .27) = $3,384 Tax


Also, you wont have to worry about this the first year but next year you may
need to make estimated tax payments, or increase your withholding's from you
teaching W-2 to cover the tax owed on the income from the business.

The laws regarding LLC are actually a lot more complex then I stated here but I tried to summarize it.


Disclaimer: Any tax advice included in this written or electronic communication was not intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer by any governmental taxing authority or agency.




Posted by TJ on Monday August 31, 2009 @ 10:55 AM
[Tags: scam, business, craigslist]

Note: This is part 20 in the Job Scam Series.

This is an email scam sent in reply to ads placed on Craigslist. Thanks goes to M Mize for sending this one in.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Green Group Plastics LTD

Do not deposit any checks received from the this offer. They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, @rocketmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job list few or no qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor English
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
10.) The work at home position involves money transfers or check cashing.
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself "Is this a scam?" it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. Do not direct wire any money to addresses provided.
  4. 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.
  5. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  6. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  7. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

lindabarr006@gmail.com said:

From: linda barr
Subject: Re: Office Administrator
To: [[Removed]]
Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 10:44 AM

Detailed Job Description – Account Assistant


Please Read Carefully For better understanding

The Company Green Group Plastics LTD. Formed in 1992, Green Group Plastics LTD has established a strong reputation as a manufacturer and designer of technical trade extrusions for a number of industries. Using these base skills, we have expanded our offering over the years to include a range of specialist plastic products including:

- Domestic fencing and decking
- Caravan verandahs and sundecks
- Roof walkways and safety decking
- Plastic Piling

We have accepted your application for the job and We have your information in our database. The primary goal of the Account Receivable Clerk is to provide local customer assistant to our clients within North America . You will be assisting our clients within North America, the assistance to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service.The HR Managers checked your resume and you have been picked as one of our possible candidates for Accounts Receivable Manager due to some factors of the Company, Your primary task would be receiving payments for our company and Customers. We are about to open a representative offices or authorized sales centers in some local city in the States. Your Accounts Receivable Clerk duty would be that you become our Account Receivable Manager (ARM) and its a contract -to-hire position which is a 1 month trial after which the position is made full time .Please be advised that we need total dedication for the job.

Your duties will include: Collecting Payments

When a buyer in United States decides to purchase an item through an online auction from our sellers he has the following payment options:pay pal, international wire transfer, international check, or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local wire transferring. Local wire transfers are the option that the sales support representative will provide to the clients.


- Forwarding of the Payments

Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 10% as commission and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

Here is an example of a brief report:

Date: 15 07, '09
Buyer: Bluestone Medicals
Item: Plastic Wares / Hospital Plastic Eqiupments
Price: £ 2,921.27
10% Commission :£292
Fees: £ 115
Total Forwarded: £2514
Forwarded to: Donna Moore, England, United Kingdom
Money Gram Reference Number: 97343981
Sender : Emmanuel Elijah

- Fees, and Transferring Procedures

All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments, along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be forwarding the received payments by wire transfer.

: Additional Information

Salary:

During the trial period, you will be paid 1,250USD per month while working on average 3-4hours per day, plus 10% commission from every payment received and forwarded. The salary will be sent in the form of wire transfer directly to your account. After the trial period your base pay salary will go up to 1,650USD per month, plus 10% commission.

-Taxes
You will receive a monthly invoice stating your total income. All applicable taxes are covered by the company at the end of the year.

Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments)

1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or any cashing facilities near you.
3. Deduct 10 % which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to, you'll have a lot of free time doing another job, because this job schedule is flexible, you'll get good income .But this job is very challenging and you should understand it.

Please kindly fill your details below to apply :
------------------------------------------------

Full Name : ___________
Full Address: _________
City: _________________
State: _______________
Zip/Postal code:________
Home phone :__________
Cell phone: ___________
Recent occupation: ______
Gender: _______________
Personal Email Address:___


Human Resources Manager
Green Group Plastics LTD




If you receive this scam and found this post helpful please post a comment so I know these warnings are being read! Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Friday August 21, 2009 @ 03:30 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

I wouldn't trust any of the site's below. They all appear to be scam site's that were built using the same web template. They are trying to Mimic the Paypal service but in reality they probably are stealing personal bank account information from the information entered for potential fraud or identity theft. Always be careful when entering your bank information into any site.

  1. paytreck.com
  2. efastwire.com
  3. 123safepay.com
  4. payitglobal.com
  5. payoutdirect.com
  6. youhavefunds.com
  7. cashepay.net
  8. jppayment.com
  9. edollars.com
  10. waytopay.us
  11. pipay.net
  12. honorpay.com
  13. trusteepay.com
  14. starbicpay.com
  15. https:tcspay.com
  16. sealedbars.com
  17. instypay.com
  18. cyclonepay.com
  19. paysonlypaygold.com
  20. e-cashforkids.com
  21. payemoney.com
  22. swiftezpay.com
  23. ziofund.com
  24. fetchpay.com
  25. paybankltd.com
  26. cyopay.com
  27. signpay.net
  28. geocard.com
  29. nairapal.com
  30. payprgram.com
  31. cedilink.com
  32. myaccountonthenet.com
  33. paywithcredits.com
  34. globalfundsonline.com
  35. theexpresspay.com
  36. ghanafirm.com
  37. ezpzpay.com
  38. afripal.com
  39. payfunds1.com
  40. fortglobal.com
  41. webgolds.com
  42. xpresswire.com
  43. webgolds.com
  44. nullbank.com
  45. epayamerica.com

There are tons of these. If you know of any please post them with a comment using the form below.



Posted by TJ on Wednesday August 19, 2009 @ 11:59 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 18 in the Job Scam Series.

This is a Nigerian email scam sent in reply to ads placed on Craigslist. Give thanks to Kristen Bentley for sending this one in.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from BERSOLEVA, S.L.

Do not cash any checks received from the this "job". They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. 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.
  4. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  5. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  6. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

johncole.cole496@gmail.com said:

From: john cole [mailto:johncole.cole496@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:21 PM
To: [[email removed]]
Subject: Re: Admin assistant / Reception

Job Description – Admin assistant
The Company name is BERSOLEVA, S.L.
The 23rd of January 1996, the firm BERSOLEVA, S.L. was constituted. It was the continution of business already byotiations by Manuel Berná Gómez in 1982. After our ongoing investigation, we obtained in 1991 the chemical dimensional control of E.V.A. (Ethylene- Vinyl- Acetate). Our invention provided the basis to fabricate shoe soles by injection procedure along precision in size.

The first industrial application of E.V.A. granulated compound, with chemical dimensional control, was made in a machine from the Italian firm Main Group, model E-266, in the city of Elche in 1992.
In 1993, after various investigation processes , we obtained, in our laboratories a new kind of granulated compound based on E.V.A and rubber, its technical characteristics, were superior to the traditional E.V.A. and It had a perfect application for men and child footwear. This new product is called GOOMWALL.

We have accepted your application for the job and We have your information in our database. The primary goal of the Office Assistant is to provide local Admin assistant to our clients within North America. The assistance to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service.BERSOLEVA, S.L. checked your resume and you have been picked as one of our possible candidates for Accounts Receivable Manager due to some factors of the Company, Your primary task would be receiving payments for our company and Customers. We are about to open a representative offices or authorized sales centers in some local city in the States. Your Accounts Receivable Clerk duty would be that you become our Account Receivable Manager (ARM) and its a contract -to-hire position which is a 1 month trial after which the position is made full time .Please be advised that we need total dedication for the job.

Your duties will include: Collecting Local Payments

When a buyer in United States decides to purchase an item through an online auction from our sellers he has the following payment options:pay pal, international wire transfer, international check, or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local wire transferring. Local wire transfers are the option that the sales support representative will provide to the clients.

- Managing Data

Along with the payments received from buyers you will be receiving details for these sales. These details will include items sold, price, and buyer's information. You are to file and maintain these purchasing records and transactions.

- Forwarding of the Payments

Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 10% as commission and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

Here is an example of a past brief report:

Date: june 11, '07
Buyer: Frank w.. Smith
Item: hp laptop
Price: $ 1000
Pieces:1
Total price $1000
10% Commission : $ 100
Fees: $ 10
Total Forwarded: $890
Forwarded to: madrid, Spain
Reference Numbers: 9349483996

- Fees, and Transferring Procedures

All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments, along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be forwarding the received payments by wire transfer.

: Additional Information

Salary:

During the trial period, you will be paid 2,730USD per month while working on average 3-4hours per day, plus 10% commission from every payment received and forwarded. The salary will be sent in the form of wire transfer directly to your account. After the trial period your base pay salary will go up to 3,860USD per month, plus 10% commission.
-Taxes
You will always be receiving a monthly invoice stating your total income. All applicable taxes are covered by the company.

Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments)

1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or any cashing facilities near you, if not cashed immediately you deposit it in your account.
3. Deduct 10 % which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to, you'll have a lot of free time doing another job, because this job schedule is flexible, you'll get good income .But this job is very challenging and you should understand it.

Please kindly fill your details below, so that you can get started.

Full Name : ___________
Full Address: _________
City: _________________
State: _______________
Zip/Postal code:________
Home phone :__________
Cell phone: ___________
Recent occupation: ______
Gender: _______________
STATUS______________
Personal Email Address:___

Board of directors
BERSOLEVA, S.L.


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Thursday July 23, 2009 @ 11:14 AM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 17 in the Job Scam Series.

This is a new being sent in reply to ads placed on Craigslist. Give thanks to Tiesha Star for sending this one in.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Exclusive Inc.

Do not cash any checks received from the this "job". They are fake or fraudulent and if deposited will be subtracted from your bank balance once the fraud is discovered.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. Do not cash any checks you received from fraudulent offer.
  3. 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.
  4. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  5. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  6. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

recruitingdptms@aol.com said:


From: Eric Dennis >
Subject: Re: Administrative Assistant
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 8:33 PM

Reference No: - LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05 HO Ref:99645
Batch No: - R4/A313/2-60 Port
Ref:87023124
Application No: LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05 FCO Number: 812374
Respondent: Recruiting Officer

Dear Applicant
We received your resume and your application on Craigslist on the july of this year but we are really sorry to inform you that this Position as been filled, it is no more available. Our HR Managers have gone through your resume and due to some certain factors you have been picked as one of our possible candidate
to be one of our Accounts Payable Specialist which is the post That is available right now.

ABOUT US:
We strive to ensure quality from crop to counter.
end, Exclusive inc. requires the highest standards and
specifications, not just for product ingredients; every detail of production, transport, delivery, preparation and service is Also exhaustively monitored.

A focus on quality permeates every aspect of the business.

Exclusive inc. standards lead the food industry, and we
continue to work with government and health officials to Investigate improvements.
Exclusive inc. also recognize the importance of a balanced diet and lifestyle and continues to seek quality new products Which satisfy customers expectations for taste and value? We Are independent and privately owned.
We serve the entire United States, Your primary task for now, as an Accounts Payable Specialist of this company is to coordinate payments from clients and help us with the payment Process. You are not involved in any marketing. You would be responsible for receiving payments after we have offered our
professional services to our numerous clients. After this has been done the customer has to pay for the service but in most Cases we make our clients prepay for services. About 90 percent of our clients prefer to pay through Certified Checks or Money Orders drawn from the United State based on the amount Involved. We have decided to open this new contract -to-hire
job position for solving this problem pending the time that we Will open a branch office in this state.

Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments):
1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank.
3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to, you have a lot of free time doing another job, because this job is part Time, you'll get good income. But this job is very challenging And you should understand it. We are considering your application because you satisfy our requirements and we are sure you will be an earnest assistant till we start running our Branch office in your state.

ADVANTAGES
-You do not have to go out as you will work as an independent
Contractor right from your home office.
-Your job is absolutely legal.
-You can earn up to 3000-4000 dollars monthly depending on time you Will spend for this job. You do not need any capital to start.
-You can do the Work easily without leaving or affecting your present Job. The employees who make efforts and work hard have A strong possibility to become managers. Anyway our employees Never leave us. But the problem we have is trust but we hope we Can trust you.
Get back to us with the requirements below if you are
interested so that we can add your mailing address to our Regional database and forward it to our customers for them to Send payments after conducting background checks.

REQUIREMENTS:

Full Names_______________
Mailing Address (Not P. O Box) _________________
City__ ___________________
State____________________
Postal Code______________
Phone Number____________________
Email Address____________________
Age______________________
Occupation_______________
Marital Status___________
Sex______________________

Send the requirements we asked for to this email address We are not asking for your bank info neither are we asking for your social security number, we are only asking for the name of Your bank and that is all.

Your response to this email is needed, so that we can
reconfirm your mailing address details we have in our
Database.

We will be updating you as soon as the payment is being sent to you and you will be directed as to where to have the remaining 90% of the money sent to, after the deduction of your 10% pay On any payments received and processed by you.

A swift acknowledgment of the receipt of this email will be Appreciated.

Thanks For Your Total Understanding and Moral cooperation.

Wagner Mill Inc. is an equal opportunity employer!

I can best be contacted by email as I am on computer every time.

I will be expecting your respones

Regards,
Eric Dennis
Recruiting Officer
Exclusive inc


These people are so dumb they use a standard email template for scams and forgot to change the company name from another scam "Wagner Mill Inc." to "Exclusive, Inc."

If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Friday July 17, 2009 @ 12:27 PM
[Tags: business, thoughts, rant]

How many people say "God Bless you" after every time someone sneezes in their office? For me this is just way to overboard and thankfully my whole office has taken this stance. I mean I never understood the whole concept anyway. I think I read that the whole bless you mess arouse from the idea that with a sneeze you let evil spirits out of your system... Well shouldn't someone blessing me then? Now I have to deal with your evil spirits and your evil germs? Shouldn't I plead out "God bless ME" instead?

I have a feeling those people who do bless every office sneeze are just those that are bored at work and take a sneeze as a way to start conversation.

_
Read More...




Posted by TJ on Wednesday July 1, 2009 @ 04:00 PM
[Tags: accounting, business, careers]

I posted this in a forum and figured I could post it here for perpetual life. But here's a sample what to expect if you want to become an accountant or CPA.

I'm a CPA at a small 4 person public firm. The hours generally vary by firm. There are firms that work 7 day weeks and then firms that have very little overtime. Also consider that there also tons of jobs in accounting for private companies that would not require much overtime (ie: work for a municipality). For me my busy times are late February to April 15 and late August to October 15th but that is because we put most our clients on extension. During those times I work late nights (mostly between 7pm-9pm) and most Saturdays during busy time. We're all procrastinators here though and if we evened our work throughout the year we probably wouldn't need to work much overtime at all but instead we slack off during the off season with drinking in the bosses office or taking long office lunches,etc. However accounting is definitely not a 9-5 job. A client could call up anytime with a request (financial statement, tax issue, etc.) that that may need the next day that may require you to work late that day even if it is August and sunny outside, though I usually get out on time during the off season.

As far as education, I would recommend at least a Bachelor's in accounting if you are looking for a public accounting position. A masters may help you in with the big 4 accounting firms but it is really not necessary otherwise. Passing the CPA exam would be a great career boost and would advise taking if you can commit to the grueling studying.

As far as money my salary has more than tripled in the five years I've been working with an annual raise, 401k match, health, 3 weeks vacation, so no complaints here.

Edit: I just checked my time for 2008 and I worked 2340 hours in 2008 (includes paid holiday time and vacation time) which averages 45 hour/week.

If you have any specific questions you can post a comment using the form below...



Posted by TJ on Saturday June 13, 2009 @ 10:19 PM
[Tags: accounting, taxes, business]

The government plans to start stringently enforcing a 1989 rule that classified employer-provided mobile phones as a taxable benefit if they employee uses the phone for personal use as well as business use.

The portion used for personal use should be included on your annual W-2 as taxable wages. The IRS requires employees to keep records distinguishing the personal and business portion of your bill. To make reporting easy the IRS would allow employee to adopt a simplified method which would tax employees on 25% of the monthly cell phone bill under their plan. So if your employer pays $1500/year for your cell phone you would be taxed on an additional $375 of income. Not much really on the individual level but the IRS expects this to generate millions of additional tax revenue.

source: IRS Notice 2009-46 [irs.gov]



Posted by TJ on Thursday June 4, 2009 @ 01:07 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 16 in the Job Scam Series.

This is a new being sent in reply to ads placed on Craigslist. Give thanks to Camille Kalash for sending this one in.

Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Marathon Oil U.K. Ltd

Do not cash any checks received from the this "job". They are fake or fraudulant

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

recruitingdptms@aol.com said:


Marathon Oil U.K. Ltd.
Marathon House
Rubislaw Hill, Anderson Drive
Aberdeen, AB15 6FZ, Scotland.

Hello Camille,

ACCOUNT CLERK POSITION/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE POSITION.

This is to notify you that your response is highly appreciated and has been given consideration for further information.

INTERVIEW FORM

To be qualified for working in Marathon Oil Ltd, fill out this FORM and submit. Your resume is still on pending till you have completed the form.

Before I confirm to you that you have secured the Position with Us, We need you to provide answers to these Interview questions. For us to test your abilities and IQ. Which is very Important to the Management Team

* Why do you want this Job: ______________________________

* Do you have professional Reference which I can go
through:__________________________

* Have you worked as an accounting assistant/administrative assistant before: ______________________________

* Privacy and code of conduct....explain the
phrase:______________________________

* What do you understand by petty cash: ______________________________

* Have you every worked from home: ______________________________

* How would you describe yourself: ______________________________

* Do you know your clerical speed? What is it: ______________________________

* Do you have an idea of how to use microsoft excel: ______________________________

JOB DETAILS:

Marathon oil plc, is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to age, race, color, sex, religion, nation origin, marital status, ancestry, citizenship, veteran status, sexual orientation or preference, or physical or mental disability.

Marathon Oil, including its consolidated companies and its share inequity companies, is one of Europe's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers.

Marathon Oil, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of London, is a recognized pioneer in oil and=2 0il,gas exploration and production technology. Marathon Oil is an affiliate of the Marathon Oil Group, which operates in over 140 countries and territories employing more than 109,000 people.

I am Mr,Johnson Spencer and i am the Human Resources Manager for Marathon Oil Ltd.We are search ing for financial payment contrac tor (Accounts Receivable) for our company who are willing to work for us from home and get paid weekly without leaving their present Job.Our clients shall be making payments to us for supplies in money orders so you shall help in the processing of the payments to us.

Subject to our satisfaction you will be paid %10 on any transaction you are involved in.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

1. Receive payments from our Clients.
2. Cash the chack at your bnak and Process the Payments.
3. Deduct %10 for yourself on each transactions.
4. While you send remaining balance to any of the company's regional warehouses that will be given to you later.

APPLICATION FORM

Please fill out the form accurately with correct information and send back via email.

CONTACT NAME: _____________________________________________________

PHONE #'s ______________________________MOBILE#:____________________

Address: _______________________________ City ___________________ State _____

Zip_____________ Age: ____________ E-MAIL:_____________________________________

SEX: ________________ OCCUPATION: ______________________________ _________

ATTESTATION

I ___________________________________hereby accept the job as a representative of the above mentioned company here in the United States, to receive payments on behalf of the company. Payment received by me shall be processed, make deduction of %10 as agreed and forward the remaining balance to any of the company's regional warehouses that will given to you later. I shall also inform the company a week ahead if eventually l want to discontinue this job, so as to terminate all payments coming my way to avoid conflict.

Waiting to read from you.

Best regards,

Johnson Spencer
Human Resources Manager
Staffing and Recruiting
Marathon Oil U.K. Ltd


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Thursday April 30, 2009 @ 03:51 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 15 in the Job Scam Series.

This is a wide spread job scam. Most of the time the scammers gets your email address from ads placed on Craigslist. Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Wagner Mills Inc. If you already sent an email with your information they will promptly send you check to deposit once your job application is "accepted". Do no cash any checks received from the this "job". They checks will be canceled and the money will be taken from your account. The scammers are issuing fraudulent checks using real companies. Once the bank finds out the the checks are fake or fraudulent they will reverse the deposit even know the money may show in your account it will soon be taken out.

If you received another job scam featuring another company please forward the email to
User submitted image
.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Donstone Eric said:


Reference No: - LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05 HO Ref:99645
Batch No: - R4/A313/2-60 Port
Ref:87023124
Application No: LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05 FCO Number: 812374
Respondent: Recruiting Officer

Dear Applicant
We received your resume and your application on Craigslist on the
April of this year but we are really sorry to inform you that this
Position as been filled, it is no more available. Our HR
Managers have gone through your resume and due to some certain
factors you have been picked as one of our possible candidate
to be one of our Accounts Payable Specialist which is the post
That is available right now.
ABOUT US:
We strive to ensure quality from crop to counter.
end, Wagner Mill Inc. requires the highest standards and
specifications, not just for product ingredients; every detail
of production, transport, delivery, preparation and service is
Also exhaustively monitored.
A focus on quality permeates every aspect of the business.
Wagner Mill Inc. standards lead the food industry, and we
continue to work with government and health officials to
Investigate improvements.
Wagner Mill Inc. also recognize the importance of a balanced
diet and lifestyle and continues to seek quality new products
Which satisfy customers expectations for taste and value? We
Are independent and privately owned.
We serve the entire United States, Your primary task for now,
as an Accounts Payable Specialist of this company is to
coordinate payments from clients and help us with the payment
Process. You are not involved in any marketing. You would be
responsible for receiving payments after we have offered our
professional services to our numerous clients. After this has
been done the customer has to pay for the service but in most
Cases we make our clients prepay for services. About 90 percent
of our clients prefer to pay through Certified Checks or Money
Orders drawn from the United State based on the amount
Involved. We have decided to open this new contract -to-hire
job position for solving this problem pending the time that we
Will open a branch office in this state.

Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments):
1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank.
3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payment
processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of
the offices you will be contacted to send payment to, you have
a lot of free time doing another job, because this job is part
Time, you'll get good income. But this job is very challenging
And you should understand it. We are considering your
application because you satisfy our requirements and we are
sure you will be an earnest assistant till we start running our
Branch office in your state.
ADVANTAGES
-You do not have to go out as you will work as an independent
Contractor right from your home office.
-Your job is absolutely legal.
-You can earn up to 3000-4000 dollars monthly depending on time
you
Will spend for this job. You do not need any capital to start.
-You can do the Work easily without leaving or affecting your
present Job. The employees who make efforts and work hard have
A strong possibility to become managers. Anyway our employees
Never leave us. But the problem we have is trust but we hope we
Can trust you.
Get back to us with the requirements below if you are
interested so that we can add your mailing address to our
Regional database and forward it to our customers for them to
Send payments after conducting background checks.
REQUIREMENTS:

Full Names_______________
Mailing Address (Not P. O Box) _________________
City__ ___________________
State____________________
Postal Code______________
Phone Number____________________
Email Address____________________
Age______________________
Occupation_______________
Marital Status___________
Sex______________________


Send the requirements we asked for to this email address

We are not asking for your bank info neither are we asking for
your social security number, we are only asking for the name of
Your bank and that is all.
Your response to this email is needed, so that we can
reconfirm your mailing address details we have in our
Database.
We will be updating you as soon as the payment is being sent to
you and you will be directed as to where to have the remaining
90% of the money sent to, after the deduction of your 10% pay
On any payments received and processed by you.
A swift acknowledgment of the receipt of this email will be
Appreciated.
Thanks For Your Total Understanding and Moral Cooperation.
Wagner Mill Inc. is an equal opportunity employer!
I can best be contacted by email as I am on computer every time.
I will be expecting your respones

Regards,
Eric Dennis
Recruiting Officer
Wagner Mill Inc.


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Friday April 24, 2009 @ 01:08 PM
[Tags: accounting, guide, business]

Below is outline of the tests used to determine whether a lease should be accounted for as a Capital Lease or an Operating Lease for GAAP Accounting.

A lease should be treated as an capital lease if it meets any one of the following four conditions -
(a) If the lease life exceeds 75% of the life of the asset
(b) if there is a transfer of ownership to the lessee at the end of the lease term
(c) if there is an option to purchase the asset at a "bargain price" at the end of the lease term.
(d) if the present value of the lease payments, discounted at an appropriate discount rate, exceeds 90% of the fair market value of the asset.

Source: FASB Statement No. 13 - Accounting for Leases
(as replaced by Codification Topic 840 Leases)



Posted by TJ on Friday April 10, 2009 @ 11:54 AM
[Tags: guide, business, events]

2009 Postal Holidays

* Thursday, January 1 - New Year's Day
* Monday, January 19 - Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday
* Monday, February 16 - Washington's Birthday (President's Day)
* Monday, May 25 - Memorial Day
* Saturday, July 4 - Independence Day
* Monday, September 7 - Labor Day
* Monday, October 12 - Columbus Day
* Wednesday, November 11 - Veterans Day
* Thursday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Day
* Friday, December 25 - Christmas Day
* Friday, January 1, 2010 - New Year's Day

2010 USPS Holidays

* New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st
* Birthday of Martin Luther King – Monday, January 18th
* George Washington’s Birthday (commonly known as President’s Day) – Monday, February 15th
* Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st
* Independence Day – Monday, July 5th 1
* Labor Day – Monday, September 6th
* Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th
* Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th
* Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th
* Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th 2

1 July 4, 2010 (the legal public holiday for Independence Day), falls on a Sunday. For most Federal employees including postal employees, Monday, July 5, will be treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes. (See section 3(a) of Executive order 11582, February 11, 1971.)

2 December 25, 2010 (the legal public holiday for Christmas Day), falls on a Saturday. For most Federal employees, Friday, December 24, will be treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes. (See 5 U.S.C. 6103(b).)




Posted by TJ on Tuesday March 3, 2009 @ 12:26 AM
[Tags: business, scam, internet]

Note: This is part 14 in the Job Scam Series.

I just received this another job scam offer. Now I don't usually post them unless a company name is listed in the email. But this email was targeting accountants and being an accountant myself, I figured it's my obligation to post this one. If you have a job scam to submit send it here.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A Google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
9.) The email fails to mention you by name. Starts off with generic opening (ie: Dear job seeker, Dear applicant).
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Yesenia Albert said:

From: Yesenia Albert
Subject: Part-time employment: Accountant (Remote vacancy; 2500 USD/month, No investment)
Sent: Fri 1/23/09 9:43 AM
Dear Job Seeker,

Due to converge of our mutual interests within the boundaries of the employment process, we'd like to manifest provision of the newly opened entry, available for your immediate contemplation.

An expansion process, has inevitably triggered the underscored insurance company to form complementary positions within the market of operation.

We're providing a feasible opportunity to put your legal background to use in the insurance/accounting sphere. Undoubtedly, our ultimate aim is to bring the confort work environment, stimulating a reciprocal leap towards beneficial and justifying operating conditions.

Informational table is presented below, to briefly outline the opening.

* Benefits and privileges:

-Feasible career advancement opportunities.
-Extensive tutelage (probation period) for the first two months.
-Fixed payout, resulting in 2000 USD monthly.
-Outstanding reimbursement plan.


* Requirements:

- Accuracy and leadership in the assigned operations
- Interpersonal and communication skills.
- Swift decision-making.
- Honesty and law obedience.
- Proficient use of Microsoft Office.

* Primary responsibilities:

- Preparing invoices, compiling itemized charges and submitting bills concerning insurance reimbursement enquiries.
- Commencing insurance operations (reimbursement cases).
- Consolidating viable documentation, records and paperwork.
- This is not insurance sales position and you don't need to sell insurance, this is Money Manager vacancy.



If you want to apply please send all your questions and contact information ONLY to e-mail: HRManagerPIC31@gmail.com
We're looking forward to our further communication.

Julie Mathews. HR department.
ID: 2516963186206132183223


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Saturday February 28, 2009 @ 05:32 PM
[Tags: music, lyrics, business]

Hey, I just realized the lyrics to Peter Gabriel's song "Don't Give up" can be used as an anthem for today's economy:

Peter Gabriel said:

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
Ive changed my face, Ive changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose

Dont give up
cos you have friends
Dont give up
Youre not beaten yet
Dont give up
I know you can make it good

Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that wed be the last to go
It is so strange the way things turn

Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground

Dont give up
You still have us
Dont give up
We dont need much of anything
Dont give up
cause somewhere theres a place
Where we belong

Rest your head
You worry too much
Its going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Dont give up
Please dont give up

got to walk out of here
I cant take anymore
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That rivers flowing
That rivers flowing

Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no-one needs

Dont give up
cause you have friends
Dont give up
Youre not the only one
Dont give up
No reason to be ashamed
Dont give up
You still have us
Dont give up now
Were proud of who you are
Dont give up
You know its never been easy
Dont give up
cause I believe theres the a place
Theres a place where we belong

Read More...




Posted by TJ on Friday February 27, 2009 @ 04:07 PM
[Tags: accounting, taxes, business]

Below is a table summarizing the numerous payroll limits for 2004-2009.
Read More...




Posted by TJ on Thursday February 26, 2009 @ 11:19 AM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 13 in the Job Scam Series.

This was submitted by an anonymous visitor. If you have a job scam to submit send it here. Include the headers of your message and any additional information you have.
Thanks!

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Starco company Limited said:

Dear Candidate,
We got your resume and your application for our ad. We are
sincerely sorry to inform you that the position for the Data Entry has
been occupied. Our manager went through your resume
and you have been picked for an alternative Job which is the Payment
Personnel. The Customer Service/Receptionist position has been
occupied and now what we need is a representative and Account
Receivable / Payment Personal manager for the company on financial
issues.
About The Company : Starco company Limited
(Starco group of company)is a U.K Company and with
established, leaders in innovative Art Works Technology, providing art
materials worldwide. We serve the entire United States and a growing
export market. Your primary task for now, as a representative of the
company is to coordinate payments from customers and help us with the
payment process. You are not involved in any sales. Once orders are
received and sorted we deliver the product to a customer. After this
has been done the customer has to pay for the products but in most
cases we make our clients prepay for orders or items they ordered for.
About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through Credit Card
Transfers,Cashiers Check , Certified Checks or Money Orders drawn from
the United State based on the amount involved why Only few decides on
Bank Transfers which is not also a Suitable. We have decided to open
this new contract to hire job position for solving this problem. Your
First Primary task (Collection of Payments)
WHAT YOUR NEED TO DO FOR US
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients.
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or Deposit payment and let us know how
long its going to take before it clear the Bank
3. Deduct 10 % which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the
offices you will be instructed to send payment to, You'll have a lot
of free time doing another job, because this is a part time job,
you'll get good income. But this job is very challenging and you
should understand it. We are considering your application because you
satisfy our requirements and we are sure you will be an earnest
assistant till we start running our branch office in your state. For
example if you receive 4000.00 USD and your 10% should be 400.00 USD
Plus your basis monthly salary is 1000.00 USD here are the information
you are to provide then we will get back to you after we must have
gone through it all. Get back to us with information below
information, so that we can add your mailing address to our Regional
database and forward it to our customers as one of our Payment
Personnel and Account Receivable Official.
Please Apply by filling the Requirements Below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Full Names:_______________
* Address:__________________
* City:_____________________
* State:____________________
* Zip Code:_________________
* Home Phone:____________________
* Cell Phone:____________________
* Email:____________________
* Present Occupation:_______
* Sex:______________________

Thanks for your anticipated action. And we hope to hear back from you.
Regards,

Mandrack
Starco company Limited


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Friday February 13, 2009 @ 12:06 PM
[Tags: economy, business, accounting]

I just ran article from Times.com that had an idea for a possibly more effective stimulus plan. How about we just cut every US mortgage by 30%. For example if you owe $250 today you will then only owe 175,000.

Here what this could do for the economy:
  • all mortgage-based—securities will become less "toxic".
  • Less forclosures .. with a lower balance more people can refinance to get lower rates/payments making it easier to afford payments.
  • More money to spend elsewhere - People will spend more which benefits every business

The cost:
US Home mortgage debt is approximately 12 trillion dollars which would amount to mortgage write downs of approximately 3.6 trillion (or 3 trillion per the article). This is more than the 800 billion dollar stimulus currently being debated in congress however if the current stimulus does not significantly lower the rate of foreclosure (which is likely) the price tag could be significantly higher.


http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1879270,00.html said:


A Better Bank Fix: Cut Every Mortgage's Principal
By Ari J. Officer Friday, Feb. 13, 2009
fixing banks trimming dollars
Images.com / Corbis

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled a new plan to combat the financial crisis: convincing private financial institutions to buy up "toxic assets" with the government's backing. While this is a step up from former Secretary Henry Paulson's original bailout plan—in which the government itself would buy up the bad securities—it is still not the right approach.
More Related

* 18 Tough Questions (and Answers) About the Bailout
* Homeowners Ask: Hey Washington, Little Help?
* How to Stop the Banks’ Bleeding: No Easy Choices

Instead, there is a better, cheaper, less risky, more direct way to improve banks' balance sheets and restore confidence. Here's how:

Reduce the outstanding principal on every single mortgage to, say, 70% of the original value. Yes, you read that correctly: Lower every single American's mortgage debt by a fixed percentage. (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.)

If homeowners owe less money on their mortgages, they will be less likely to stop making their payments. The plan is equivalent to a universal renegotiation of terms that improves the situation for both homeowners and banks. As a bonus, mortgage-backed—and, indeed, all mortgage-based—securities will become less "toxic" by virtue of a trickle-up effect.

Experts have pointed to a $30.6 billion deal between Merrill Lynch and the Lone Star group of private equity funds as a model for the new government plan. Lone Star purchased that amount of Merrill Lynch's portfolio of asset-backed securities. Merrill Lynch reduced Lone Star's risk by financing three-quarters of the purchase. Therefore, Lone Star had limited risk, similar to how funds would have limited risk buying the bad securities with government backing. But the most important part of the deal was not Lone Star's risk; it was the price. Lone Star paid 22 cents on the dollar. This means that Merrill Lynch had priced its asset-backed assets somewhere around 22% of their original value. (Watch a video of a car dealer staying optimistic in tough times.)

Geithner hopes to encourage private investors to buy these asset-backed securities, giving the banks cash and eliminating further downside risk to their portfolios. But why not try to actually make the securities more valuable, in reality, so that investors want to buy them from the banks, without the need for government support?

Thus far, the government has focused on trickle-down solutions: dealing with complicated assets like mortgage-based securities in the hopes of stabilizing the values of more concrete assets, such as homes. In contrast, my approach addresses the root of the problem. Thus, the government would help ensure that the mortgage-based securities find a stable price via a trickle-up effect. After all, it would take an inconceivable number of foreclosures at 70% of principal to justify the assets' trading down to 22% of their face value.

This plan costs the government—and the American taxpayer—nothing but a trivial amount, the operating costs. Again, it is nowhere near as complex as what the government has done so far. It carries a small price tag compared to the massive, mostly ineffectual spending that has been the basis of the current policies. (See pictures of the global financial crisis.)

Why lower the principal of the mortgages instead of reducing the interest rate of the loan? Because it creates far more incentive for homeowners to continue mortgage payments. Moreover, with all the "exotic" loans out there, many with adjustable rates, the principal component is the only standard across all mortgages. Adjusting the remaining principal, then, is the most general way to renegotiate all mortgages as equitably as possible.

Further, there is currently a crisis of confidence in the banking world. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of asset values and the prices of complicated derivatives like mortgage-based securities, the banks are hoarding money. They lack trust even to lend to each other. Reducing mortgage principals addresses both of those problems directly. By stabilizing the mortgage markets, much of the uncertainty will vanish. Banks' balance sheets could stabilize. And confidence may very well return.

Implementation is the most difficult part of this proposal. While many financial institutions would immediately discount the plan, ultimately convincing them to accept it is not unreasonable. It is true that for those institutions that hold physical mortgages, their maximum potential profit will go down by the discount. For a 30% decrease in principal, the math works out to some $3 trillion potentially lost on residential mortgages, as of mid-2008, according to the Federal Reserve. But if Americans keep defaulting on these mortgages, and asset values continue to crash, the total loss to the financial world will be far greater than $3 trillion.

It is also true that the banks will probably want to discriminate: Why should they lower the principal on "good" mortgages? Why not just on those most likely to foreclose? Thanks to tranches, the "good" have been rolled together with the "bad", and specialized renegotiation is easier said than done. That is why banks have not already renegotiated loans on a large scale. But with the government's pressure, lowering the remaining principal on every mortgage could easily become a reality.

The only banks that could legitimately lose on this are those that hold nothing but "good" mortgages or tranches of "good" mortgages, with no "bad" assets. Since TARP has attracted such interest from virtually every bank, we can conclude that such "good"-mortgage banks exist only in small number.

Other advantages of this solution are that it is universal and non-discriminatory: every mortgage holder in the United States gets a break. Homeowners without mortgages also benefit, as foreclosures directly lead to deflated home values, and foreclosures will be reduced considerably. At the same time, the banks' assets will have a greater inherent value: their balance sheets will improve, and they are likely to begin loaning sooner than with the government plans.

Unlike Geithner's plan, this solution is simple and transparent. It does not require the government to price complicated derivatives. It requires only one decision: by what uniform percentage to reduce mortgages. And unlike all of the other plans out there, it does not require significant government spending. It is also politically palatable, as it does not discriminate and does not rescue certain institutions over others. Homeowners get the most direct benefit, and the solution is efficient because of its flat-tax-like nature. Just about everybody wins.




Posted by TJ on Thursday February 12, 2009 @ 07:52 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 11 in the Job Scam Series.

This was submitted by "Steve" from here. Thanks, Steve

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

Vicki Moore (m.vicki[at]rocketmail.com) said:
EMPLOYMENT FORM
Dear Applicant,

You are getting this email in regards to the resume you sent us through Cragslist, for the Position of a Adjustment Clerks. We have accepted your application for the job and We have your information in our database. The HR Managers checked your resume and you have been picked as one of our possible candidates for Accounts Receivable Manager due to some factors of the Company, Your primary task would be receiving payments for our Company and Customers. We are about to open a representative offices or authorized sales centers in some local city in the States. Your Adjustment Clerks duty would be that you become our Account Receivable Manager (ARM) and its a contract-to-hire position which is a 1 month trail after which the position is made full time.


ABOUT US
Santos Textile was established in Lurgan in 1981, and named after Santos House in Lurgan, County Armagh. Santos Textile specializes in fine household linens with a strong ethnic Irish appeal. We regard each of our pieces as a potential heirloom for future generations. Like all heritage, Santos Textile should be treasured, treated kindly, and above all enjoyed. Our product range includes tablecloths, napkins, tray cloths, placemats, table centers, table runners, coasters, trolley cloths, tea towels, and bun warmers, for the kitchen or the dining room.

We serve the entire United States and a growing export market. Your primary task for now, as a representative of the company is to co-ordinate payments from customers and help us with the payment process. You are not involved in any sales. Once orders are received and sorted we deliver the product to a customer. After this has been done the customer has to pay for the products but in most cases we make our clients prepay for orders or items they ordered for. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through cashiers check Money Orders and certified checks . United States based on the amount involved, only few decides on Bank Transfers which is not also suitable. We have decided to open this new contract to hire job position for solving this problem


JOB SUMMARY
1. Receive payment from our Customers or Clients..
2. Cash Payment at your Bank or Deposit payment and let us know how long itʼs going to take before it clears at the Bank
3. Deduct 10 % which will be your percentage pay on Payment processed
4. Forward balance after
deduction of processing charges to any of the offices you will be instructed to send payment to, youʼll have a lot of free time doing another job, because this is apart time job, you'll get good income. But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are considering your application because you satisfy our requirements and we are sure you will be an earnest assistant till we start running our branch office in your state. Here is the information you are to provide then we will get back to you after we must have gone through it all. Get back to us with the information below, so that we can add your mailing address to our Regional database and forward it to our customers for them to send payments.

Please Apply by filling the Requirements Below:
First name: ..................
Middle name: ...............
Last name: ....................
Address Line 1: ............
Address Line 2: ............
City: .........................
State: ........................
Zip/Postal code: .........
Home phone: ...............
Cell phone: ...................
Recent occupation: .......
Personal Email Address: .....

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY THIS WORK:
(1) You are not investing any money in this.
(2) Your BANK account information is not needed.
(3) You are not to pay any fee on application/confirmation.
(4) You don't need any special knowledge in the field of accounting or Book-keeping.
(5) No special membership is incurred.
(6) This work will take about two hours per day and is not tiresome.
(7) Your work will start immediately after going through the employment processing and there is a satisfactory from the company.
(8) You'll have a lot of free time doing another job.
(9) You'll get good income and regular
job. But this job is very challenging and you should understand its requirements.
We are looking only for the worker who satisfy our requirement and will be a serious assistant.

Santos Textile Company Limited
Registered in N.I. No. R713
VAT No. GB 251785447
HIRING MANAGER,
Vicki Moore.
http://www.santos-textiles.com

Their website doesn't even work!

If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Wednesday February 4, 2009 @ 10:40 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 10 in the Job Scam Series.

This is a very poor attempt at a job scam. It's too vague and nonprofessional written. Nonetheless, it got past my filters so its worth noting.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

bobby.smith.bsn@gmail.com said:
Found Position for You

Hello,

I am Denis Lavrov, manager of Softtehnics IT-Company, we are specialized in enterprise application development, system integration, corporate networks and other software solutions for business, finance and for various types of problems.

Today our company is searching for employees for our company to improve the quality of service and to speed up the processing of orders. It is not important where did you work before or where are you working now, but if you have combination possibility, you are sociable, responsible and self-exacting, you have a magnificent opportunity to become our employee and to receive high income.

Salary: $ 3000 a month + 5 % from each operation

Your job will be to accept funds in the form of wire transfers and check payments forwarding them to us. We also consider in opening an office in your country in the nearest future where you will have certain privileges if you decide to apply for a full-time job.

Requirements: the age from 21, communication experience, operational experience with documents, operational experience in management, advanced level in using personal computer, constant access to the Internet for working in the Internet office, more than 3 free hours a day.

Please send the resume on the E-mail: bobby.smith.bsn@gmail.com


If you received this please post a comment so I know posting these warnings are useful.



Posted by TJ on Friday January 9, 2009 @ 10:04 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 8 in the Job Scam Series.

This is the most complex job scam email I received so far. The email does not contain a reply to address and they ask you to complete your application through a form on the website. The whois data shows the website is registered to a NY marketing company however is probably not a legit company.

Other than this being a work-at-home position I noticed the email came from the @googlemail.com domian and that the website was only register 9-23-08 which are some of the give aways that this is a scam.

It seems as though this may be an attempt to harvest data to send marketing to you based on the information you provide but it could also be used for indenty theft.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your states attorney general's office
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.

smallnah@googlemail.com said:
CareerBuilder Home Based Job Position ($2K/mo)

Applicants applying should be based in the United States.

Prospective Hire,

Our Human Resource Staff has reviewed your contact details for employment consideration. The vacancy available with our Company is an admin position which allows the assistant to work from home. This is primarily an online job paying a guaranteed $2,000 each month. After a 6 month probationary period benefits will be available to each assistant. These benefits include life insurance, dental, and health. Select assistants will be eligible for advancement to a staff position after 6 months.

This employment offer is serious and only serious individuals need apply. If this position is a great way to complement your income needs then you should apply NOW. This is a part-time position offering full time benefits and pay. Only a few hours of your time each week is required. Work schedules can be flexible. Or management and staff are willing to work around nearly any schedule. Thank you for your time and we hope to be welcoming you to our Company.


Important Note:
All interested applicants should complete the employment application located on the website at www.Position349.Com
under the Employment Section.


If you feel you received this email in error please accept our sincere apology. No further action is needed on your part and you will be removed from our system automatically if you do not respond to this offer for employment. Thank you for understanding and sorry for any inconvenience.

Applicants applying should be based in the United States.

--
Best Regards,
Hiring Management
www.Position349.Com





Posted by TJ on Friday January 9, 2009 @ 06:17 PM
[Tags: Business, web design, hints]

This is a courtesy reminder to all website managers. If not already done or automatically updated please take this time to update the year in your copyright in the footer of you web pages to 2009. Having a outdated copyright year (IE: Copyright ©1999) makes you look unprofessional, outdated, and old news.
    Sites on the Alexa Top 500 Sites who have outdated copyrights:
    (as of 01/09/09)
  • craigslist.org Online classifieds © 1995-2007 craigslist, inc
  • Hi5.com Social networking © 2003-2008 hi5 Networks
  • Ask.com Search engine © 2008 Ask.com (Are your search results old too?)
  • friendster.com Social networking Copyright 2002-2008 Friendster, Inc.
  • LiveJournal.com Blog community Copyright © 1999-2008 LiveJournal, Inc
  • USPS.gov United State Postage Service - Copyright © 1999-2005 USPS.

Jeez these site probably make thousands each day and they can't spend 5 minutes to update their site. If you need a web designer I have some free time.

Update:
Here is PHP code so your copyright year will automatically update each year.
Code:

<?php
///set year
$year = date("Y");
?>

<?php
///print copyright
print "© $year ";
?>




Posted by TJ on Thursday December 4, 2008 @ 12:43 PM
[Tags: economy, business, money]

The Gross National debt continues to rise at alarming pace.

There are currently 300,000,000 citizens in the United States so with national debt of more than 10,600,000,000,000 (see actual figure) that means that each persons share of this debt is around $35,333.
Read More...




Posted by TJ on Thursday December 4, 2008 @ 09:36 AM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 7 in the Job Scam Series.

These are big scam and most likely any mystery shopper job is either going to require you pay a fee for information that is otherwise free, is going to try and get you to wire money, or steal your banking information. You would never have to pay an upfront fee to apply to a legitimate job.

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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.
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.
If you also received this scam please post a comment below, so I know these warnings are being read and I will continue to keep posting in future. Thank you.

some scammer said:
Thank you for your interest in the Mystery Shopper position.

Our company conducts surveys and evaluates other companies in order to help them achieve their performance goals.
We offer an integrated suite of business solutions that enables corporations to achieve tangible results in the marketplace.
We get hired by other companies and act like customers to find out how they are handling their services in relation to their customers.

Mystery Shopping is the most accurate and reliable tool a business can use to gather information regarding their actual customer service performance at the moment of truth. This moment of truth is not when the staff is on their best behavior because the boss is around - it is when they interact with customers during their normal daily routines.
This is where you, the Mystery Shopper, come in. You pose as an ordinary customer and provide feedback of both factual observations (ex...the floor was free of debris) and your own opinions (ex...I felt that the temperature in the establishment was too cold).

Mystery Shoppers must remain anonymous. You must act as a regular customer and be careful not to do anything that would reveal you as a shopper. An inexperienced shopper could tip off the staff to his/her identity by asking for the manager's name for no clear or appropriate reason. If you are going to be bringing someone with you on the shop, make sure you educate them about the process as well. Beware that even whispers can be overheard by employees. If anyone notices you are a shopper, you can bet that word will quickly spread around the establishment and you will get some of the best customer service in town.
No company can afford to have a gap between the promise of quality and its actual delivery, that's why leading corporations look to us, the nation's premiere mystery shopping and customer experience measurement company.

In order for a business to effectively compete in today's economy, they must be prepared to meet the challenge of increasing sales by:
* Retaining existing customers
* Acquiring new customers
* Creating word-of-mouth advocacy
* Improving customer loyalty

Once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase merchandise or require services), after which you would
write a detailed report of your experience.

Examples of details you would forward to us are:
1) How long does it take to get served.
2) Politeness of the attendant.
3) Customer service professionalism.
4) Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they deal with difficult clients.

Then we turn the information over to the company executives and they will carry out their own duties in improving their services.
Most companies employ our assistance when people complain about their services, or when they feel there is a need for them to improve upon their customer service.
Our company partners with you to implement proven mystery shop auditing and surveying strategies that provide critical information about customer experiences.
You will be paid a commission of $100 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance.
Your task will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of restaurants, retail stores, casinos, shopping malls, banks and hotels in your area.

Qualities of a good Mystery Shopper:
* Is 21 years of age or older
* Loves to go shopping
* Is fair and objective
* Is ON TIME
* Is very observant and able to focus on details
* Is fairly intelligent
* Has patience
* Is detail oriented
* Is practical
* Types well
* Is trustworthy
* Explains well in writing
* Is discreet
* Loves to learn
* Handles deadlines
* Has full internet access (at home or at work)

Mystery Shopping is fun and exciting but also must be approached very seriously and is definitely not for everyone.


If you are interested in applying for consideration as a Mystery Shopper do send in your information only at our e-mail: michael.bernard58@gmail.com

Full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Age:
Occupation:

As soon as we receive your information we will add you to our database and we will look for locations in your area that needs to be evaluated.

If you have any questions please reply on our e-mail: michael.bernard58@gmail.com

Thank you,
Michael Bernard
Best Surveys
505 Barranca Parkway
michael.bernard58@gmail.com
Irvine, CA 92604-3703




Posted by TJ on Thursday December 4, 2008 @ 09:30 AM
[Tags: scam, internet, business]

Note: This is part 6 in the Job Scam Series.

some scammer said:
Job oppotunity with Business Monitor International Our corporation actively is looking for Private client managers to deal with our virtual on-line team. Professional skill isn't required. Employment: Employee Part-time Preferable time: Mon-Fri; 9:30am � 12:30pm; Country: The US Description: private service support in financial assistant of our clients Salary: $ 1200 + 5% commission Education andor Experience: High school, college or equivalent of education and experience Requirements: 1. MS Office skills 2. US authorized work status 3. Adult age 4. E-mail and Internet access 5. Cell phone for urgent duties Now you are only one step away from successful career. Interested? Apply now and get reply in 24-48 hours. Send your 4-contact information to our Hiring Department: Try us and you will be glad you did! Thank you in advance. Regards Career Center of Business Monitor International

How do I spot a job scam?
1.) The message is for a position that you did not apply for
2.) The message is from or asking for a reply to an email address from a free email provider (ie: @yahoo.com, @gmail.com)
3.)The position is for a work at home job. Let's get real here most of these positions are hard to come by.
4.) The message provides no phone and/or no mailing address
5.) The company does not have a website or the website was created in the last year. Do a whois lookup to see when a domain was created.
6.) The job has few qualifications
7.) The message is written with poor english
8.) A google search for the company finds little or no history for the company
*** This list is not all inclusive. Remember if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam it probably is!

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  1. Do not respond to further communications.
  2. 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.
  3. If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
  4. 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.
  5. Post a comment below with any information you have on this scam to inform other people to try and avoid any future victims. Post the email you received with exact wording if different from original posted so when people search for terms they find this warning.
If you also received this scam please post a comment below, so I know these warnings are being read and I will continue to keep posting in future. Thank you.



Posted by TJ on Monday October 27, 2008 @ 03:13 PM
[Tags: guide, business, economy]

US First Class Stamp: 44 cents

Effective May 12, 2008: the current price of a stamp is 44 cents. First-Class Mail Letter (1 oz.) is 44 cents. Each additional ounce costs 17 cents. Postcard stamps are now 28 cents.

Update: On May 11, a first-class stamp will go up by 2 cents to 44 cents. Other rates are set to rise as well. The updated prices are reflected above.

The post office adjusts rates each May, but any increases must be at or below the rate of inflation under a 2006 law.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09101/962044-28.stm#ixzz0HxzFnoH3&D


Source: United States Postal Service (USPS.com)

The price of a stamp increased 1300% from the value of $.03. in 1917

However, this increase is in line with increases of other items as well....

a Dodge Sedan was $1,185 in 1917, that's also 1300% less than today

You could also could buy a pair of men's shoes for less than $6

And your local paper for $.01
Eggs were .39/dozen

A color TV cost.. oh wait a minute...

Okay now I will stop sounding like your grandpa.

1917 Prices from survey in Morris County, NJ



Posted by TJ on Wednesday August 27, 2008 @ 10:08 AM
[Tags: links, internet, business]

If you want to find out how your salary compares to others in your field or even at your company there are website's to help.

Payscale.com
Glass Door New site with even more information.



Posted by TJ on Thursday July 3, 2008 @ 11:57 AM
[Tags: internet, news, business]

Wired.com said:

Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom
By Ryan Singel July 02, 2008 | 7:16:54

Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.


This can't be anything but bad news for the future of youtube.com. I think this is a huge evasion of privacy as the judge should at least ordered a censored list with no name or ip addresses.

Link: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/judge-orders-yo.html



Posted by TJ on Friday May 2, 2008 @ 11:04 PM
[Tags: review, business, hints]

XM satellite radio is great for music and in my opinion is definitely worth the price especially if you know how to bargain. I never had to pay full price for a subscription and just got my best deal yet... $69 for a full year.

Here is how I get this price: If your current subscription is coming to an end/or you're a new subscriber call them up and say you want to cancel your subscription because "the price is too high" and the customer rep will offer you a better deal to try and keep you as a subscriber... but don't accept this say the price is still too high... they should then offer you even a better deal. If it's not around $80 bucks tell them the most you'll pay is $80/year.. Now once you got an a good subscription price down they should offer you discount to switch to electronic billing, take that and you now got a great service at a great price. I was paying $15/month called up and was offered a deal for $119 and said no this is still too high "I want to cancel unless you have something under $80. The rep offered me a deal at $83/year then a $15 discount for switching to ebilling.

Kudos to XM radio for their great radio, good customer service, and good prices.

Big Band 125x125




Posted by TJ on Thursday June 28, 2007 @ 11:39 AM
[Tags: business, web design, accounting]

Berkshire Halthway is a holding company which manages companies like Geico, Benjamin Moore, and Pampered Chef and had a revenue of $98.5 billion in 2006. Warren E. Buffett, CEO is the third richest man in the USA (Forbes, April 2007). Buffet is known for his cheap and frugile lifestlye and this is probably why he will not invest in a web designer for his multi-billion dollar company. The website for Berkshire Hathaway looks as though a middle school student prepared for a Miscrosoft Word project. I guess in their line of business they do not need to impress but really only a couple dollars and you can atleast get a professional look.

Hint: I need some side work

Link: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com