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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 Saturday November 20, 2010 @ 04:24 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, guide]

There has been recent influx in cell phone text scams. These scams are an attempt to steal personal banking information or credit card information. The text message I received was from 917-822-2827 with text text "J P Morgan THPV alert". Please call 817685077".

Why is this a scam?
  • I don't do banking with JP Morgan
  • Banks don't normally text you when there is an issue with your bank
  • The text is from an unverified number
  • The text is vague and does not provide identifying information.
  • An internet lookup/google search for the telephone number terms up no link to JP Morgan





    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 Monday October 4, 2010 @ 01:44 PM
    [Tags: internet, guide, email]

    As widely discussed Google's Gmail platform has a neat little feature to undo a sent email if you want to recall within 30 seconds. The workings behind this feature is pretty simple. Google's server waits 30 seconds and only if the user doesn't click "undo" will it then send the email. No other platform that I am aware has this ability to do this. However, in most email software (including outlook) you can enable "automatic spell checking for every email" which adds an extra step to the sending process and gives you an extra time to ensure that each sent email is really what you want to send.

    To enable auto spell check in outlook:
    1) From the menu select Tools->Options
    2) Select the spelling tab
    3) Make sure "always check spelling before sending" is checked

    Now this will only stop an email from being sent if any word is spelt wrong. To make sure every message requires an extra review add/modify a signature to your account under "Mail Format" and add an abbreviation (or your last name may work) that is not in the default dictionary such a Tel., thnx, etc.



    Posted by TJ on Thursday September 23, 2010 @ 11:13 AM
    [Tags: personal, bored, internet]

    So that is what the other TJ Miller looks like...

    User submitted image


    Saw this when reading an article on cnn.com



    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 Friday June 11, 2010 @ 04:46 PM
    [Tags: google, blog, internet]

    Actually I don't know anything about HTML 7. In fact I haven't even fully grasped the changes in HTML 5 yet. I was just wondering... how successful would a blog be if you wrote only about the future?

    The problem with blogs currently is too much competition. For every blog topic you think of one million bloggers already wrote about, leaving your blog in the last pages of search results. In fact, I would have used "HTML 6" as this article title but there are already 1.6 million results in Google for html6, even though html 5 is the current release version.

    So writing about the future there is less competition and more likely to get good search visitors. I commonly write about topics that I found have little search results but let's see how writing about the future fares. Thanks for reading and being a part of this experiment.



    Posted by TJ on Monday June 7, 2010 @ 04:36 PM
    [Tags: internet, gmail, google]

    Apparently I have a very easy to mistype/misspeak email address and am constantly receiving misguided emails. I even wrote about this issue in the past (by the way my echild now has 10 absense and 1 tardy... tisk tisk tisk)

    I was just wondering what other people do when they receive emails that weren't intended for you. Do you reply and let the person know? In the past month I received a funeral notice, a resume (to pass along), a picasa album invitiation, Budget rental confirmation, dog photos all intended for some one who has the same first initial and last name as me but different email. It's not always to the same person... sometimes it is to Todd, Terry, Teresia, or Thomas so it not only one person giving out an incorrect email address. So is it my obligation to reply to all the emails and tell the sender they have the wrong email address? Or do I let them figure out the mistake themselves? I mean I do feel a little bad that someone could miss a funeral or job offer because they got the wrong email address but can't everyone be a little more careful with who their sending this stuff too?

    What are your thoughts?



    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 February 1, 2010 @ 01:14 AM
    [Tags: facebook, news, internet]

    I would like to create a list of all social networking holidays that people celebrate on facebook/myspace/twitter, etc.

    Apparently this week is Doppelganger Week (1st week of February), Facebook users switch their profile pictures to famous people they have been told they resemble.
    Read more: dailynews.com

    Rubber Ducky Day is January 13th Why? the Rubber Duckie Song appeared on Semame street in 1970 in which it actually made the Billboard hits chart. January 13th is supposedly to be Ernie Duck's birthday, hence the holiday Read more

    International Caps Lock Day is October 22 and June 28th. For these days, and these days only, people aren't allowed to belittle you for writing IN ALL CAPS Official website

    What are some other holidays to celebrate on the web?



    Posted by TJ on Saturday December 5, 2009 @ 05:47 PM
    [Tags: internet, links, bored]

    As 2009 is winding down lets look at some of the top list of 2009 from around the web:
    1. Time.com 50 Best Websites 2009
    2. Amazon.com - 100 Best books of 2009
    3. Popsci.com Popular Science - Best of What's new in 2009 - New products and innovations in 2009.
    4. Pcmag.com Best free software of 2009
    5. About.com 50 Best Rock Songs from 2009
    6. Mashable.com Top Ten Internet Memes of 2009
    7. PCWorld.com Top 100 Best Products of 2009
    8. Arizona State University Top 10 new Species of 2009
    9. Cnn.com Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009
    10. AskMen.com Top 99 Women from 2009 voted by Men
    11. Cnn.com 100 Best Companies to Work For 2009
    12. CNBC.com The Best and Worst Video Games for 2009
    13. Theroot.com Top 10 Epic Fails of 2009
    14. National Geographic Top Ten Discoveries in 2009
    15. Bing.com Top Internet Searches of 2009
    16. Cnn.com Best Jobs of 2009
    17. Mashable.com Apple Unveils the Top Songs, Movies and Apps of 2009
    18. Mashable.com 5 Best YouTube Sports Moments of 2009

    Added 1/13/10
    1. Msn.com Famous quotes of 2009.
    2. jalopnik.com Most expensive car crashes of 2009
    3. Gunaxin.com Most surprising deaths of 2009.
    4. newscientist.com Top 10 space stories of 2009 [GALLERY]
    If you have any to add post a comment below.



    Posted by TJ on Wednesday November 4, 2009 @ 12:53 PM
    [Tags: scam, facebook, internet]

    This is a scam email don't click the links:

    Quote:

    Dear Facebook user,
    In an effort to make your online experience safer and more enjoyable, Facebook will be implementing a new login system that will affect all Facebook users. These changes will offer new features and increased account security.
    Before you are able to use the new login system, you will be required to update your account.
    Click here to update your account online now.
    If you have any questions, reference our New User Guide.
    Thanks,
    The Facebook Team




    Posted by TJ on Tuesday September 29, 2009 @ 01:06 PM
    [Tags: humor, internet, email]

    You know I'm so proud of my him.. perfect attendence record! Uh.. oh what if he really is mine???

    Some elementary school said:

    Progress Report For Miller, N B as of 9/28/2009

    Summary Report

    PERIOD AM(S) PM(S): 2nd Grade (Teachers: xxx, xxx)
    Current Grade: 2nd Absences: 0 Tardies: 0


    Status Update - 10/12/09
    Just received word my e-child missed 2 days already this month... not so proud anymore...



    Posted by TJ on Monday August 31, 2009 @ 10:49 AM
    [Tags: scam, internet, craiglist]

    Note: This is part 19 in the Job Scam Series.

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

    Avoid any association with this scam and do not respond to any emails from Acrylon Plastics

    Do not cash 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 a a different 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 or
    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 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 this fraudulent offer.
    3. Do not wire any money to addresses provided by scammers.
    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.

    johncole.cole496@gmail.com said:

    From: hensenn@rocketmail.com
    Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:21 PM
    To: [[email removed]]
    Subject: Re: New York (New York)

    Acrylon Plastics Ltd., established in 1983, is a leading plastics molding company, employing rotational molding, vacuum-forming & pressure forming technologies. With 80,000 ft. 2 in two plants in Winnipeg and Winkler, Manitoba, Acrylon produces a multitude of custom-molded products and a diverse range of proprietary products for a wide variety of industries and markets. Products are marketed directly to OEM manufacturers and through agents and distributors in Canada and the United States
    Qualified to ISO 9001, Acrylon is committed to delivering superior
    customer value and service and to producing environmentally responsible products for all applications.

    Acrylon Plastics designs and manufactures custom rotational molded products, thermoformed parts and profile extrusions in a wide range of materials to meet the needs of many industries and applications. Over 30 years of continued research and development in the plastics technologies we employ, makes us an acknowledged leader in the manufacturing of plastic products. Our unique diversity and reputation for quality in manufacturing complex, close tolerance parts has been the basis of our leadership.
    From design to delivery, Acrylon Plastics has the expertise to meet the diverse needs of our customers. Our design and production engineers are available to work with you to select the right process and materials for your application.

    Country of Ownership: Canada
    Year Established: 1980
    Exporting: Yes
    Quality Certification: ISO 9001
    Primary Industry (NAICS): 326198 - All Other Plastic Product Manufacturing
    Alternate Industries (NAICS): 326122 - Plastic Pipe and Pipe Fitting Manufacturing
    326193 - Motor Vehicle Plastic Parts Manufacturing
    326196 - Plastic Window and Door Manufacturing
    333511 - Industrial Mould Manufacturing

    Primary Business Activity: Manufacturer / Processor / Producer
    Total Sales ($CDN): $25,000,000 to $49,999,999
    Export Sales ($CDN): $10,000,000 to $24,999,999
    Number of Employees: 200
    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 South&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 ourAccount 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 brief report:

    Date: 15 05, '09
    Buyer: Proscope Systems
    Item: IEM-Plastics and Rubber
    Price: $ 5,921.27
    10% Commission : $ 592
    Fees: $ 115
    Total Forwarded: $5514
    Forwarded to: Raymond Yee ,Edmonton, canada
    Area of Responsibility: Finance/Accounting

    - 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
    During the trial period, you will be paid 1,500USD 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 1,800USD per month, plus 10% commission.

    -Taxes
    You will receive 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. Make 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, so that you can get started.

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

    Human Resources Manager
    Acrylon Plastics


    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 Monday July 27, 2009 @ 04:00 PM
    [Tags: internet, links, bored]

    I want in on apparently the "secret" invite-only exclusive community. I like being associated with these things ... I've had so much such success with the Luelinks post I figured I'd update my request for the new website name. If anyone has a FREE invite please send to http://tjshome.com/mailto.php?to=TJ. I'm good with secrets!

    Oh and let us get this out of the way "Endofinter.net doesn't exist" OMG lolz LmAo



    Posted by TJ on Monday July 27, 2009 @ 01:27 PM
    [Tags: internet, guide, links]

    If you want to be the gossip king/queen in your town their is several ways you can make sure you have the latest on what's happening around your town by using rss feeds:

    If you don't currently use an rss reader checkout http://google.com/reader
    1. Twitter: Find out about what people are tweeting about around your town. With this feed you may get periodic traffic reports, restaurant reviews, odd events, and more. http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=%22Your%20Town.

    2. Trulia: Find out what houses are listed or selling around you:

      http://www.google.com/reader/view/#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.trulia.com%2Frss2%2Ffor_sale%2FYOUR ZIP CODE_zip%2FYOUR_STREET NAME_keyword%2F

      (Replace Zip code and keywords (replace spaces with "_")

    3. Craigslist: Find out what others are selling in your town:
      1. Go to your local craigslist site.
      2. Enter your town in search bar ( Under the heading "Search Craigslist").
      3. Click the "RSS" logo in the bottom right of the search results for your local rss feed.

    4. Local News:
      Your local newspaper have a better feed available but otherwise use a topix.com feed to get your local news
      http://www.topix.com/rss/city/[your-city]-[state abbreviation]

      Replace [your-city] with name of your city (replacing spaces with "-") and [state abbreviation] with your two letter state code (IE: NY).

    5. Weather

      Weatherbug.com offers free weather forecast subscriptions so you can get your daily forecast for your town sent to your reader.



    Posted by TJ on Sunday July 26, 2009 @ 10:20 PM
    [Tags: facebook, internet, guide]

    Here is simple method of getting an rss script of all your friend's Facebook Status update. Once you get this link you can read your friends status in your favorite rss reader (google reader) without having to login to Facebook.

    1. While logged into facebook go to [[[no longer working. See new update below ]]]
    2. Click on "My Friends Notes" in the right column under "Subscribe to These Notes". The page that open should have an url something like:
      http://www.facebook.com/feeds/friends_notes.php?id=12345678&key=123e4567d&format=rss20
    3. In the url address bar replace "friends_notes.php" with "friends_status.php"
    4. The finished url will be:
      http://www.facebook.com/feeds/friends_status.php?id=12345678&key=123e4567d&format=rss20
      with the id and key being unique to your account.

    Update 06-28-11 The above instructions should be replaced with the following

    1. While logged into facebook go to this url: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php
    2. Under the heading Subscribe to Links right click on the link to "My Friends' Links" and copy the url. The "My Friends' Links" url under the "Browse Recent links" heading will not work. The url will be something like:
      http://www.facebook.com/feeds/share_friends_notes.php?id=12345678&key=123e4567d&format=rss20
    3. In the url address bar replace "share_friends_notes.php" with "friends_status.php"
    4. The finished url will be:
      http://www.facebook.com/feeds/friends_status.php?id=12345678&key=123e4567d&format=rss20
      with the id and key being unique to your account.




    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 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 Saturday May 2, 2009 @ 12:56 AM
    [Tags: google, internet, economy]

    Google has decided to fire it's lawn landscaper and call a goat herder to bring in 200 goats to eat it's lawn. They take about a week to mow its lawn at its Mountainview, CA headquarters and Google claims it costs the same as mowing. Nice approach on going green guys...

    source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/mowing-with-goats.html



    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 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 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 Thursday February 12, 2009 @ 07:57 PM
    [Tags: scam, internet, accounting]

    Note: This is part 12 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 HL Plastics If you already sent an email with your information they will promptly send you check to deposit once your job application is "accepted". Do not cash any checks received from the this "job". The scammers are issuing fraudulent checks using accounts of 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 initially, it will soon be taken out.

    If you received a scam from a different company please forward the scam 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
    *** 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.

    Hl Plastics (jobs.resumes10[at]yahoo.com) said:

    From: Hl Plastics (jobs.resumes10[at]yahoo.com)
    Sent: Fri 1/23/09 9:43 AM
    Dear Applicant,

    Thanks you for applying for the job Customer Service in our Company posted on Craigslist. You are getting this email in regards to the resume you sent us on Craigslist for the Customer Service. We are sincerely sorry to inform you that the position for the Customer Service has been occupied. Our manager went through your resume and you have been picked for an alternative Job which is the Payment Personnel. On Craigslist you can find more details about our company and we are very sure you would want to read more.

    ABOUT US : (HL Plastics)

    HL Plastics manufactures an impressive array of standard and bespoke products such as bespoke plastic extrusions and plastic piling. The products manufactured utilize both extrusion and molding technologies, supported by a range of secondary processes for specialist finishing. In-house design, tool making and manufacturing are all housed in our state-of-the-art factory near Derby, which contains some of the most advanced extrusion and molding equipment available. Well known for our capabilities as a trade supplier of extruded profiles and injection mounded products, HL also manufactures PVC u decking, fencing, and caravan veranda products.We serve the entire United States and a growing export market.

    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 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. Interview and Instructions will be scheduled for you when you get payment for the company, get payment from our client and customers as your first assignment for the Account Receivable Manager.

    WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR US:

    Your First Primary task (Collection of Payments).
    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.

    You have to fill the information given to you below so that we can add your mailing address to our Regional database and we have to re-confirmed the mailing address in our Database.

    Please apply by filling the Requirements Below:

    * Full Name_______________
    * Address_________________
    * City____________________
    * State___________________
    * Zip Code________________
    * Home Phone______________
    * Cell Phone______________
    * Age_____________________
    * Email___________________
    * Present Occupation______
    * Sex_____________________

    Your response to this email is needed, so that we can reconfirm your mailing address details we have in our data base. I will let you know what to do please we need total dedication to this Job. Your prompt reply will determine how hardworking and fast you will handle the Job (Account Receivable Position).We will be waiting for prompt reply from you if you are really ready for the job position and I will let you know when the payment has been sent and i will let you know what to do please we need total dedication to this Job. We will be looking forward to hear from you for the job position.

    Thanks for your understanding and we look forward for your quick reply with contact information requested from you and get it sent for the Human Resources Manager and Company Headquarter to have in the Company Database.

    Human Resources,
    HL Plastics.


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



    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 Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 10:13 AM
    [Tags: internet, google, links]

    According to Google tjshome.com may harm your computer. If you do a search for tjshome.com you get the following warning message under each result "This site may harm your computer"

    User submitted image


    Apparently it's not just Tjshome.com a Google search for "Google" turns up the warning message as well.

    User submitted image


    I guess billion dollar companies don't test their code before they implement it either.



    Posted by TJ on Thursday January 15, 2009 @ 11:03 AM
    [Tags: internet, links, troubleshooting]

    First person to read this please tell me if you are able to access http://irs.gov.

    I receive the following:
    IRS.gov said:

    ERROR
    Access Denied

    * Access Denied by security policy

    The security policy for your network prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your administrator if you feel this is incorrect.

    User submitted image


    Thanks.



    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 Thursday January 8, 2009 @ 10:32 PM
    [Tags: links, blog, internet]

    TJ hasn't been posting lately so I thought I'd provide a link you can visit during intermision:

    http://shortformblog.com/ - Here's an interesting way to style your blog to attract attention.

    I'll be back next week.



    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 Friday November 28, 2008 @ 01:23 AM
    [Tags: scam, internet, accounting]

    Note: This is part 4 in the Job Scam Series.

    scam email said:

    Open position: Shipping/Receiving Clerk

    CargoNOW! can handle all your transportation and logistics needs. We offer truckload, less than load, consolidated shipments, airfreight and expedited services; cross-country and worldwide.
    Our company is looking for hard-working and smart professionals who can contribute to the company’s production and success. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. If you're looking for short-term or long-term assignments, competitive pay rates and a variety of shift options that fit your needs.

    The Shipping & Receiving Clerk is required to perform a complete range of shipping and receiving tasks. These tasks will include but will not be limited to receiving and checking shipment, packing boxes, breaking down shipments as directed by the Shipping & Receiving Supervisor

    This Job will require that you have:
    Attention to detail
    - Warehouse experience
    - Basic math skills
    - Understanding of basic inventory control processes and cycle counting.
    - Good understanding of Microsoft Excel and Word
    - Stable internet connection at home/work computer
    - All applicants applying for USA job openings must have the ability to prove eligibility to work in the United States

    Duties:
    Confirms shipping information by answering and relaying telephone, fax, and e-mail inquiries
    Maintaining organization of all incoming and outgoing products
    Prepares shipments by assembling, packing, protecting and labeling
    Package and weigh orders for shipping
    Ship all orders on time and with no mistakes.
    Tracking incoming domestic and international shipments
    - Other duties as assigned

    Salary: $70 per package
    Position Type: Full Time, Temporary/Contract/Project
    Location: USA, Any state
    Relocation: Not available

    Contact:


    For immediate consideration please email your resume in Microsoft Word or TXT format only to e-mail: ShermanFaulkner59@gmail.com


    Chris Keller
    ShermanFaulkner59@gmail.com
    Human Resources Department

    All resumes remain CONFIDENTIAL. To properly response to your resume, please place “CN-2839” in the subject of your email.

    This is a great opportunity with a growing company that cares about there employees!

    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 November 17, 2008 @ 12:01 AM
    [Tags: scam, internet, accounting]

    Note: This is part 4 in the Job Scam Series.

    It has been brought to my attention that scammers are emailing people job offers for "Canon Oil Inc" accounts payable positions. These job offers are scams. In some instances they are receiving your email information from Craigslist.org.

    Here is a copy of the email received from one of our visitors:
    nigerian scammer said:

    Dear Applicant,

    Your resume was sent to us through craigslist Recuiters Platform, we viewed
    your resume and we think you are more than qualified for what we are looking
    for. We are sorry for the late reply of the resume you sent to us .

    The positions include Accountant, Sales and Marketing Executives in the US. Our
    representative will be responsible for meeting with clients in their locality
    and receiving payments on our behalf and remitting the payment to Head of
    Accounts. This is a contract-to-hire position which is a 1 month trail after
    which the position is made full time and you can work from home and this might
    not affect your current job status. You can visit our
    website on http://canonoilinc.vndv.com/career.html to learn more about the
    open job position.


    These scammers are probably going to either get you to wire them money or steal your bank information. Do not reply to these emails. Never send your bank information or wire money to people you met through the internet.

    They stole most of the text on their website from a reputable company : ramosoil.com

    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 Friday November 14, 2008 @ 01:47 PM
    [Tags: facebook, internet, links]

    Some clicking in my referral logs led me to Yahoo Answers. Now if anyone doesn't know Yahoo Answers is where anybody is allowed ask a question for the internet public to answer. The questions are usually some of the stupidest questions (EX: Why is the Sky blue? is asked 2400 times) and the answers usually are no help either. I think they have users who have competitions (with themselves, I guess?) to see how many questions they can answer, because most answers are too general with no effort to be any help any way. The link I clicked was for questions relating to Facebook. Well, apparently Facebook is down because it led to about 200 questions on yahoo asking "Is Facebook down?". This is funny because first the need to ask this question more than once is stupid and second the panic that one website can evoke on the internet.
    Read More...




    Posted by TJ on Friday November 7, 2008 @ 02:02 PM
    [Tags: guide, internet, craigslist]

    Okay lets say you want to sell something on Craigslist. How about we say it's refrigerator.

    A good description to sell this is not:

    "White refrigerator for sale"

    This is missing a lot of information and you are not going to get a lot of serious replies. You may also miss serious takers because they are not willing to email every ad asking for more details.

    Here is some important information that should be included in every ad:
    • Brand
    • Model #/Part #
    • Photo ... if you do not have a digital camera find a stock picture of item off the internet... do a Google image search.
    • Color
    • Size
    • Price
    • Condition (good/decent/bad/like new)
    • What is included? (list all separate items included/power cord/ice tray/)

    If you do not want to list all this information and the item is still for sale find the item on Amazon.com or other retailer and link to it.

    If applicable:
    • List if the product Manual is included. If you don't have manual you can usually find the manual on manufacturers website. Find the manual and include link to it in your ad.


    Spend a little time on your advertisement and you will be surprised at the responses you receive.



    Posted by TJ on Tuesday October 21, 2008 @ 03:34 PM
    [Tags: scam, internet, career]

    Note: This is part three of the job scam series.

    Ok this scam is too easy to spot. I give it an F for no effort. Why? He spelt his company name wrong (soltions??) in the email subject line. I guess if that was intentional that would be creative but I have an inclination this was not. These are becoming no challenge. Also, these scammers should read my post on using free email providers for their professional business.

    This is an obvious scam and an attempt to steal your personal information.


    some nigerian scammer said:

    Dear Partner.

    I have reviewed resume which You recently posted online. I've thoroughly examined Your qualifications and experience. And I have concluded that you may have the skills needed to fill an Customer Service Representative position.

    The FINANCE SOLUTIONS LTD operates with many full service web-portals, largest, most well-known brands in the retail FX space, provides customized tools & services specifically for self-directed retail traders. The company's flagship service focuses on the needs of professional traders.

    Customer Service Representative with FINANCE SOLUTIONS LTD are responsible for business development in local area and helping clients and independent contractors get the maximum possible help at all aspects of Processing, in the fastest time.

    Candidates for the Regional Business Representative position with FINANCE SOLUTIONS LTD must be hard working and employ communication skills,highly motivated individual willing to work a flexible schedule. Responsibilities include managing all aspects of Processing [funding, settlement & reconciliation] and Operations.

    I hope you'll apply for the Customer Service Representative at FINANCE SOLUTIONS LTD.

    To request an application, please REPLY to:hr.fsdep@gmail.com

    FINANCE SOLUTIONS LTD, Personnel Department.


    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.

Please let me know if you received this email too.



Posted by TJ on Monday October 20, 2008 @ 01:43 PM
[Tags: internet, technology, google]

Every tech blog has had a Google Goggles post. Now I don't think many would consider this a tech blog and I am late to the game but here it is:

If you haven't heard Gmail Goggles prevents sending regrettable drunk emails by requiring you to take a quiz before sending emails during set times.


Now this is pretty clever. Who would of thought the email would have such historical advances in 2008?

I think that Google added this feature as more as gimmick and publicity stunt than usefulness. But what I wonder is why instead of a quiz why can't they add an "unsend" button to emails. I understand that they are unable to retrieve emails that have already been sent, however, they could hold the emails for a set period of time (set by user) on their servers before sending them. Or what's stopping you from being able to retrieve an email sent to another gmail user that hasn't been read? Has this feature been considered?



Posted by TJ on Wednesday October 15, 2008 @ 10:51 AM
[Tags: rant, internet, hints]

No, I'm not going to buy your product or service if you are emailing me from an @gmail.com, @yahoo, or @aol.com address.

I do not understand why people still try to conduct a "professional" business using a free email provider.

Your @aol.com or @gmail.com account should not be used to conduct a professional business. You can have your own domain (IE: yourname@yourlegitimatebusiness.com) for as low as $10/year. Get with the times.. this is 2008 not 1999.

/Rant



Posted by TJ on Monday October 13, 2008 @ 09:14 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, hints]

Note: This is part 2 of the Job Scam Series.

I just received an email offering a position with Advan LTD "Advan Group LTD". This is indeed another poor attempt at a scam.

How do I know this is a scam?
The senders address is different then the reply address provided in the email and the company has little history in a Google search.

Why am I writing about this?
Hopefully this blog will show up in search results and prevent potential victims. Since this is a new scam there were no search results for this company so I thought I should make some.

How does a scam have such a sophisticated website?
Anybody can create a professional looking website in a matter of minutes by copying an existing website. You can do this is Firefox by selecting File->Save as File->Webpage Complete. A scammer would then change the logo and text to coincide with the name of their fictional company.

What's the purpose of this scam
They want to get information from you... SS#(from application), bank account number (from direct deposit info), email address (for spamming), or they are going try get you to transfer your money to them using wires.

What are Common things to look for to spot a scam?
  • Are they using a free email provider (ie: @gmail, @hotmail, @aol)? Reputable and professional companies have their own domain and use it in their emails (IE: @thesitename.com).
  • Is the "reply to" address stated in the email? Is this different then senders email address? Scammers often distort the header to show different senders addresses so they get passed email filters
  • Does the email provide a link to the companies website? Look up the urls registry info by going to http://whois.sc/thesitename.com. Check to see when it the registration was created and if the registry addresses match the companies address. If the website domain was just registered then this means the sender probably created the website just to scam people.
  • Use Google and search for "the company scam" or that turns no results just search for the "company name with quotes".
  • Does the email offer a Work at home opportunity? It is very hard to find a legitimate work at home job online so these should require extra caution before replying to
  • Broken English, misspelling, poor grammar. Most of these scammers are foreigners and can not create a professional sounding email in english.
Here's a copy of the email I received:
Quote:

We have an opening position for your attention. This job offer is limited and can be offered for US citizens only. Our Company is looking for persons for part-time based vacancy. This is home based, online, part-time, fast-paced position. Part-time employees usually works over 4 hours every business day (from Monday through Friday) and typically do not work on weekends or regular holidays. During working process you will accept orders from our clients about purchase of tourist permit. Your starting salary will be from $3,500.00 (depending on employees plan), which will be paid to you in accordance with our standard payroll procedures. In addition, you will be eligible for bonuses. What we do? We buy/sell/exchange touristic tickets, tours, airline tickets, booking and etc. Our marketing management department decided to accept sales orders from international customers, that is why you are reading this job offer letter. During all working process you will be official representative of our company with full rights and standards. You will receive orders/payments/billing records/payment invoices/transactions from our clients, customers and investors Our part-time employees also receive an attractive benefits package. Please note that these opportunities are part-time only working approximately 16 hours per week. Actually we do not require any work experience or base requirements. This job if perfect for students, moms and those who are looking for good part-time/online job. This is a great chance to start your career with us, we are fast growing international company, don’t waste your time, start your career right now. Hurry up, this job opportunity is limited.

If you are interested in our offer, we shall send you detailed description of the vacancy. Write to me on e-mail: maloof.marcie@gmail.com
You will get a response in 2-3 days.

Thanks for your time and interest.

NOTE: This is original e-mail letter from ADVAN LTD. This not any kind of: MLM, scam, spam. We will never ask to you to provide any kind of investments.

What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
  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. You should consider signing up for automatic credit monitoring 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. If the email you received was different then the one posted in this post paste it below (or explain the differences) so others will find this warning.

    If this post helped you I would appreciate if you left a comment so I know to keep posting these alerts. Thanks!



Posted by TJ on Monday September 29, 2008 @ 07:54 PM
[Tags: scam, internet, rant]

Today I was going through a pile of old mail I have yet to open and found an notice that I was selected for inclusion into the "famous" Strathmore's Who's Who. Wowzer's!! Right?

Now at first I figured this is probably a scam, the same as when I poem I wrote got selected to be included in a special edition collection of elite authors by poetry.com. All you need to do is pay some elaborate fee for the "publishing".

But then I thought hey maybe they saw I received my CPA or maybe saw this website which would definitely earn me a spot on any list(Ok that's an embellishment).

So I did a search and found it was definitely a scam.

What makes me wonder most about these scams is how do the people... the owners, the sales people, or even the secretaries of this company ... how do they wake up everyday and knowing that they are going to work for a company that is completely worthless to the society and just a fraud to the American dream? A cashier at the McDonalds, a disgraced politician, hell even staff at an abortion clinic earn more admiration then these people do, I just can't imagine the type of people who could make a career doing stuff like that.

And what sucks more is people actually fall for this type of scam. This press release by Wayward Community College congratulates a professor for their successful induction (buying) into the list.



Posted by TJ on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @ 12:40 PM
[Tags: scam, links, internet]

Note: This is part one of the Job Scam Series

I just received an email offering a career with PHC Consulting and confirmed that this is a scam. Despite it's elaborate looking website I'm 99.99% positive this website is a scam.

How do I know this is a scam?
It's registry data says the website was registered/create September 21 2008. No legitimate business can be created in 2 days.

Why am I writing about this?
Hopefully I this blog will show up in search results and prevent potential victims. Since this is a new scam there were no search results for this company so I thought I should make some.

How does a scam have such a sophisticated website?
Anybody can create a professional looking website in a matter of minutes by copying an existing website. You can do this is Firefox by selecting File->Save as File->Webpage Complete. A scammer would then change the logo and text to coincide with the name of their fictional company.

What's the purpose of this scam
They want to get information from you... SS#(from application), bank account number (from direct deposit info), email address (for spamming), or they are going try get you to send them money somehow or another.

Here's a copy of the email I received:
Quote:

PHC Consulting has an opening for a TRANSACTIONS SPECIALIST position. We do our best to fit all our customers' needs as soon as possible. That's why all are staff is a professionally trained and can solve any problem that occurs on their way. We are not just a set of people, we are a family. We offer you, our potential colleague, to join us. See below, what we offer you.

General Requirements:
- Be at least 21 years old.
- Not special Qualifications Needed.
- Have a minimal experience and knowledge of basic bank operations.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality of all information.
- Willingness to work from home, take responsibility, set up and achieve goals.
- The Ability to create good administrative reporting.
- Honesty, responsibility and promptness in operations.
- The ability to operate with more than one task effectively, and have an adaptable, flexible, professional attitude.
- The ability of stable communication with our company and on
-time and detailed reporting.
- Familiar to working online, Internet and e-mail skills.

What we offer:
- Generous salary (over 3,000.00 USD monthly).
- Social benefits and medical insurance. - Free training and seminars.
- Paid Holidays plus 2 weeks of Paid Time Off (PTO).

This is easy job, but your help is very important for us and our clients. This job does not require any special education. You wouldn't have to pay us for taking you on our list. However we guarantee stable income.

Please send your answer letter or resume to our e-mail: makovski@phcconsulting-inc.com
(!) Add ours e-mail in your Address Book!!!

Best regards,
Linda Makovski.
phcconsulting-inc.com

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.



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 Sunday August 24, 2008 @ 12:44 AM
[Tags: internet, links, hints]

Upromise (upromise.com) promise is a one-stop college service provider that helps families earn, save and pay for higher education. With Upromise, families can automatically save money for college while making everyday purchases at grocery and drug stores, gas stations, restaurants, retail stores and online shopping sites.

It's so easy to start saving money all you need to do is create a FREE account and enter your bonus card numbers, credit card numbers into your account. That's it! Upromise will automatically track your cards for qualifying purchases and add money to your Upromise balance. You can check back with your account to see how much you saved.

I have been using Upromise for a while now and I saved almost $30. I currently don't even have any person to allocate my savings to either. I am just letting the funds accumulate for once I do have someone.

This is like getting extra cash back for a lot of your everyday spending and it's stupid to pass out on.

Worried about security.. paranoid about identity theft? Well the only comfort I can provide is this website has been featured on many popular websites: Cnn.com, Wall Street Journal, and NY Times to list a few.

Everybody create an account now:... it's free money:
Create a Upromise Account

_
Read More...




Posted by TJ on Thursday August 21, 2008 @ 02:13 PM
[Tags: internet, tjshome, links]

I think I found the site Google used to value youtube before purchasing it for $1.65 billion. The website Sootle has a algorithm to value website automatically. I do not believe the algorithm is near accurate however. Tjshome.com is currently valued at $33,000k....any offers?
Read More...




Posted by TJ on Thursday August 7, 2008 @ 10:10 PM
[Tags: deals, internet, health]

Like alot of people I don't have dental insurance. My office is too small for it to be worth the cost for my boss. Dental insurance is a huge expense and could cost $1,000's.

What can you do if you don't have dental insurance?
Bargain with your dentist.

Huh?
There are dental plans available which essentially say that you will go to a specific dentist if they offer you discounted rates. This helps you because you are not stuck paying huge rates and helps the dentist because the gain referrals.

How much?
I am single and pay $115/ year for my dental plan. There are family plans available for $45 or so dollars extra. That means you can sign up your whole family for less than $160.

How much do I save?
You save about 50% on semi-annual checkups upto 30%-50% on all other expenses.

How does it work?
You will receive an ID card. Show that ID card to your participating dentist and the dentist will automatically apply the discounted rates to your bills. You do not need to wait for reimbursements you are billed the discounted rates..

How long do I need to wait to use it?
You can start to use your plan immediately after activation (1-3 business days).

Sample Plan Savings for Careington:
Procedure DescriptionUsual FeeDiscounted Fee (for Plan Members)Member Savings
Routine 6 Month Check-Up$43$16$27
In Depth Check-Up$69$20$49
Full Mouth X-Rays$114$50$64
Four Bitewing X-Rays$55$25$30
Panoramic Film$97$50$47
Adult Teeth Cleaning$83$36$47
Child Teeth Cleaning$62$31$31
Protective Sealant / Tooth$46$24$22
1 Surface White Filling for U or L Front Tooth$135$64$71
Single Crown - Porcelain on High Noble Metal$981$561$420
Single Crown - Porcelain on Noble Metal$912$545$367
Core Build-Up With Pins$238$117$121
Root Canal Treatment - Front Tooth$636$320$316
Root Canal Treatment - Bicuspid$757$384$373
Root Canal Treatment - Molar$919$487$432
Perio Scaling and Root Planing (Per Quadrant)$217$111$106
Full Upper Denture$1,353$722$631
Tooth Replacement Part of Permanent Bridge$91120%20%
Single Tooth Removal - Simple Extraction$138$64$74


Sign up now...

Enter your ZIP code to
view plan details, savings information and participating dentists for all available discount dental plans in your area.

 


Find my dentist 




Posted by TJ on Wednesday August 6, 2008 @ 04:55 PM
[Tags: politics, thoughts, internet]

It has been reported that John McCain reads his emails everyday. However, how he reads them is his staff prints them out on paper then hand them too him. McCain is just computer illiterate as George Bush who was amazed by cash registers. He does kinda seem like that type. He seems like the guy who likes to reminisce about the good ole days. Perfect for a US president... lets Nuke them like we use to...



Posted by TJ on Friday July 18, 2008 @ 10:42 AM
[Tags: tjshome, links, internet]

I checked Google webmaster tools and it let me know that I have 2 subscribers to my blog.

The good news is Google only counts subscribers using its rss readers (ie: Google reader and igoogle.com). The bad news is I know who the two subscribers are... me and my brother, haha.

I submitted my blog to RSS Hugger, a site I find other interesting blogs at to see if that increases my blog's visibility and I will update you on any results.



Posted by TJ on Friday July 18, 2008 @ 09:57 AM
[Tags: list, internet, links]

Here are are the best firefox extensions for the techy. If you don't yet have firefox or don't know what it is then you are probably not a techy.


Read More...




Posted by TJ on Wednesday July 16, 2008 @ 12:01 PM
[Tags: news, tjshome, internet]

TJShome is not by far a new concept to America. Research into national newspaper archives show that "tjshome" appeared in american culture as early as March 23, 1938.

Source: Newark Advocate, March 23, 1938

Or is this just another example of the still imperfected OCR (Optical character recognition) technology? ... Maybe...



Posted by TJ on Wednesday July 16, 2008 @ 10:01 AM
[Tags: economy, internet, thoughts]

Who will benefit from the falling economy and fears of recession?

Internet advertisers, thats who. Gas prices have increased dramatically and so has all prices in general which have led to some people skipping their vacations, trips to shopping malls, leisure activities to spend more time at home. What do people do at home? Browse the internet. And there's only so much someone can do online before they will click an advertisement, even if they have a strict no click policy against advertisements.

Now some may also argue that this increase in internet users will be washed away by others who cancel their internet because of the economy. Don't kid yourself... it's impossible to live without internet in this day and age...right?

Update
Apparantently internet auction websites benefit as well. eBay's profit increased 22% in the last quarter. I guess everybody is buying is used gas on there or something. What ever happened to the purported boycott of eBay to due the site's change in fees and feedback policy??

Source: EBay profit jumps 22% CNN.com
Source: EBay seller boycott set to start Monday CNN.com



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 March 21, 2008 @ 10:54 AM
[Tags: links, internet, cellphone]

A lot of employers and colleges sign agreements with Verizon wireless to get employees savings. You can see if your employer participates by following the link below. It's very easy you just need a qualifying work or school email address. Enter your emails address that uses your schools or job domain (IE: you@yourcompany.com,you@school.edu). I saved 19%!!

Verizon Subscribers: https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/employee/emaildomainauthentication.jsp

AT&T Subscribers:
https://www.wireless.att.com/business/authenticate/index.jsp?zipCode=null&bref=IB00010007900004&_requestid=27105



Posted by TJ on Friday March 14, 2008 @ 10:11 AM
[Tags: news, myspace, internet]

News Corp bought Myspace back in 2005 for $580 million dollars. It is estimated that myspace is worth over 15 billion now. That greater than a 100% return each year. Forgot stocks.. from now on I'm buying whole companies.

This comes as AOL agrees to buy other popular social networking site for $850 million. I never heard of this site till today but I'm thinking of trying to outbid AOL. Any one want to fund this?

Link: MSNBC: AOL to buy Bebo for $850 million




Posted by TJ on Thursday March 13, 2008 @ 12:38 AM
[Tags: news, myspace, internet]

I am not much of an myspace fanatic like a lot of people these days. However I do like hows it's a great way to get a glimpse inside people's minds. When I see a name in the news I often find myself going quickly to myspace and doing a search on the name to see if I can spot their profile before its put to private. I had success numerous times including this one just now.


Here's the link to the Spitzer call girl who got the governer of NY, Elliot Spitzer in hot water and caused him to step down.

link: Ninavenetta's Myspace

I normally wouldn't post a link for this as I think it's disrespectful for the person involved. However, she has had ample time to set her profile to private. Frankly I think she wants the attention as this may be the perfect opportunity to jump start her music career. Listen to her song its not bad.. if you're into the Britney spears type anyways.





Posted by TJ on Monday February 4, 2008 @ 11:34 AM
[Tags: news, internet, links]

Is it just a weird coincidence that four backbone net cables to the mideast have cut within a single week? Or could it be some malicious sabatage or ... terrorist? One thing is it doesn't effect the United States that much as almost all the internet content is located in the States. I do feel bad though for all my Iranian viewers as they can't read my blog!!

Anyway, here is some links:

World Map of Undersea Cables

News Story





Posted by TJ on Friday December 14, 2007 @ 04:04 PM
[Tags: internet, links]

Useful and interesting Links:

Real estate price search Find out how much you are your neighbors house is worth

Late Night Guest - guest line up for all the popular talk shows

Flickrvision you can watch, in real time, the photos that are being uploaded to flickr.

Free fonts 10,000 of them

Yourip - information on the IP address your computer is broadcasting

ebuddy Aim, MSN, Yahoo in your browser


Pandora Radio Name a band and listen to custom radio station online for free

Who Called Get information about that unknown number on you caller id

Logmein remotely access your computer - free with the basic plan

Bugmenot.com Logins for popular websites so you do not have to sign up.



Posted by TJ on Sunday December 9, 2007 @ 10:51 PM
[Tags: internet, hints]

Most people don't realize that you can find the solution to most of your problems really easily by using search. The best thing to search for is the error itself. Make sure you copy it word for word and enclose it in "quotes". This will turn up any page that talks about the same error you are getting and you will skip a lot of garbage you'd other wise get. For instance if your explorer keeps shutting down automatically do not search for "Internet Explorer keeps shutting down" instead use the error you received "Windows explorer encountered a problem and needs to close". This tip can make anyone look like a technical support pro last week I solved two issues for my firm using this that the tech guy installing a new server had trouble fixing.

On the same topic I recently noticed that when using internet explorer it would not automatically add the "http:" or www. to a specific address in the address bar. The error was "Windows cannot find 'thesitename.com/bleh'. Check the spelling and try again." . It worked when I typed www.thesitename.com/bleh but usually explorer lets you leave off the "www." and it did for every other address. The problem? For some reason having that address as a favorite/bookmark was causing the issue. By deleting the page as a favorite I was able to omit the www. I don't know why this would be an issue but I prefer firefox and use it more anyway, so I just deal with it.



Posted by TJ on Friday November 16, 2007 @ 10:21 AM
[Tags: internet, links, humor]

200 Word Home

I love how the web promotes creative minds to find new ways to earn income. A new genuine idea I just discovered was from a couple who wanted to a find a way to get a more than decent price for their home in Cleveland. Instead of selling their house for a fixed amount on the market they decided to raffle it out. Offering anyone to join in the raffle with a 200 word essay and a $199 fee. They are expecting at least 3,000 entries that would net them $597,000 for the "sale" of the house. Now I congratulate them on their originality, however choose not to even bother submitting my entry for these reasons:

1.) Legality - is this even legal? Have they consulted a lawyer and abided by local and federal laws for conducting a lottery? Are they legally obligated to transfer over the house? What happens to my entry fee if this is found to be illegal.
2.) According to the pictures the Kitchen consists of a table only... where am I going to cook dinner?
3.) What kind of story are they looking for and what will determine who is the winner? What's to stop them for awarding the house to a friend? Can someone lie in their essay? Will they verify the authenticity of someone's sob-story to win the house? My story so far is "I lost three limbs in war, my wife and kids were killed in a home invasion"


Check it out your self: 200wordhome.com





Posted by TJ on Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 11:44 AM
[Tags: internet, links, scam]

The website (pirateaccess.com), I believe has found a way to get the best search rank for a number of popular programs including Microsoft money, and office. Offering unlimited free downloads of popular software, videos, and Mp3's for a one time price of $4.87. Seems like a real steal, doesn't it? Not really since a quick google research determine's that they only thing they are offering to paid members links to other sites that are offering these file's for download. Meaning you probably have just as much luck doing a google search yourself. I do applaud them though for being able to get high up on the search rank scale, I wish I new how they accomplish it. They only registered the site in June 2007.

EDIT:
DO NOT POST A COMMENT TO A REQUEST REFUND FROM ME
I am not the company scamming you therefor I can not give you refunds. Feel free to post your experiences with this company to deter others from signing up with this company. However do not give your order # and request a refunds from me as again, I am not the the company who screwed you.





Posted by TJ on Friday November 9, 2007 @ 03:14 PM
[Tags: tjshome, update, internet]

[Music: Patience - Guns N Roses]

I have done some analysis on my website based on visitor statistics and other merits. You will notice some pages will be shut down upon review because they are not worth keeping as I lost interest in them and so did the rest of the viewing audience.

Free iPod - It's taken me over a year to get a free iPod so it may not be worth it to keep these pages around much longer. Offercentric has made it very difficult to earn referrals since they keep adding more site's which take referrals away from each offer. They have 4 different site's with separate requirements for iPod's alone. We will see how is doing in Q1 2007. 8.560k

Cool AIM Smiley's - For some reason people still love these. Here to stay, at least for this year. 36.5k Hits in 2007

Surveys for Myspace - Created in November 2005 and is one of the most popular pages so it definately is staying. Could use enhancements such as interface, ability to add more questions on a survey, and tracking. 2007 Hits 1,270k

Polls for Myspace - This site was created in May 2007 and although not as popular as I would like it's going to stick around for at least another year. Enhancements may include ability to add more options and interface. 2007 Hits 12k

Away Messages- This page has good page rank and is quite popular. Sticking around for a while. Enhancements may include ratings and using database for all away messages (not just the submission). 91K

Funny Status Messages - This page is new so not enough data for analysis. Only 1,100 Hits so far.

Famous Quotes - Quotes are a personal favorite of mine so this is here to stay. 2007 Hits 83k

Cool AIM Screennames - Created in 2004 with the intention of never actually selling any screen names, however, this site does draw in visitors so its going to stay. Also, I love the hate mail I receive from this site, so keep it coming. 65k Hits

Buddy Icons - A popular favorite and I think its a great page if you're looking for an icon because new additions are submitted daily. 132K hits in 2007

Avatars for Myspace - An even more popular page and I think its a great page if you're looking for an avatar because new additions are submitted daily. Enhancements may include ratings. 994K hits in 2007.

Dumb Laws - This page has great page rank and is here to stay - enhancement includes researching actual new laws to add with real sources. 74k hits in 2007

A Joke Page- This page has poor statistics and will be shut down due to lack of interest by me and others. 8k hits in 2007

Weird News - Poor statistics but I like to view these myself every so often so I will keep it for a while

Pic of the Month - Created in 2005. This page will stay. I would like to add additional material. 7k hits

Color Blindness - Created in May 2005, this page will stay. 42.5k hits.

Today in History - This page will be shut down due to lack of interest.

Great Amazon Deals - I like this page for finding good amazon deals however it has low popularity at 3.5k hits

Online Image Editor - Created in Feb 2006. Future enhancements include better user interface and more options. 120K hits in 2007.

Song Lyrics - Song lyrics are here to stay (unless I get sued). 34k hits in 2007

Acronym Dictionary - Added in July 2006, this page is still relatively new and here to stay. I like the design of this page, so I am not willing to see it go no matter how poor the popularity. Unfortunately, there is no room to grow as I think I have all the most popular acronyms. Someone make some new acronyms, quick! 4.1k hits in 2007

In the News - With less than 7,000 hits in 2007 this site is slated for removal. :(

About TJ - We need to keep this site as everybody (361 hits in 2007) is looking to read about TJ

TJ's Blog - The first post was made December 31, 2006. I am keeping this as it's relatively new and I need it to vent my frustrations and let someone hear what I have to say. Just think you wouldn't be able to read the 2008 edition of this post if I got rid of it.... now would you? 2.5k hits in 2007

Popularity Test - Created in May 2007. I am not sure why but I am not willing to let this page go. Enhancements may include more profile options and user comments feature. 3.3k hits in 2007.

Companies That Suck - Created in Jan 2007, this page is here to stay. I love writing about companies that suck and passing the information to millions (2.5 k visitors in 2007).

We recevied 3,402,391 pageviews in 2007. Of those, 1,709,455 were unique visitors. That is more visitors than people living in Maine!

Look for many new pages to come to Tjshome.com in 2008!





Posted by TJ on Tuesday October 23, 2007 @ 03:00 PM
[Tags: internet, links]

Occasionally I check my referral logs to see which pages are linking to here. I hate it when I see a page but I am not able to view it because the site needs a login. I recently got a good quantity of referrals from Luelinks. I had no idea about this site until then but a quick Google search turns out it is apparently a "secret" invite-only community. I like being associated with these things ... so if someone can please send a FREE invite to http://tjshome.com/mailto.php?to=TJ it'd be much appreciated. I'm good with secrets!

However on topic, with the recent shutdown of the UK file sharing site http://oink.cd/ and arrest of its webmaster (News story) it could be a risk to be a member of these communities. But don't let that deter from sending me a link!

Oh and let us get this out of the way "Luelinks doesn't exist" lolol lolz rofl



Posted by TJ on Monday October 22, 2007 @ 03:38 PM
[Tags: internet, guide, google]

I wrote this article years ago but am reposting it here so it will have perpetual life...

Google 101 - Brief Intro to the Google™ Search Engine



google

1The Logo: You may notice a different logo on some day's, and this because they create a new logo for every holiday. See Past logo's
2Google Images™ is an awesome tool. Need a picture of a "guy with a fro"? Type that into the the search bar then hit the images tab to get one.
blank
3Google Video™: Search through 1000's of TV programs and web videos or share your own videos with the world.
4Google News™: This is another feature I use almost every day. Search thousands of current and past news stories. Search for your hometown to see your local news.
5Google Maps™: View maps, satelite photos, or get directions and never get lost again
6More: Books (Search through hundreds of published books), Froogle™ (Shop for the best prices), Groups (search Usenet posts)
7Advanced Search: Pretty self explanatory. You may want to use this feature to narrow the results of a basic search. Check it out
8Preferences: Choose your default language, select to filter out explicit results, and select how many results google shows per page. Google™ remembers these settings Check it out
9Language Tools: Translate whole pages to another language. Search for pages in specific languages. View this page in German
10I'm Feeling Lucky: This is for when your search terms are precise, you can hit this button and Google will forward you to the one site that best fits your search terms.
11Services & Tools: Check out other cool features


line

Disclaimer: Tjshome.com is not affiliated or endorsed by Google™.
Google™ is a trademark of Google Inc. .







Posted by TJ on Wednesday August 29, 2007 @ 10:04 AM
[Tags: excel, hints, internet]

I use the following macro to save my timesheet using the filename and path in cell "A1"(ie:C:datafilename.xls).

You can also include today's date using concatenate by including the following in Cell A1
=CONCATENATE("c:datafilename_",MONTH(NOW()),"-",DAY(NOW()),"-",YEAR(NOW()),".xls")
Of course you can replace cell A1 in the following code with any cell you want as long as it contains a valid filename and path.
Sub 
savefile()
' SaveFile Macro
' Macro recorded 4/16/2007 by tmiller of tjshome.com
'save a copy of current spreadheet using filename in cell 'TimeFile'
TimeFile = Range("A1").Value
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:=TimeFile, FileFormat:= _
xlNormal, Password:="", WriteResPassword:="",
ReadOnlyRecommended:=False _, CreateBackup:=False
End Sub




Posted by TJ on Tuesday August 14, 2007 @ 12:35 PM
[Tags: internet, eBay]

I happen to own the domain name www.thesitename.com . I picked it up on eBay a couple years ago for $10. I think the domain name is actually pretty clever since you often get extra hits from tutorial websites that have the text "thesitename.com" any where on it. I figured this extra incentive will raise the asking price so I have have listed my domain name for $25,000. Am I crazy for asking that much? Probably, however, less popular domains have gone on ebay for much higher and crazier domains are listed on ebay for millions more. I figured why not give it a shot. Next I try selling it on Sedo the premier domain auction site.

Some newsworthy domain sales:

Business.com (news article) sold for $350 million

GayCalifornia.com (news article) Sold for $250,000

Travel.info (news article) sold for $117,000 - Wow I didn't know .info domain's were worth anything.

Comfirmed: Sex does sell:
- Sex.com sold for a rumored $12M in cash and stock last year.
- Sex.net sold for $450,000 last year.
- Porn.com sold for 9.5 million in 2007 (news article)

thesitename.com On ebay now for a starting price of only $25,000. Bid and make history!





Posted by TJ on Tuesday August 7, 2007 @ 11:25 AM
[Tags: news, opinion, internet]

The Wallstreet Journal is trying to get into the technology market...

...and they failed.

Below is an article from the Wallstreet Journal<(WSJ.com)


Office Technology
Ten Things Your IT Department Won't Tell You
By VAUHINI VARA
July 30, 2007; Page R1

Admit it: For many of us, our work computer is a home away from home.

It seems only fair, since our home computer is typically an office away from the office. So in between typing up reports and poring over spreadsheets, we use our office PCs to keep up with our lives. We do birthday shopping, check out funny clips on YouTube and catch up with friends by email or instant message.

And often it's just easier to accomplish certain tasks using consumer technology than using the sometimes clunky office technology our company gives us -- compare Gmail with a corporate email account.


Security expert Mark Lobel of PricewaterhouseCoopers describes the most common things employees do on the internet to jeopardize company security.
There's only one problem with what we're doing: Our employers sometimes don't like it. Partly, they want us to work while we're at work. And partly, they're afraid that what we're doing compromises the company's computer network -- putting the company at risk in a host of ways. So they've asked their information-technology departments to block us from bringing our home to work.

End of story? Not so fast. To find out whether it's possible to get around the IT departments, we asked Web experts for some advice. Specifically, we asked them to find the top 10 secrets our IT departments don't want us to know. How to surf to blocked sites without leaving any traces, for instance, or carry on instant-message chats without having to download software.

But, to keep everybody honest, we also turned to security pros to learn just what chances we take by doing an end run around the IT department.

For hacking advice, we asked Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker.com, an online guide to being more productive on the Web; Leon Ho, editor of Lifehack.org, a blog with a similar mission; and Mark Frauenfelder, founder of the wide-ranging blog BoingBoing.net and editor of the do-it-yourself technology magazine Make.

To find out the risks, we talked to three experts who make a living helping IT departments make the rules and track down the rogue employees who break them. They are: John Pironti, chief information risk strategist at Amsterdam-based IT-consulting firm Getronics NV; Mark Lobel, a security expert in PricewaterhouseCoopers's advisory practice; and Craig Schmugar, a threat researcher at security-software maker McAfee Inc.

* * *
1. HOW TO SEND GIANT FILES

The Problem: Everybody needs to email big files from time to time, everything from big marketing presentations to vacation photos. But if you send anything larger than a few megabytes, chances are you'll get an email saying you've hit the company's limit.

Companies cap the amount of data employees can send and store in email for a very simple reason: They want to avoid filling up their servers, and thus slowing them down, says messaging-research firm Osterman Research Inc., of Black Diamond, Wash. And getting your company to increase your email limit can be a convoluted process.

The Trick: Use online services such as YouSendIt Inc., SendThisFile Inc. and Carson Systems Ltd.'s DropSend, which let you send large files -- sometimes up to a few gigabytes in size -- free of charge. To use the services, you typically have to register, supplying personal information such as name and email address. You can then enter the recipient's email address and a message to him or her, and the site will give you instructions for uploading the file. In most cases, the site will send the recipient a link that he or she can click to download the file.


Because these services send your files over the Web, they're outside of your company's control. That makes it easier for a wily hacker to intercept files during their travels.

How to Stay Safe: Some of the services are more reputable than others. YouSendIt, for instance, is a start-up run by a former Adobe Systems Inc. executive and funded by well-known venture-capital firms. Others offer little information on their sites about themselves and could be more susceptible to security holes that could let a hacker steal your information.

If the site's backers aren't immediately apparent, there are other clues that can help. Look for a "secure" icon -- in Internet Explorer, it's a little lock on the bottom of the screen -- which signifies that the site is using encryption to protect its visitors' confidential information. A logo from a security company such as VeriSign Inc., meanwhile, means VeriSign has confirmed the identity of the site's owner.

* * *
2. HOW TO USE SOFTWARE THAT YOUR COMPANY WON'T LET YOU DOWNLOAD

The Problem: Many companies require that employees get permission from the IT department to download software. But that can be problematic if you're trying to download software that your IT department has blacklisted.

The Trick: There are two easy ways around this: finding Web-based alternatives or bringing in the software on an outside device.

The first is easier. Say your company won't let you download the popular AOL Instant Messenger program, from Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit. You can still instant-message with colleagues and friends using a Web-based version of the service called AIM Express (AIM.com/aimexpress.adp). There's also Google Inc.'s instant-messaging service, Google Talk, accessible at Google.com/talk. There are Web-based equivalents of software such as music players and videogames, too -- typically, skimpier versions with fewer features than the regular programs.

The other approach to this problem is more involved but gives you access to actual software programs on your computer. All three of our experts pointed to a company called Rare Ideas LLC (RareIdeas.com), which offers free versions of popular programs such as Firefox and OpenOffice. You can download the software onto a portable device like an iPod or a USB stick, through a service called Portable Apps (PortableApps.com). Then hook the device up to your work computer, and you're ready to go. (But if your company blocks you from using external devices, you're out of luck.)

The Risk: Using Web-based services can be a strain on your company's resources. And bringing in software on outside devices can present a security problem. IT departments like to keep track of all the software used by employees, so that if a bug or other security problem arises, they can easily put fixes in place. That's not the case if you've brought the program in on your own.

Another thing to keep in mind: Some less reputable software programs, especially underground file-sharing programs, could come loaded with spyware and make it possible for your own files to leak onto the Web.

How to Stay Safe: If you bring in software on an outside device, says Mr. Lobel, make sure you at least tweak the security settings on your computer's antivirus software so that it scans the device for potential threats. That's easy to do, usually through an Options or Settings menu. Likewise, if you use a file-sharing service, set it up so that others can't access your own files, also through an Options or Settings area.

* * *
3. HOW TO VISIT THE WEB SITES YOUR COMPANY BLOCKS

The Problem: Companies often block employees from visiting certain sites -- ranging from the really nefarious (porn) to probably bad (gambling) to mostly innocuous (Web-based email services).

The Trick: Even if your company won't let you visit those sites by typing their Web addresses into your browser, you can still sometimes sneak your way onto them. You travel to a third-party site, called a proxy, and type the Web address you want into a search box. Then the proxy site travels to the site you want and displays it for you -- so you can see the site without actually visiting it. Proxy.org, for one, features a list of more than 4,000 proxies.

Another way to accomplish the same thing, from Mr. Frauenfelder and Ms. Trapani: Use Google's translation service, asking it to do an English-to-English translation. Just enter this -- Google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=www.blockedsite.com -- replacing "blockedsite.com" with the Web address of the site you want to visit. Google effectively acts as a proxy, calling up the site for you.

The Risk: If you use a proxy to, say, catch up on email or watch a YouTube video, the main risk is getting caught by your boss. But there are scarier security risks: Online bad guys sometimes buy Web addresses that are misspellings of popular sites, then use them to infect visitors' computers, warns Mr. Lobel. Companies often block those sites, too -- but you won't be protected from them if you use a proxy.

How to Stay Safe: Don't make a habit of using proxies for all your Web surfing. Use them only to visit specific sites that your company blocks for productivity-related reasons -- say, YouTube. And watch your spelling.

* * *
4. HOW TO CLEAR YOUR TRACKS ON YOUR WORK LAPTOP

The Problem: If you use a company-owned laptop at home, chances are you use it for personal tasks: planning family vacations, shopping for beach books, organizing online photo albums and so on. Many companies reserve the right to monitor all that activity, because the laptops are technically their property. So what happens if your -- ahem -- friend accidentally surfs onto a porn site or does a Web search for some embarrassing ailment?

The Trick: The latest versions of the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers both make it easy to clear your tracks. In IE7, click on Tools, then Delete Browsing History. From there, you can either delete all your history by clicking Delete All or choose one or a few kinds of data to delete. In Firefox, just hit Ctrl-Shift-Del -- or click Clear Private Data under the Tools menu.

The Risk: Even if you clear your tracks, you still face risks from roaming all over the Web. You could unintentionally install spyware on your computer from visiting a sketchy site or get your boss involved in legal problems for your behavior. If you're caught, it could mean (at best) embarrassment or (at worst) joblessness.

How to Stay Safe: Clear your private data as often as possible. Better yet, don't use your work computer to do anything you wouldn't want your boss to know about.

* * *
5. HOW TO SEARCH FOR YOUR WORK DOCUMENTS FROM HOME

The Problem: You're catching up on work late at night or over the weekend -- but the documents you need to search through are stuck on your office PC.

The Trick: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask unit have all released software that lets you quickly search your desktop documents. On top of that, some will let you search through documents saved on one computer from another one. How does it work? The search company keeps a copy of your documents on its own server. So it can scan those copies when you do a search remotely.

To use Google's software -- among the most popular -- follow these steps on both your work and home PC. First, you'll need to set up a Google account on both machines by visiting Google.com/accounts. (Be sure to use the same account on both computers.) Then go to Desktop.Google.com to download the search software. When it's up and running -- again, do this on both machines -- click on Desktop Preferences, then Google Account Features. From there, check the box next to Search Across Computers. After that point, any document you open on either machine will be copied to Google's servers -- and will be searchable from either machine.

The Risk: Corporate technology managers offer this nightmare scenario: You've saved top-secret financial information on your work PC. You set up desktop-search software so that you can access those files when working from home on your laptop. Then you lose your laptop. Uh-oh.

Getting hold of your company's internal documents could give others insight into your plans, and losing certain information could have legal repercussions. In particular, myriad state laws regulate how a company has to react when it loses private information about customers or employees; most require notifying those people about the breach in writing. Sending those notifications can be costly for your company -- not to mention damaging to its reputation.

On top of that threat, researchers have found vulnerabilities in Google's desktop-search software that could let a hacker trick a user into giving up access to files, says Mr. Schmugar of McAfee. (Those vulnerabilities have since been fixed, but more could crop up, he says.)

Matt Glotzbach, product management director for Google Enterprise, says there are bound to be vulnerabilities in any software and that, to the best of his knowledge, none of the Google Desktop vulnerabilities were exploited by hackers. He adds that when Google finds out about a vulnerability, it quickly fixes it and notifies users.

How to Stay Safe: If you have any files on your work PC that shouldn't be made public, ask your IT administrator to help you set up Google Desktop to avoid accidental leaks.

* * *
6. HOW TO STORE WORK FILES ONLINE

The Problem: Desktop search aside, most people who often work away from the office have come up with their own solution to getting access to work files. They save them on a disk or a portable device and then plug it into a home computer. Or they store the files on the company network, then access the network remotely. But portable devices can be cumbersome, and company-network connections can be slow and unreliable.

The Trick: Use an online-storage service from the likes of Box.net Inc., Streamload Inc. or AOL-owned Xdrive. (Box.net also offers its service inside the social-networking site Facebook.) Most offer some free storage, from one to five gigabytes, and charge a few dollars a month for premium packages with extra space. Another guerrilla storage solution is to email files to your private, Web-based email account, such as Gmail or Hotmail.

The Risk: A bad guy could steal your password for one of these sites and quickly grab copies of your company's sensitive files.

How to Stay Safe: When you're thinking about storing a file online, ask yourself if it would be OK for that file to be splashed all over the Internet or sent to the CEO of your company's top rival. If so, go for it. If not, don't.

* * *
7. HOW TO KEEP YOUR PRIVACY WHEN USING WEB EMAIL

The Problem: Many companies now have the ability to track employees' emails, both on work email accounts and personal Web-based accounts, as well as IM conversations.

The Trick: When you send emails -- using either your work or personal email address -- you can encrypt them, so that only you and the recipient can read them. In Microsoft Outlook, click on Tools, then Options and choose the Security tab. There, you can enter a password -- and nobody can open a note from you without supplying it. (Of course, you'll have to tell people the code beforehand.)

For Web-based personal email, try this trick from Mr. Frauenfelder: When checking email, add an "s" to the end of the "http" in front of your email provider's Web address -- for instance, https://www.Gmail.com. This throws you into a secure session, so that nobody can track your email. Not all Web services may support this, however.

To encrypt IM conversations, meanwhile, try the IM service Trillian from Cerulean Studios LLC, which lets you connect to AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and others -- and lets you encrypt your IM conversations so that they can't be read.

The Risk: The main reason companies monitor email is to catch employees who are leaking confidential information. By using these tricks, you may set off false alarms and make it harder for the IT crew to manage real threats.

How to Stay Safe: Use these tricks only occasionally, instead of as a default.

* * *
8. HOW TO ACCESS YOUR WORK EMAIL REMOTELY WHEN YOUR COMPANY WON'T SPRING FOR A BLACKBERRY

The Problem: Anyone without a BlackBerry knows the feeling: There's a lull in the conversation when you're out to dinner or an after-work beer, and everyone reaches for their pocket to grab their BlackBerry, leaving you alone to stir your drink.

The Trick: You, too, can stay up to date on work email, using any number of consumer-oriented hand-held devices. Just set up your work email so that all your emails get forwarded to your personal email account.

In Microsoft Outlook, you can do this by right-clicking on any email, choosing Create Rule, and asking that all your email be forwarded to another address. Then, set up your hand-held to receive your personal email, by following instructions from the service provider for your hand-held. (That's the company that sends you your bill.)

The Risk: Now, not only can hackers break into your personal account by going online on a computer, they can also break into it by exploiting security vulnerabilities on your mobile device.

How to Stay Safe: There's a kosher way to access work email on some devices, by getting passwords and other information from your IT department.

* * *
9. HOW TO ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL ON YOUR BLACKBERRY

The Problem: If you do have a BlackBerry, you've probably got a different problem: You want to get your personal email just as easily as work email.

The Trick: Look at the Settings area of your personal email account, and make sure you've enabled POP -- Post Office Protocol -- a method used to retrieve email from elsewhere. Then log in to the Web site for your BlackBerry service provider. Click on the Profile button, look for the Email Accounts section and click on Other Email Accounts. Then click Add Account and enter the information for your Web-based email account. Now your personal emails will pop up on the same screen as your company email.

The Risk: Your company probably uses a whole bunch of security technology to keep viruses and spies out of your files. When you receive personal email on your BlackBerry, it's coming to you without passing through your company's firewall. That means viruses or spyware could sneak onto your BlackBerry via a personal email, says Mr. Schmugar of McAfee. Worse yet, he says, when you plug your BlackBerry into your work computer, there's a chance that the malicious software could jump onto your hard drive.

How to Stay Safe: Cross your fingers and hope that your personal email provider is doing a decent job weeding out viruses, spyware and other intruders. (Chances are, it is.)

* * *
10. HOW TO LOOK LIKE YOU'RE WORKING

The Problem: You're doing some vital Web surfing and your boss turns the corner. What do you do?

The Trick: Hit Alt-Tab to quickly minimize one window (say, the one where you're browsing ESPN.com) and maximize another (like that presentation that's due today).

The Risk: The good news is that there are no known security risks.

How to Stay Safe: Get back to work.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118539543272477927.html?mod=todays_us_the_journal_report
    There are several problems with this article
  • Wallstreet Journal is for wallstreet not h4ck3rs 4 dummies.
  • The wallstreet articles should be professional and not a guide how to circumvent your companies internal security measures.
  • It is not good advice to put confindential files up on a website for download.
  • A person who wants to keep their job should not upload their companies files to a third party website for searching while they are at home with out permission by their employers.
  • Some of these "hints" could lead to violations of the Sarbanes Oxley act. Sections 302(a)(4) and 404 require a public company to make disclosures and certifications to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the company's system of internal controls.

I think WSJ should stick with Wallstreet.






Posted by TJ on Wednesday July 25, 2007 @ 03:11 PM
[Tags: internet, software, guide]

I am going to do a reinstall of my computer and started making a list of all the programs I need to reinstall once I am ready. Not all of these I use as I added some programs I intend to use or other suggestions that may be useful for others but not for me.

Thanks to the SAforums and Steve for letting me know about these programs.

Paint.Net
- a free Adobe Photoshop alternative
Firefox - better alternative to internet explorer
Gmail notifier - for gmail users, alerts you when you have new Gmail messages.
OpenOffice - replaces Miscrosoft Office
PuTTY - SSH and telnet
Rainlendar - a neat little desktop calendar
FileZilla - the full-featured FTP client
Process Explorer - - replacement for windows task manager
Startup Control Panel - Configure which programs run when your computer starts.
Startup Monitor - monitors changes to your startup program list
Thunderbird - email client, to replace outlook
GAIM - AIM without ads
ISORecorder - powertoy to burn CD and DVD images; create an ISO from any folder.
ckrename - batch file renamer
launchy - enter in the name of an application and it finds it.
Weather Watcher - Weather in your system tray - I do not use this program but this may useful for those looking for something like this.. as this one does not contain spyware/adware like most of them do.
Irfanview - Awesome image viewier (crop/resize/rotate)
Webmon - A program that will monitor a webpage and notify you when it changes
Dscaler For those who have a TV tuner installed this is the program to watch it with.

Security/Cleaners
Spybot S&D - Search and destroy adware and spyware from your computer
CCleaner - alternative to Windows Add/Remove, clean logs/cache's and temporary files
CORE FORCE R0.95 - replaces Windows Firewall
Avast! Antivirus - Best antivirus scan
Erasure - Deleting files in windows leaves traces left on your harddrive, this program really deletes those traces


Media Players
Media Classic Player - Light Weight DVD and media player
GOM Player - play media files
VLC Player - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_media_players (same as GOM but not as nice interface)

Firefox Add-Ons
Web Developer Toolbar
FireBug
Adblock
Flashblock
NoScript

Steve, have any to add? (Other than Linux)




Posted by TJ on Thursday July 5, 2007 @ 02:51 PM
[Tags: links, internet]

I am always looking on the net for the great gift site. A site where you can go and find something for anyone. A site with products sorted by catogory of need. I found this site while looking on Amex.com and it looks to be pretty close to what I am looking for.

site: Red Envelope

It has really cool... original gift ideas and looks like you can find a gift for anyone. The only thing it needs is more gift suggestions.





Posted by TJ on Tuesday July 3, 2007 @ 11:39 AM
[Tags: lyrics, internet]

[Music: Nickback - Rockstar]

I don't really like Nickelback because every song sounds the same.. but this song actually has some cool lyrics and a good sound...


Rockstar
by Nickelback Lyrics


I'm through with standin' in line
to clubs I'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
and I'm never gonna win
this life hasn't turned out
quite the way I want it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a brand new house
on an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
for ten plus me
--(Yea, So what you need)--

I need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet
--(Been there done that)--

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars and
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
in the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free
--(I'll have the quesadilla, ha-ha,)--

I'm gonna dress my ass
with the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion

Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
blow my money for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars and
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
in the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
drug dealer on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
That offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
from a Pez dispenser
Get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip --sync-- 'em every night so I don't get 'em wrong

Well we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in Hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
in the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary of
today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
drug dealer on speed dial,well

Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar
Hey, hey, I wanna be a rockstar




Posted by TJ on Sunday May 13, 2007 @ 02:14 PM
[Tags: tv, links, internet]

Joost (pronounced 'juiced') is a system for distributing TV shows and other forms of video over the Web using peer-to-peer TV technology, created by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.

Watch your favorite shows from MTV, Comedy Central, and WB on your computer.

I have the program and I gotta tell you I'm quite impressed. There's not that much programming available but they do have some cools shows and the quality is decent too.

Joost sign up is currently an invite-only basis.

The good news is I got invites so leave a comment with your email address and I will be nice enough to send you an invite.

joostbanner


Update: The Joost software seems to be very tempermental and will no longer load up. I checked the forums and it seems a lot of users are having the same issues as me. It's not worth the hastle so I uninstalled the program and will wait for

a.)better software AND
b.)more programming.

Unfortunately, I can no longer offer invitations as you need the program installed to send invitations. The alternative is to goto Joost.com and "Sign up for Joost beta" and you should receive an invite in a couple days.





Posted by TJ on Sunday May 6, 2007 @ 05:22 PM
[Tags: tv, links, internet]

I'm from New York so I would like to take this moment and announce that fully support "Thefireman" to win VH1's I Love New York 2 TV contestant search.



Vote now for thefireman:

http://ilovenewyork2.com/people/TheFireman

You must vote for this man

Don't watch the show?
Who cares... you must vote for this man

Don't live in New York?
Who cares... you must vote for this man

Vote Now: http://ilovenewyork2.com/people/TheFireman

There are other sites such as somethingawful.com supporting this guy and we could actually win.



Posted by TJ on Thursday January 25, 2007 @ 12:27 PM
[Tags: internet, classifieds, craigslist]

So here's my second attempt at this article the first was accidentally deleted...

The internet is responsible for a lot of things that didnt happen 10+ years ago. Among the most interesting is how the internet has managed to effect the market of the following print media that you basically do not need anymore as the internet is a much more resourceful in obtaining the information the media had to offer.

Yellow Pages: The only thing these are good for these days is allowing my mom to see over her car steering wheel. Who needs this when you can just type in what your looking for into Google? Need a barber search for "Barber [your city]" need a contractor search for "contractor [your city]" Not only will you get a list of phone numbers but you should also get links to the business web pages which provide a lot more info than an ad in the newspaper. With the internet you can also do a reverse telephone lookup. Have a weird number on your called id... type the number into Google (ie: XXX-XXX-XXXX) and find out who called you. You would have to look through the whole white pages to achieve this with the Yellow Book.

Encyclopedia: There is no longer a need for these unless they are for show and you want people to believe your scholarly. You have sites like Wikipedia or just search for what your looking for and find out up to date information quickly.

Dictionary/Thesaurus: No sorry, Webster your going to have start writing comics or something. Just type any word into Google and not only will Google define it but it will correct your spelling if it is spelled wrong.

Classifieds: Newspapers are having trouble maintaining profit with the proliferation of online classifieds, site's like eBay, Monster (Help Wanted), and Craiglist.org (classifieds) are among the most popular. Why post a classified in a newspaper and only reach the local area when you can post it on the internet and reach the World?

Newspapers: I just mentioned classifieds above but hey who still needs to read the newspaper? Besides keeping people awake when on the train or toilet there is not need for newspaper. Google News provides news articles from 4,500 sources around the globe. The news is easily searched which beats trying to fold any paper page so it's just the article you want. What's another great thing about the internet news? It uses 100% less trees. Go me on saving the enviroment one step at a time. Now we just need to figure out how the internet can reduce the need for fuel... hmmm.

Cliff Notes: Students no longer need to pay money to cheat on that book exam. Just type in your book title to goolge and get tons of reviews, summaries, sample exams.

Wait... for my next article how the iPod not only destroyed the market for music CD's...

There is many more anyone care to add...?




Posted by TJ on Friday January 12, 2007 @ 09:24 AM
[Tags: technology, internet, sleep]

[Mood: blah]

Grr... I hate php now... I made one little mistake in the code and I went and edit this blog and now its gone... it was really good too but now you'll never read it becuase I'm to tired to type... why the heck am i typing...stop typing...stop...grrr.