Employment in US

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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:44 pm

I am a longtime fan of 419 Eater and amateur scambaiter.

So recently I was in the Philippines doing business. Long story short, things did not work out and I had to close up shop and fire about 30 girls that worked for me. Now they are all scrambling to find new jobs. Working abroad is preferred because they can make quite a bit more money to send home to their families. There are plenty of sites that prey on these people but I found this one to be the worst :

www.workinamerica.info

One day I got an email from an old employee asking me to check out this site. She wanted to know if it was an obvious scam or not. I looked at the site and domain registration information but did not thoroughly investigate it. The site basically states that you will apply for a job, pay them $500 to get the search started, and then you pay the $1000 placement fee to get the employment contract.

Out of desperation, she decides to pay the $500 so she can start getting placements for a job in the US. Fortunately she emails them to ask how to proceed and this is the EXACT response from the company :

So nice to here from you agaian, I thought from what I was reading that you have done all of this be for,Sorry! O.K. Heres how it goes.when you pay your 500..00 depost ( witch is put into atrust account) and tell us what kind of work you would like to do.We match you with that employer, when that happens you pay the 1000. Balance,when that is recived we send you a concert with the emploryer, You then take that to your concelent to get a work and travle perpant.Then you go the american concelant and thell them you have a contrect to work inamerica , for 2 4 6 Months thy then give you a work Visa , you get on a plan an come to america to work. Now the goveremts want Young peopl to came there and take money home. so thy give you Low rat on air lines plus Spchal treatment.
1 What kind of work? 2 W hat country will you be comeing from? How Old are you? what typ of work have you been doing?
hope to be seeing you soon.
joe

My first thought was that this was an elaborate Nigerian scam. That's the kind of English that I am used to in my 419 scambaiting. I got even more suspicious when the guy CC'd someone named Chief Yeohman. I got access to her inbox so I could check the headers of the email and found that the email came from a Comcast cable customer located near Oakland, CA.

There is no way that this person runs a legitimate business working with US employers, US Visa offices, etc with English skills like that. My friend wanted to email him back and tell him to fly a kite, but I think that we could brew up a really nice scambait instead.

Any suggestions for how to proceed with this?

-Cornloaf

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:58 pm

Will have to dig thru a bunch of old files t locate, but maybe.

Question

In meantime any one else?

---------------
Posting for j.i.c/later

Quote:

Address lookup
canonical name atypicaldevelopment.com.
aliases www.workinamerica.info
addresses 203.22.204.71

Quote:

Domain ID:D6147436-LRMS
Domain Name:WORKINAMERICA.INFO
Created On:31-Aug-2004 21:33:04 UTC
Last Updated On:07-Nov-2007 19:24:56 UTC
Expiration Date:31-Aug-2008 21:33:04 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Wild West Domains (R213-LRMS)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:GODA-039602069
Registrant Name:ronald ronald
Registrant Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Registrant Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Ocean View
Registrant State/Province:New Jersey
Registrant Postal Code:08230
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.6096243666
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:[email protected]
Admin ID:GODA-239602069
Admin Name:ronald ronald
Admin Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Admin Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Ocean View
Admin State/Province:New Jersey
Admin Postal Code:08230
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.6096243666
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:[email protected]
Billing ID:GODA-339602069
Billing Name:ronald ronald
Billing Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Billing Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Billing Street2:
Billing Street3:
Billing City:Ocean View
Billing State/Province:New Jersey
Billing Postal Code:08230
Billing Country:US
Billing Phone:+1.6096243666
Billing Phone Ext.:
Billing FAX:
Billing FAX Ext.:
Billing Email:[email protected]
Tech ID:GODA-139602069
Tech Name:ronald ronald
Tech Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Tech Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Ocean View
Tech State/Province:New Jersey
Tech Postal Code:08230
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.6096243666
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:[email protected]
Name Server:NS1.DNSJUNCTION.COM
Name Server:NS2.DNSJUNCTION.COM

Quote:

inetnum: 203.22.204.0 - 203.22.204.255
netname: GLOBAT-AP
descr: Globat, LLC
descr: 11288 Ventura Blvd. #443b
descr: Studio City, CA 91604
country: US
admin-c: WL452-AP
tech-c: WL452-AP
mnt-by: APNIC-HM
status: ASSIGNED PORTABLE

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

This is the Who-Is for the domain:

Quote:

Work In America
www.workinamerica.info (whois)
203.22.204.71, (reverse ip), ns1.dnsjunction.com., GLOBAT-AP

Domain ID:D6147436-LRMS
Domain Name:WORKINAMERICA.INFO
Created On:31-Aug-2004 21:33:04 UTC
Last Updated On:07-Nov-2007 19:24:56 UTC
Expiration Date:31-Aug-2008 21:33:04 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Wild West Domains (R213-LRMS)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:GODA-039602069
Registrant Name:ronald ronald
Registrant Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Registrant Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Ocean View
Registrant State/Province:New Jersey
Registrant Postal Code:08230
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.6096243666
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:[email protected]
Admin ID:GODA-239602069
Admin Name:ronald ronald
Admin Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Admin Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Ocean View
Admin State/Province:New Jersey
Admin Postal Code:08230
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.6096243666
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:[email protected]
Billing ID:GODA-339602069
Billing Name:ronald ronald
Billing Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Billing Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Billing Street2:
Billing Street3:
Billing City:Ocean View
Billing State/Province:New Jersey
Billing Postal Code:08230
Billing Country:US
Billing Phone:+1.6096243666
Billing Phone Ext.:
Billing FAX:
Billing FAX Ext.:
Billing Email:[email protected]
Tech ID:GODA-139602069
Tech Name:ronald ronald
Tech Organization:Work In American, Inc.
Tech Street1:561 Corsons Tavern Road
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Ocean View
Tech State/Province:New Jersey
Tech Postal Code:08230
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.6096243666
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:[email protected]
Name Server:NS1.DNSJUNCTION.COM
Name Server:NS2.DNSJUNCTION.COM

The phone number given in the domain registration is 609-624-3666, there are numerous results on Google for that number belonging to a US camp ground business:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=609-624-3666&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Address for the business from the Google results for that number listed as:

Quote:

Resorts Country Club Seasonal Park
Ron Showers, GM/CEO (<< owners name is Ron)
561 Corson Tavern Road
Ocean View, NJ 08230
Ph: (609) 624-3666
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.resortcampground.com

The name Ron would fit with the Ronald Ronald name from the domain registration:

Quote:

Registrant Name:ronald ronald

The registrants email address is:

Quote:

Registrant Email:[email protected]

Ron who owns the www.resortcampground.com business also has a Comcast address of [email protected]

But, that's where any similarities end, the www.workinamerica.info has been registered since 2004 and I can't find any mention of scams listed for it on Google, infact, there is only 1 page of resutls for the domain name, which doesn't seem a lot in 4 years of being online, I suppose it's possible that they never had the site online for the whole period, that would explain lack of search engine results.

I'm not sure the site is a fake, it's nowhere as badly written as the email, so it could be a scammer piggybacking on a legit site. Which Comcast email address was the email sent from?

Can you copy and paste the full headers for us to look at, cheers.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:30 am

Website says � 1994 so definately should be findable in NJ business registration.......

New Jersey State Business Gateway Service Corporate and Business Information Reporting NJSBGS

Work in American Inc. as listed in the domain registration IS NOT licensed or registered to do business in NJ - BUT it is possibly a typo!

There is a WORK IN AMERICA CORPORATION Filing Number 0400016473 listed as a DOMESTIC PROFIT CORPORATION though.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:51 am

This is the first time the guy replied to her message but he has forwarded the email 2 more times in the last 2 weeks :

From Prof. Josephjohn D. Palma Sr. Thu Mar 20 18:28:06 2008
X-Apparently-To: [email protected] via 66.163.178.172; Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:28:16 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [76.96.30.80]
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta286.mail.mud.yahoo.com from=comcast.net; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
Received: from 76.96.30.80 (EHLO QMTA08.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net) (76.96.30.80) by mta286.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:28:16 -0700
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Useless code removed for easier reading - SB

MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-Id: <47E30F26.000022.01884@JP>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:28:06 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Content-Type: Multipart/related; charset="iso-8859-1"; type="multipart/alternative"; boundary="------------Boundary-00=_U2425BZ2QL8000000000"
X-Mailer: IncrediMail (5703474)
From: "Prof. Josephjohn D. Palma Sr." <[email protected]> Add Mobile Alert
References: <[email protected]>
X-FID: 8DEC81B8-A6F6-4678-9197-B627EE6F2233
X-Priority: 3
To: "xxxxxxxxxxx" <[email protected]>
CC: "Chief Yeoman" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Workinamerica
Content-Length: 93494

-------Original Message-------
Hi;Macey
So nice to here from you agaian, I thought from what I was reading that you have done all of this be for,Sorry! O.K. Heres how it goes.when you pay your 500..00 depost ( witch is put into atrust account) and tell us what kind of work you would like to do.We match you with that employer, when that happens you pay the 1000. Balance,when that is recived we send you a concert with the emploryer, You then take that to your concelent to get a work and travle perpant.Then you go the american concelant and thell them you have a contrect to work inamerica , for 2 4 6 Months thy then give you a work Visa , you get on a plan an come to america to work. Now the goveremts want Young peopl to came there and take money home. so thy give you Low rat on air lines plus Spchal treatment.
1 What kind of work? 2 W hat country will you be comeing from? How Old are you? what typ of work have you been doing?
Hope to be seeing you soon.
Joe

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:09 am

(imho) Most likely fake, as SP said ^^ scammer piggybacking on a legit site

Quote:

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from 76.96.30.80 (EHLO QMTA08.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net) (76.96.30.80) by mta286.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:28:16 -0700
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Received: from JP ([68.32.158.160]) by OMTA07.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net with comcast id 3dUB1Z00B3TvYeU8T00000; Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:28:13 +0000

The company Work In America website lists email [email protected] and [email protected] on the website, so I think it would more likely use some_name@workinamerica.info for any legitimate employee.

The mis-spellings and incorrect words in the letter look more like someone intentionally doing that then a non-English speaker.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:38 am

Just pulled a copy of the headers from the second message they sent to her and it was from another IP address :

From Prof. Josephjohn D. Palma Sr. Mon Mar 24 19:37:42 2008
X-Apparently-To: [email protected] via 66.163.178.169; Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:37:47 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [76.96.62.32]
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta398.mail.re4.yahoo.com from=comcast.net; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
Received: from 76.96.62.32 (EHLO QMTA03.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net) (76.96.62.32) by mta398.mail.re4.yahoo.com with SMTP; Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:37:44 -0700
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Useless code removed for easier reading - SB

MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-Id: <47E86576.000001.01972@JP>
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:37:42 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Content-Type: Multipart/related; charset="iso-8859-1"; type="multipart/alternative"; boundary="------------Boundary-00=_UYL9QL80000000000000"
X-Mailer: IncrediMail (5703474)
From: "Prof. Josephjohn D. Palma Sr." <[email protected]> Add Mobile Alert
References: <[email protected]>
X-FID: 8DEC81B8-A6F6-4678-9197-B627EE6F2233
X-Priority: 3
To: "xxxxxxxxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Workinamerica
Content-Length: 93494

The WHOIS for that domain does list [email protected] as the email address. Tomorrow I will call the phone number and see if they know anything about the Work in America organization or if it is just a campground like I suspect.

When I click the 500 deposit and 1000 balance links on the main page, it jumps right to Paypal and asks me to login. Anyway to find out what email address/account at Paypal it is attempting to pay without logging in to Paypal?

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 5:39 am

Just digging around in her inbox and I found this one from another email address :

From work in America Job Counselor Fri Mar 14 13:01:13 2008
X-Apparently-To: [email protected] via 66.163.178.167; Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:02:18 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [76.96.30.64]
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta263.mail.re2.yahoo.com from=comcast.net; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
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From: "work in America Job Counselor" <[email protected]> Add Mobile Alert
References: <[email protected]>
X-FID: 8DEC81B8-A6F6-4678-9197-B627EE6F2233
X-Priority: 3
To: "xxxxxxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Workinamerica workinamerica.info
Content-Length: 97710

WoW ! Macey ;
What time is it there??
Any way all you have to do is go to our web site and follow it, Nothing is going to happen until give us a 500 dollar deposit witch is put in trust,when we find a job you want,you pay the balance of 1000, when you do that we send you a contract for the six months so you can leave and come to America,after you are here and you know your times you work at job #1 Then we find you job #2 or#3 Ect. Joe

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:56 am

Your former employee should be very leery of any website of company that wants money in advance to find her a job. From what I saw on this site, there are no posted success rates of finding jobs for applicants. The company might be legit, but $500 up front, then $1000 shortly after that is a lot of money to ask of someone that isn't employed.

There also isn't any street address, or mailing address listed on the site. Unless I overlooked it, I couldn't find a phone number either. The only way to get in touch with this company is by email.

There is no information on the company officers, or the owner of the company.

The address and phone number

561 Corsons Tavern Rd.
Oceanview, NJ 08230
609-624-3666

that is listed in the Who-Is that SP and Justjay provided, is actually listed as a country club.

Resorts Country Club Camping Ground

The country club's website is here. If you click on the contact us page, the same address and phone number come up.

The two companies might be owned by the same owner, but there are just so many red flags. If contact info is listed for one company, it should be listed for the other company.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:54 pm

The first couple emails she had going back and forth with them were brief so she did not get very suspicious. It was about the time she was going to ask her family for help getting the deposit together that they sent her that rambling, incoherent email. That threw up red flags for her and she asked me to get involved.

She has been in contact with so many of these places and they never give success rates. Most of the other sites want 2000-3000 USD for job placement but they also have contact details, local offices in Philippines or US, seminars (which they charge $10-50 to attend), etc.

Words can't explain how poor this site is once you get past the patriotic website. At least I got a laugh out of him telling her that the US was going to give her special rat(e)s on the plan(e) and that we love for young people to come over and get our money. I have not figured out what a travle perpant is. Nor do I know the difference between a concelent and a concelant. Smile

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:30 pm

I'm inclined to believe that the country club owner isn't involved with Work In America, Inc. and that the address and phone number were "borrowed" by the lads to register their domain.

Not all legitimate companies give success rates, but it is nice to know, especially when the US economy is the way it is right now. Their site claims that there are jobs coming out of the woodwork in America - convince an unemployed construction worker that would be glad to have a job as a dishwasher that America is employment rich when his employment application is rejected because he is "overqualified."

I am glad that your friend didn't send the money - sometimes lad emails are perfectly timed.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:34 pm

Two developments today:

I checked out the aerial view on google maps and it looks deserted but it is the same building from the resortcampground.com website.

I also tried to call the place via Skype (Caller ID blocked numbers are refused). The answering machine reminded me of a message that my grandparents would have made. Definitely sounded like some old man that has probably been running that place for the last 90 years. Smile

Makes it seem likely that the site is fake and they just used that address to register the domain. I'll try to call back in the morning and see if I can get a live person to answer.

Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:56 pm

Very interesting. The resort web site says that it has been in business since 1972, so 36 years sounds about right for the older man that you heard on the answering machine. I can't find a business license registered in NJ for this company

According to this website the company is still in business. They are seasonal though, and that might explain the deserted look on Google maps.

Hopefully your phone call will yield more information.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:44 pm

Wow.

I called today and got the voice from the answering machine. He answered as Resort Campground so I told him I must have made a mistake. I was actually trying to contact Work In America. Now I was expecting "You have the wrong number" but was surprised to get "Oh. I can help you with that!"

I told him that I was trying to find out where I can send a 500 USD deposit for my friend overseas. I explained that I do not have a PayPal account and I was taking care of all of her expenses. He gave me a PO Box to mail the funds to then was careful to explain that all the money is secured. He said he would hold the money and that they were very liberal about returning the funds if they don't find her a job. He said he does not do it for the money, it was only to get people over here to work.

I thanked him for his assistance and he asked me for the customer's name. Fortunately she used a nickname in her correspondence with him so I gave him the name she used. He did not appear to recognize the name when I gave it to him.

One thing I noticed in one of their earlier emails to her was that they were a licensed employment agency in NJ and that he could get her a job in Vegas or Atlantic City.

Not sure what to make of this anymore...

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:55 pm

At this point, I doubt that is is anything but a scam. No contact info besides email on the Work In America site is a big indicator that something isn't right. A P.O. Box to send money to... I'm not keen on that either even though there is a physical address for the resort.

It just doesn't sound like a legitimate operation to me. If it is legit, it isn't stable. It doesn't even sound like there are enough people working there to be running a business of this type, and I have doubts about him having a licensed employment agency in NJ. I would consider it a scam and move on.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:43 pm

What concerns me about this site is the following:

Nobody will be given a work visa for the USA without having employment first. This site tells you to first obtain a work visa. In my experience, these visa's are applied for by the company hiring the employee.

A lot of the jobs listed would be very difficult to get a visa for, as a company has to prove why the job can only be done by you. These are generally positions that require a degree.

Office workers, painters, kitchen workers do not qualify.

As for the fees, most recruiting agencies bill the company not the employee.

This reeks of scam to me.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:16 pm

So now that we are all in agreement that this is a scam, anyone have some ideas how we can have some fun with this guy? I already have someone in the Philippines that can start up new correspondence or use this existing email thread.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:39 pm

Googled the PO Box that my friend gave me and found this match :

http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Palma.J.J.Rev.And.Lorna.609-624-3222

He referred to himself as Professor in his emails and now he's also a Reverend. I googled the phone number and found himself listed on several clergy sites.

When he answered the phone today, a woman answered a few seconds later and he told her he had the call. Probably was Lorna.

Also found a picture of him from the Rotary club 2006 :

http://www.rotary7640.org/downloads.dws?file=0611_November_2006.pdf

He's on page 3 and the layout is a little weird because they label from left to right for 3-4 rows of people. Counting people my guess would be the guy with the tan jacket and white shirt that is behind and between the gentleman with the brown jacket and the younger man with no jacket and the dark tie.

Maybe this guy is really trying to get jobs for people overseas? I am still going to advise my friend to try the student visa with summer work option that some non-profit organizations offer.

Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:45 pm

If he is soliciting money by postal mail for any of his scams such as the Work In America, you might contact the US Postal authorities. You might also consider contacting the US Secret Service and filing a report since it appears that he has many of them going on. You have a name, phone number, address, and three websites that you know are his. That would probably give them enough to start an investigation.

If you decide to do this, get all of the emails w/ headers that are from the scammer from your lady friend and print them out along with any emails that you have from this guy.