a scam I got

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 2

hello,

This is so great to find this forum after being scammed just 2 days ago and the scammers still pretends to be the characters they portrayed. I advertised myself in an international english teaching website as I have a teaching experience and I wanted to do teaching abroad. I gotta confess that I didn't scambait yet (as this is the forum's subject) but now that I'm familiar with the subject I sure wanna try that. Anyway, I got two suspicous emails after advertising myself, the first was from a person named Daniel Rocha. I'll post his first mail here:

Dear Respected Teacher, Me is Mr. Rocha Daniel Adauto and Me from Brasil. I work for GLOBALMARINE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COMPANY UNITED KINGDOMwww.globalmarine.we.bs, Me is in need of an ESL Teacher who is to takeme two children Edison and mark and my Wife lila in English. they canspeak english small but not too much, Generally their english is poorthis is make me children is not go to school here in England and mewife is Not associate with people too much too.me is see your contactat esl99jobs.com Me family speak english well if i employ you , it is very important tome is is offer you salary as 25000.00 GBP. on the end of month for oneyear and you services is good i extend. if it is you choice to live in the same house with us you let me knowbut me prefer rent you apartment to live, me will furnish it and it isin my compnay staff quarters where me live too. i put in you roominternet connection, cable Tv, and telephone line. here we have two cars one company car i drive and my leisure car, ifyou too can drive me is give you my liesure car to use and me use mycompany car. iF you is want to come send your resume AND TEACH CERTIFICATE. Have a nice day CheersMr. Rocha Daniel Adauto and Family 15page Court, Marry Streets,Balsal Heath, Br12,Birmingham CityEngland.+447024043879

Just a week ago I didn't know about any advanced-fee scams that are carried out so I went on with the correspondence and in between I got another offer from a person named Hery Richard. This is his first mail:

Dear Teacherhope you are fine and in good health,i am Dr Richard Married to mary. i amon contract for personal establishment here in UK,my wife is fromFrance and my two kids rigney and jane who are 3yrs and 6yrs respectivelyhave been with her in France,.they are presently residing in this country with me. therefore i need anEnglish teacher to come and teach them,if you are interested,you will haveto send to me your resume, cover letter telling me about your family andyour photos.i will be offering to pay you the sum of 6.500GBP monthly withsome other allowances.i need you to come and teach them English language so that they can be ableto mix up well in this country because this is an English speaking country.cheerscall me via +447024043001DR RICHARD

So what can a person do? 6.500 GBP to teach english for 6 hours with a lunch break? heck I'll do that. for some reason he instead that I make the first step in calling him by telephone so I called the UK with the 44 area code. He asked all kinds of questions about my background, he sounded a serious person that's looking for a serious emplyer, so how can I not fall for that? He was saying he's just in the middle of writing my contract so I was very pleased. Only then, it all happened very quickly, he contacted me with an alleged travel agent from the UK MIGRATION. This was her first mail:

Dear Applicant,
writing to acknowledge the reception of your signed contract letter,we shall be needing the sum total of 325 GBP(THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE GREAT BRITISH POUNDS) which is a deposit needed from you for the processing of your work/residential permit visa ,
Also send
A Signed contract letter between you and your company(Received)
An address reachable to you via courier.
Filled UK visa form(Attached)
Scanned international passport details or any form of ID.
you are to send the visa deposit through western union via our accountant using the details below
RECEIVERS NAME:Jill Smith
PAY OUT:UK
on reception of all these requirements together with the western union receipt which you are expected to scan and send to us after making the payment,we shall immediately commence the processing of your traveling documents,
thanks
LONDON IMMIGRATION SERVICE

So then I googled Jill Smith and I got to a law student in Wolverhampton in the UK in some UK version of facebook so I figured is she is was a law student in 2004 then it really could be that she's an agent in the migration now. I understand nothing in anything that involves law but it seemed logical enough to me. so foolishly enough I sent her the money just 3 days through western union. Then I called my supposed employer and of course he didn't answer my calls. I forgot to mention that I asked her which location in the UK to send the money to and I was answered London. So after a few hours Richard called me telling me that I need to change the location to Wolverhampton. Of course I refused to do that becuase then I'll have to pay commision again which is very high in those amounts. So he kept on telling me how desprete he is of me and the Travel agent, Jill Smith, tried to urge me into resending the money and paying the commission. Today monring I went to the postoffice and I was noticed that the money had been already taken yesterday. I have a few questions:

- Why would the alleged agent say that she can't get the money when you can redraw the money from any location whatsoever?
- How come they say that they don't have the money and even getting mad about me taking the money without any notice, when in fact the money has been redrawn? Could it be that somebody else took it?
- I want to publish the whole correspondence. I'm new to this site, is there any place that it could stick there and warn people from potential scams?
- Is there a body dealing with that stuff? and I don't mean the police, but something big like CIA.
- If you can halp me on scambait It'd be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mod Edit: Names have been changed - Rover

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:04 pm

Welcome, whateveritllbe

Pull up a chair, grab some snacks, and have a good read.
Sorry you were scammed, but here's your chance to get some revenge.
read the stickys, bait safe, and check out getting a mentor, lot's of great baiters around, always willing to help out. Smile

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:11 pm

Hi, and welcome to Eater! Very Happy

I don't know the answer to the question about why they said they didn't get the money. That's a puzzle to me. Confused

But about the "body that deals with this sort of thing," I'm afraid you'll find not much joy in going to Law Enforcement Organizations (LEO). Unfortunately, you have lost what LEO considers an "insignificant" amount of money. The Secret Service has a minimum loss in order for an investigation to be undertaken. Sad

The best thing you can do is post the emails you've received, including the headers (remove any information that could lead to you) here, and in our sister site, www.scamwarners.com. The more places you post the information, the more likely it will be that someone googling the name, email address, or phone number will find your report.

Oh, and the phone numbers - any UK number that begins with 4470 is a redirect number - it can be forwarded to anywhere in the world. Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:41 pm

Welcome, quiet an adventure with some loss on your site.
First they have your real name, address and phone? NEVER answer them again. They will try, but you're not there, not for them that is, so be careful with "new" numbers that call.
They have a scan from your ID? Passport? Go tell the right authorities and make sure that they take notice that your ID has been stolen. Your local police station would be a good stop too. (Just to cover your ass in paper, they won't do much)

Quote:

- Why would the alleged agent say that she can't get the money when you can redraw the money from any location whatsoever?
- How come they say that they don't have the money and even getting mad about me taking the money without any notice, when in fact the money has been redrawn? Could it be that somebody else took it?
- I want to publish the whole correspondence. I'm new to this site, is there any place that it could stick there and warn people from potential scams?
- Is there a body dealing with that stuff? and I don't mean the police, but something big like CIA.
- If you can halp me on scambait It'd be appreciated.

They might have an internal misunderstanding, they are criminals after all. Someone with access to that email address could have taken it. All they needed was the MTCN number.

In scamwarners please, that's the right spot to warn others for this kind of scam.

Nope and if they don't tell us Wink

Try your local police station and the BBC is having a few programs dedicated to this they might be willing to spread the word. http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=150933

Yes we can help you, we love to help you, but get this straightened out first, with your ID gone/shared there are some nasty scenarios I can think of.

I think the boating website is fake and will try to kill it if it is. The emails from Mr. Rocha Daniel Adauto might be helpful there. Could you PM me and I'll give you an email address so you can send them to me?if you agree, that is.

If you have any questions drop them here or if you want to keep it private, PM a moderator, those green names at the bottom of the main forum screen.

CU later

Edit: try this gent, he might be able to bring your story out http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=150929&highlight=

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:36 pm

It would be useful for you to ask the website owners to post some kind of warning up about this type of scam, and the things to look out for.

The first thing I'd get them to state is that if any up front fees are required then drop any job offer like a red hot brick. Putting that warning on the front page may also discourage scammers from using it. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but at the very least it may alert a lot of users before they lose cash.

Master Baiter Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 116

Job one is to deal with the identity theft. If it's anything like the U.S., your local police will roll their eyes at you, but do get them to type a report that you can submit to the credit reporting companies. This will empower them to put you under "fraud watch" just in case your i.d. and passport might be used to open charge accounts in your name.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:23 am

No UK business would use a .bs free domain, a .co.uk is only a tenner or so for 2 years - so kill the site.

A friend used to Live on Mary Street in Balsall Heath - let's just say a resident of any of those crappy Victorian terraced run-down houses is not going to pay someone from overseas �25k to teach English. In fact there are loads of free/as good as free English classes in the area, Birmingham City Council is very progressive and inclusive in such areas.

Just a bit of background - your scammer clearly doesn't even know the area they pretend to come from. Sorry you got scammed - now make up some false info and start baiting as a fresh persona!

When you get follow-up calls from the police, CIA, EFCC, barrister etc promising to reunite you with your stolen cash, ignore them, they're lies to try to gouge you for even more money Sad

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:25 am

Working on it guys, newbie here, in site killing I mean. Will be done asap and yes I try the Live domain too.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:28 am

Now the thing about .co.uk, that can't be a hard and fast rule on a fake site- don't a lot of perfectly legit British sites use that? I know BBC's site does, anyway.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 2

I know it doesn't sound reasonable to import an overseas english teacher when you're in England, so I searched in the net and I found out that the UK is importing teachers from all around the world, especially from eastern Europe, for there is less and less teachers in the UK (most people prefer hi-tech jobs and indurstry). The price did seem outragous, but hey- the guy lives near fucking oxford street and he's in an establishment project so maybe I got to my one in a million chance of making alot of a money out of an unpopular field. It all seemed vaguely right.

In retrospect everything seems obvious and you feel like the biggest moron ever walked on earth, but the story somehow made sense. I got many 419 fraud mails in the past and I never replied to any of them, because c'mmon... but this mail seemed fit and right, hence very dangerous.

I wonder if this Jill Smith has something to do with that. Could she be a victim too that now is being used to scam other people?

As to their mails:

immigrationservice.uk Agent -> that's how she presents herself ([email protected])

DR HERY RICHARD ([email protected])

Mr Daniel Rocha ([email protected])

Please, whoever you are, beware of these people! I lost 325 pounds because of these guys.

I would more than like to begin scambait, but how do you make contact with each of them?

Thanks.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:07 am

Having a look at the website, I think it's fake also. The webpage "our home in London" says they're shipyard is in Washington USA. Surely there's a dockyard in the You Kay that could make these suckers???

Plus the design of the site itself isn't that great, my teenage daughter could improve it in a second (hell I could myself if I was a scammer, being a multimedia student)! Plus the employment email is a yahell address. Surely a company specialising in luxury yachts could afford they're own email address.

And finally I'm no expert, but could you FIND a more landlocked city to have a boating company's head office in??? (They even mispelt the street address (marry street).

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:10 am

there are no specific rules about the .co.uk top level domain, legit and illegitimate sites can both use it, but in this case the OP referred to a .we.bs domain, which was probably cloned from a legit website. Whilst there's nothing to stop anyone using b-b-c.co.uk (instead of BBC.co.uk, for instance) as a cloned scam site, BBC.freewebs.ws or something like that is very unlikely and looks very fishy. It would be uncommon for any uk company with any size whatsoever with and kind of web presence not to have a .co.uk domain (even if they also have and use the .com domain)

same goes for .org.uk, could be either legit or illegit, but .Ltd.uk will all be legit companies, .ac.uk will be real universities, etc.

So I guess what I mean is if you see a UK company with a .we.bs or other strange domain, 90% chance it'll be a bad one.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:11 am

A good friend of mine is currently teaching IT in the UK, he's from Melbourne Australia

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:18 am

whateveritllbe wrote:

I would more than like to begin scambait, but how do you make contact with each of them?

Your best bet is to create a new persona, email the original person who got in contact saying "I'm very interested in your offer - when would I be able to start?". This is double fun an the scammer will have emailed a load of people with the same/similar script, and so they've no way to know who it is responding "from their home email address". If they get all huffy about "who is this?" just play innocently back along the lines of "well YOU contacted ME with the job offer - the job is real, isn't it? This isn't one of those internet scams? My brother said not to trust online job adverts but I really need the money so I'm taking a chance!"

It gets him slightly on the back foot, he won't know *which* job he offered you (and will try to get it out of you, just overlook those questions, or answer "the one you offered me, silly", he can't press it too far without breaking cover Wink

Don't give many details about yourself - just say "it was all in my advert", same deal. If he thinks you'll pay, he'll keep you on the hook, and after a banter of emails he'll have forgotten how he met you anywhere - his eyes are on the cash only.

Get a mentor and read the stickIes - it's important to bait safely but a mentor can help you find your feet. Please post your story to our kin at scamwarners.com - real life victims speaking out is the most effective weapon we have against these people - if we educate our communities, people become more aware, we start cutting off the oxygen Smile

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:22 pm

Live Domain/email reported with bad site as proof, once that's gone, it's the shipyard site (glob4lm4rine.we.bs) turn to disappear.

Bait idea, from safe addy, try to apply for a job with the yahoo email account on the website. Hurry site may be gone tomorrow.
email addy
Employment: [email protected] still working 10/30/2008
Their employment page

Quote:

Employment Opportunities now available at Global Marine:
Production/Plant Manager

Direct and oversee the daily operation and management of all production areas. Coordinate activities to obtain optimum efficiency and economy of operation to maximize profits. Implement action to achieve organizational objectives by coordinating with other managers.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Accountable for all production departments
Directly supervise Systems Manager, Interior Finish Manager, Assembly and Structures Manager, and Project Managers
Adhere to build schedules, vessel contracts, and design drawings and specifications
Coordinate activities of the various departments to achieve goals and deadlines
Complete tasks in a timely manner, within budget
Experience with Lean Manufacturing
Work closely with other managers to increase overall efficiency of operation
Report to the President and make recommendations as to the capability of the company to carry out new construction projects
Implement and enforce company policies and procedures
Participate in interviews, document employee warnings, and conduct annual performance reviews
Responsible for the authorization of overtime per guidelines set by the President
Perform other duties as requested by the President
Laminators

Thriving Lamination and Infusion Department needs experienced laminators. Many opportunities for career advancement. Marine experience preferred. Excellent opportunity for individuals with autobody repair skills who would like to try a new career path.
Painters and Fairers

Experienced painters and fairers needed for growing department. Painting assignments vary from small parts to tri-deck yacht hulls. Excellent opportunity for individuals with autobody painting skills who would like to try a new career path. Applicants who are bilingual in English and Spanish preferred. Ability to keep on schedule as directed by Painting and Fairing Department Lead required. Understanding of basic math and geometry required, as well as ability to read and understand instructions, blue prints, and technical manuals. Must be able to endure physical labor (longboard). Must be able to teach high build and 545 application and to top coat small parts.
Welders/Metal Fabricators

Certified aluminum, mig, and tig welders needed. Dynamic work setting provides opportunities for welding away from a work bench and directly on a vessel. Many opportunities to problem solve and be creative. Ability to run hand tools preferred. Understanding of basic math and geometry preferred, as well as ability to read and understand instructions and blue prints.
Marine Mechanics/Mechanic Installers

Experienced mechanics needed for expanding Mechanical Department. Opportunities are available for work on both tri-deck yachts and trawlers. Individuals with mechanical installation experience are encouraged to apply. Our mechanics work on the major systems in our vessels, from engines to generators to HVAC.

CAD/3D Designers

Responsible for creation and tracking of engineering and design drawings and drawing evolutions for vessels manufactured at Global Marine Co., LLC. Translate engineering ideas and designs into working engineering drawings and documents suitable for efficient manufacturing and regulatory approval in accordance with accepted industrial standards. Must have demonstrable proficiency with AutoCAD, AutoDesk Inventor and UGS NX4 programs. Two to five years progressive experience as a designer or technologist in the marine industry required.
Lay-out Toolers

Exciting opportunity for individuals interested in creating vessel elements. If you have good spatial perception skills and enjoy solving puzzles, this may be the job for you. Learn how to build molds to create various vessel elements. Our experienced team will train you in the fine art of tooling. Some carpentry experience would be beneficial. Marine experience preferred.

And more other jobs not listed.

Our employment will be based on the following criteria:

1. Age
2. CV qualification
3. Years of experience
4. Full Name
5. Nationality

Also note that there will be no telephonic or online Interview as the company will be following the Principles of the British Expatriate Policy. In this regards, appointment will be given based on the criteria above as such is the final conclusion of the Authority.

Reason based on the fact that there maybe ill and non-excellent interview as the applicant is not being interview physically.

Therefore, there will be a little interview with the Board of director of the
company upon arrival to qualify the magnitude of the qualifications seen on the CV.

The Applicant will also enroll on a two week Job elaboration and
specification workshop as there will be no online Job responsibility or
profile given due to the difference in Expatriate policies between the
expatriate Country and London .

This will in turn equip the employee about the company, country and practices that are carried out in UK .
This shall be done through our recruitment agencies.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 2

I am a lurker here but used to be an ESL teacher so this particularly annoys me. When you are trying to organise work in another country you are taking on extra risk and may have to trust people when normally you wouldn't. But two good general rules to follow: 1. If it is too good to be true it usually is and2. don't pay any money up front.

This is a good site for doing research on. A look at the UK job forum would show you that wages in London are awful and could have made you aware that it was a scam. There is also a sticky at the top of each country's job forum about scams it might be another good place for you to let people know about the scam.

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:47 am

they're damn picky employers too. employment partly being given by the person's full name! DAMN, that's harsh

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:23 pm

I´m Daniel Adauto Rocha and I was a victim of the same scam when I lost about 2 gs and these people got my documents , they did the same with me offering an ESL job in Nigeria , the supposed employer was Professor Dale Andrew Mcgeorge who I believe was a victim too . Anyway , I have filled some reports at FBI , and Now I want to advice everyone about it !!! I`m Daniel Adauto Rocha and I have never been to Europe .... so if You were a victim too please fill the same form at http://complaint.ic3.gov/ .... I have tried to notice many related web sites so people don´t loose money too .... but those guys are really fast and they have advertised this all over the world ....

Daniel Adauto Rocha

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 1:58 pm

Sad to hear they got to you too.
If you really want to help, please post the whole story on our sister site scamwarners.com, There is a link for it on the top of every page here.
There almost victims will able to find it easier and can read your story to convince them selves that this is definitely a scam.
I have closed their fake website down and their Windows Live email address and I am writing them as a victim to keep track of their next steps and websites so I can close those too, but a real victims story with details and names on scamwarners.com will warn hundreds of possible victims when they do a search.

Thanks

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Posts: 1

Please forward your emails from this scam to [email protected] at the UK BORDER AGENCY...

Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:22 pm

Welcome to 419Eater.
The Border Agency? Who brought a few illegal immigrants into the UK recently on their bus?
Anyway, it's nothing to do with them. The scammer isn't in the UK. Everything a scammer tells you is a lie.