Job Discussion Forums

[swetepete]

Hey--I got an offer to tutor in Nigeria for 5500 bucks a month, evenings only, teaching two very very small children. I followed it up and found it to be a pretty obvious scam in which one is expected to western union a few hundred bucks to a Nigerian travel agent who will then proceed to process your documents.
I've included the correspondence here, not because you guys don't know any better, but because it's kind of funny.

To: pete
Subject: Dear ESL Teacher
From: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 19:34:05 -0500

Message: Application for your service.> > Dear ELS Teacher,> My name is Jerry Whilton and I am married to Linda. We are from France
working and residing in Nigeria on contract for Nova Gas Incorporated a
Multinational Oil and Gas Company with headquarters in the USA. My wife
and my 2 little Children are not really good when it comes to speaking English
hence we require an ESL Teacher to come and spend One year with us. You would
teach my wife and my 2 Children who is 18 months, 26 months old how to
speak English and some writings too. This is very important to my family exp
me, hence I would be offering to pay you $5500 every month. You would have
a Private Live-Out or Live-In Accommodation depending on your preference
with Private Bathroom, Sitting Room and Bedroom. Your room would also be
furnished with a Television Set, an Internet Ready Computer System and a
Fixed Landline telephone. If you can drive, you can let us know so that we
can arrange a vehicle that you would use. You would take them in English
Classes every evening. You would also have the weekends off .Weekends with
us is very fun as we visit fun spots, go sightseeing and amusement parks.
Do not worry about your travel arrangements as we would assist you in that
regards when the time comes. I have attached my familys picture bellow and
when we were together in my childrens playing room for you. Please write me on my
personal e mail address [email protected]
Hope to hear from you in earnest.
Our Residential Address below
Housing Estate Block 207 Flat B
City: Porthacourt
State: Rivers
Country: Nigeria.
Name: Jerry Whilton
E-mail: [email protected]
Mobile: 234-805-0655-308


I replied, and they said almost immediately I was in. Suspicious, I looked them up on the old google and found that they have been running a near identical scam with au pairs for the last few months. they didnt even bother changing the name of the family. so, inflamed in a blaze of self-righteousness, i proceeded to toy with them a bit...

from me to them.
"...I can provide a letter of reference from my school's owner, as well, but she has no English whatsoever and would simply be signing a letter that I myself had written.
Jerry, I do have one question. What is the security situation like in the neighborhood where you live? I am of course aware that there are some dangers for foreign workers in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta. The BBC reports lots of kidnappings and killings and various other unpleasantries. While I am not a fearful man, I naturally have some curiosity about the particular situation in your area. I know that in some countries where there is violent unhappiness, such as Saudi Arabia, or Iraq, it is common for foreign workers to live in armed compounds. Can you tell me something about what to expect in Port Harcourt? Will I need to carry weapons? I am good in a fight and have very strong teeth, and am supremely confident in my ability to protect your dear little ones, but I should warn you I have only a modicum of training with either explosives or automatic weapons--really, not much more than I learned in Scouts.
Thanks again for your reply. Look forward to hearing from you soon--
Pete


to:the Jerrys Family
to:me
re:CONTACT THE AGENCY
Dear Pete,
How are you doing , i have received your references which qualify you the chosen aplicant for the job offer now you have sent all your informations to me then what you will do now is to contact the travel agency immidiately at ( [email protected] ) for him to give you all the necesaary details conceining the job offer and which you must be fast about that, contact him immidiately and his name is Mr James Oputa he is the person incharge for your traveling papers.
Best Wishes
Jerry Whilton



to:the travel agent
from:me
from pete, to the travel agent
Dear Mr.James Oputa,Hello, a fellow named jerry claims he wants me to come to nigeria to teach his kids how to speak english. he says, 'email this guy, and he will tell me what i need to do next.'that's you--so, if you could, please tell me what to do next. it sounds like a great opportunity. thanks--pete

from:the travel agent
to:me
(actually I lost this email. it said I needed to send 250 bucks, western union, as well as my passport info, to process the application. It also claimed that the bulk of the expenses had already been paid for by my benefactor, the Jerry's Family.)



from:me
to:Jerrysfamilys
from pete
Dear Jerry's Family,
Well, I regret to inform you that I am terribly poor at the moment, and cannot afford to give any money to your travel agent. Maybe you can give me an advance from my first month's pay? Or you can western union me the money, and I will then western union the money to your travel agent. Cool?
Best,Pete

from:them
to:the me
Dear Pete,
I understand you and i also pitty your condition , i email the Agency conceining your condition and he said he cant help it, he also presented the rulls holding the country that i have made all the necessary payments required from me and that you have to make your own payment for your name to be involved in the papers which will be sent to you after the the payment, and he also said you are allowed to pay 2 times which mean you can pay $150 then letter complette it, you know am a man of pease and i am helpfull, i could have transfer the money to you but my friend advised me not to do so because someone ran away with the money he transfered for business but i promise you if you can make it up in paying twice i will refund you back immidiately you arive.
Just Value your salary $5500 added to 12 months is a reasonable money so try you best.
Looking to hear from you

from:the me
to:the them family
from pete-
Hi Jerry--yeah, i know what you mean. The whole internet money transfer thing is pretty sketchy. Well, the thing is, my mom says i should not wire you the money either, even though i trust you and know in my heart of hearts of hearts that you are for real. Because, you see, she has heard terrible stories about mean internet jerks who claim to be something they are not, so as to suck money out of gullible nice people like me. Surely you understand. Anyway, if you can send me the money to pay for my visa application, great, but otherwise I cannot come to Nigeria right now. Maybe next month, after payday? Let's do please keep in touch--if you haven't found your teacher by the time I get paid, you know I'm in like Flynn.
Sincerely, Pete


from: them
subject:I AM WAITING
Dear Pete,
I understand you and I am not bourdered,anyway your mother was right but am the one offering you the job so any thing you insist thats your choice, well i will try to wait but if it takes unexpected time i might chang my mind from you because i need available ESL teacher to resume work with my family before the end of my cotract here in Nigeria . have a great day and send my familys greetings to your careing Mother. Looking forward to hear from you.
Jerrys Family

to them, from pete:
Dear Jerry's Family,
How long do I have to get the money together for the visa application?
thanks,Pete




from them:
re: contact the agency
Dear Pete,
Actualy my contract resume date is November 2006 but i dont really know about the payment exact date that is required from you just contact the Agency immidiately he will tell you the exact date for the payment okey.
Yours Sincerely
Mr Jerry


from Jerrys
re: contact the agency/BE FAST
Dear Pete,
How are you, i mail the Agency conceining you and he said you have not mail him is any thing the problem i told you earlire to contact him about the question you asked me about the actual payment date he will answer you immidiately and you know i just want to help you in offereing you the job so i dont realy see the reason why you will be delaying so much be a man i pray god will surely see you true. Thanks my children are sending their greetings to you and they expect you so soon.


From Me
To them
Dear Jerry,
I'm so, so, so, so, so so so so so very sorry. Please hug your waifs for me and tell them I am absolutely wretched with contrition. You see, I have taken another job. I'm off to Brunei, where I will be tutoring some of the younger girls in the one of the Sultan's Sub-Tertiary Harems. So, so, so sorry to have inconvenienced you. You seem like a very decent man. I feel absolutely rotten about it, but my mom thinks I'm safer in a harem than I am in Port Hardcourt. Also we get field trips to Macao, and if I renew my contract they'll give me a share in this great bridge in Brooklyn. I gather the sultan won it in a baccarrat game.
Sorry bro--best wishes--
Pete

[White_Elephant]

Oh I keep getting junk emails like this too. I'm really getting sick of it all. Are you getting the lottery winner notifications too? These emails started at the same time. I'm getting about ten a day and it's not spam. It is a scam, I'm very sure.

[Bayden]

Nice little bait there White-Elephant.
I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this.
http://thescambaiter.com/forum/

[ls650]

Yeah, I've received a few of those too. I thought they were blatantly obvious scams - anyone actually stupid enough to fall for these probably deserves to be scammed.

[been_there]

Ahhahahaha, scambaiting is sooooooo much fun. Check out 419eater.com as well.

Some fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuny stuff.


I'm going to apply to this ad and see what I can get them to do for a fresh English teacher.

I will, of course, misspell every word and use the most atrocious grammar possible.

Cheers.

[Bayden]

[swetepete]

just got another one today--identical, except they changed the name of the 'employer' guy. Check it out...


" My name is Vincent Owen and I am married to Linda. We are from
France working and residing in Nigeria on contract for Nova Gas Incorporated, a Multinational Oil and Gas Company with headquaters in the USA. My wife and son are not really good when it comes to speaking English hence we require an ESL Teacher to come and spend One year with us. You would teach my wife and my two kids how to speak English and some writing too. This is very important to me hence I would be
offering to pay you $5500 every month.
You would have a Private Live-Out or Live-In Accomdation depending on
your preference with Private Bathroom, SittingRoom and Bedroom. Your room would also be furnished with a TelevisionSet, an Internet Ready
Computer System and a Fixed Landline telephone. If you can drive, you can let us know so that we can arrange a vehiclethat you would use.
You would take them in English Classes every evening. You would also
have the weekends off .Weekends with us is very fun as we visit fun
spots, go sightseeing and amusement parks. Do not worry about your travel arrangements as we would assist you in that regards when the time comes. I have attached our family picture for you.
Please write me on my personal e mail address
[email protected]
I hope to hear from you in earnest."

hope springs eternal in the spam-scammer heart, I guess...

[thrifty]

Many of us fell for the the CELTA scam. Nearly a thousand pounds!

[Will.]

Yeah!!!
I fell for that one too. I paid �600 odd and then they told me i would have to attend 100% of the classes on a 4-week course and do assignments before they would give me a TEFL certificate...Can you believe that?
What a rip-off!!!1
That's the last time I reply to their emails.

[Sgt Killjoy]

I think I would classify this as phishing/identity theft scam. I am loathe to post what I am going to now, but in the interest of getting the information out there, I should give a bit of information.

Identity theft is a big problem. I won't even describe it since we all.

Think about those applying for a job:

I could conceivably, for a good job, ask for a copy of your passport, a copy of your birth certificate, a copy of your degree and your transcripts(which probably, if you are an American, have your ssn on them). You wouldn't even bat an eye over it. All of that information is enough information to get ID in a person's name and do an identity theft scam.

Believable? Enough so that I asked my university to remove my ssn from my transcript and they did.

If you have a person's ssn number and an certified copy birth certificate, you can apply for a state ID in their name in just about any state. Don't think these Nigerian scammers do not have friends in the states helping them with their scams.

[been_there]

Oh yeah, fresh meat. I've been reading a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories, so I sent Mr. Owen an email (from a fresh, new, never-been-used gmail account, of course) as one of the characters from "Call of Cthullu"

[Chris_Crossley]

The chances are that the scammers will look at these "safe scambaiting" web sites, too, so the advantage of using them will be lost.

[been_there]

Not really, Chris.

The advice is how not to expose your IP address and how to find someone elses IP address (and other stuff). Just cause they know it doesn't make you unsafe.

In fact , if Swetepete looks in the header of the email and then goes to http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp he can find out exactly where the emails are coming from.

Just some advice.


And on with the show:

[crewmeal]

Watch out for the 'relatives' from plane crashes - I had one the other about a dead cousin from the Air France Concorde crash leaving $50m. How low can these scum sink to!!!

I don't even bother to respond!!

[swetepete]

Glad to see you all getting in on the fun. I especially like the call of Cthulu one. Also thanks for the heads-up on 'safe spamscamer baiting.'
I would encourage anybody and everybody to spam these jerks. I'm getting a kick out of reading your replies...so, cheers!