Job Discussion Forums

boomerang_kid · Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:39 pm Post subject:

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BillyBee,

Thanks !!! I'll write to Yahoo abuse now, and turn them in.
They will probably close these scoundrels down (once again) within 24 hours.

Good news! I just got my reply from the UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES. (Wow, these Emiratis must take languages seriously, if they have a cabinet-level position just for Language Studies !!)

I'm so excited I could pee in my pants.
I have a job waiting for me in the UAE !!
(Just look at the letter of acceptance, below.)

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I do hope you "urgently reverted" to them... (sounds nearly obscene to me... Laughing

)

Has anyone checked out that telephone number?

VS

kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

Gulf News Reported the story and according to the report, a criminal investigation is underway.
http://gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10187926.html

boomerang_kid · Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:27 pm Post subject: So there we have it

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Well, I thought I might try (just once more) to reach theses scammers through the Hotmail address (which I already reported to [email protected]), using another pseudonym's address. And by God didn't they answer me with the job annouuncement ! (Hotmail hadn't closed it down yet, and now the scammers are using it as an active account, NOT just as a drop box ! )

I sent in my again, and within 12 hours, yep, I had a job application form.

So I sent BOTH emails into [email protected] and MAYBE they will do something this time (now that I have provided "evidence", that is).

I have found a website, which I believe "pegs" this scam pretty well. Such scams (which exist in many versions dating back decades) are generically classified by law enforcement authorities as "419" scams:

http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

So Veiled Sentiments was quite right: they do indeed predate the Internet. It looks like this problem is simply insidious.

Information --- quickly shared with other potential targets --- might be the only things we can do.
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kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

What makes this particular scam unique is that the grift is aimed at EFL teachers specifically looking for work in the UAE. As if we don't have enough the keep us awake at night worrying whether or not we've adequately convinced our students that their futures depend upon knowing the difference between "I wrote" and "I have written". . .

Thanks for your efforts B.K.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

I guess we have to give them credit for creativity. They have managed to use the new technology and figure out new ways to scam people. The success of the UAE, and the fact that it employs so many expats - of varying degrees of naivety - has opened up a whole new way to steal.

Their job ads were for all kinds of positions, not just EFL teachers. From that Dubai discussion board that was linked on one of the threads, it appears that their success is mostly with other job types.

Again I say... great job you two!!

VS

boomerang_kid · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:09 am Post subject: Yes, it's insidious

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Here is what I received today:

kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

I haven't taken this much interest in staying tuned to a never-ending, unfolding crime drama since the 3rd season of "The Wire".

Longton · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 148

The website is blocked by the UAE authorities.

uaeobserver · Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 236

The good ole red "site blocked" screen.

One of the few times I've been happy to see it!

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

That's great that they blocked it, but what good does that do the people being fooled by them i.e. most of the applicants presumably living outside of the UAE?

kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

I guess I'll write the dot TK people AGAIN, forward the link to the newspaper article and report abuse (if for no other reason it'll be interesting to see what new scam those rascally Nigerian fraudster invent--stay tuned).

As anyone seen an ad lately for an ESL job offering 4,400 US a month with two weeks off per year and housing near the school?

The Peebles site pulled it.

uaeobserver · Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 236

Dot TK --- what a humorous web site suffix.

Rest easy, the initials have no link to the boss.

Dot TK represents web site from Tokelau --- a South Pacific region in New Zealand.

Read all about it, here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tk

kiefer · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 268

UAE O.
Thanks for adding to the search engine tags. Don't trust opportunities with an URL ending in dot TK!

The dot TK suffix has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, even as an IT device to snip lengthy URLs of CALL sites built at free hosts.

If the folks on that tiny island wish to remain credible as a potential dubya dubya dubya players, they're going to have to reign in fraudsters.

I'm guessing that Global Recruit is not the first bunch of scam artists to discover that legit websites can have pointers which appear to the less informed to be legit if the address reads legitimatewebsite.tk

Who knows? Maybe the bulk of their business comes not from people trying to snip URLS but from fraudsters. When one seeks to buy a domain name, dot tk is never an option as a suffix (i.e. dot com, dot net, dot info, etc) and dot tk has been around for quite a few years now.

I've written and asked those dot tk folks to take a closer look at the pointer directing surfers to a UAE ministry, but so far, after one week, they haven't responded.

Possibly, the dot TK folks let bots do all the work, collecting fees from credit cards.

boomerang_kid · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:40 pm Post subject:

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Well, I finally got an answer that seemed to be leading to "the hook" of the matter (i.e., the request for money) Shocked