SCAM/FRAUD AND THE GENIUNE: April 2010

Thursday, April 29, 2010

JOB BOARD

A job board is a website that facilitates job hunting. and range from large scale generalist sites to niche job boards for job categories such as engineering, legal, insurance, social work, teaching as well as cross-sector categories such as green jobs, ethical jobs and seasonal jobs. Users can typically deposit their résumés and submit them to potential employers, while employers can post job ads and search for potential employees.
The term job search engine might refer to a job board with a search engine style interface, or to a web site that actually indexes and searches other web sites.
As of July 2009 and according to comScore Media Metrix, the most visited job boards were CareerBuilder, Yahoo! HotJobs, and Monster.com.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

know lot about online jobs and other activities

CareerBuilder / careerbuilder.com

CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder.com was founded in 1994 by Rob McGovern. It is the largest online job site in the United States, with more than 23 million unique visitors each month and a 34% market share of help-wanted web sites in the United States. CareerBuilder.com provides online career search services for more than 1900partners as of March 2008, including 140 newspapers and portals such as America Online and MSN.
Careerbuilder.com is jointly owned by the Gannett Company, The McClatchy Company and the Tribune Company.A 2007 deal was completed, in which Microsoft will acquire a minority stake in the firm and continue its relationship through 2013 with CareerBuilder as the exclusive content provider for the MSN Careers channel.
On September 3, 2008, Gannett acquired an additional 10% stake in CareerBuilder from Tribune for $135 million. Ownership stakes as of that date are as follows: Gannett (50.8%), Tribune (30.8%), McClatchy (14.4%), and Microsoft (4%).

FOR MORE VISIT-
http://www.careerbuilder.com/

Monster Employment Index/MONSTER.COM

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly analysis of online job demand conducted by Monster Worldwide. Based on a real-time review of millions of opportunities culled from a large selection of job boards including Monster, the Index presents a timely snapshot of employer online recruitment activity in the United States and Europe.
Because recruiting typically precedes actual hiring by a month or two, the Monster Employment Index is considered an important leading labor market indicator and an early gauge of the overall economy. It also provides a benchmark for the growing online recruiting industry, which is benefiting from the secular shift in advertising from print to the Internet.
The U.S. Monster Employment Index is released the day prior to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Situation while the Monster Employment Index Europe is published on the second Tuesday of each month.

FOR MORE VISIT-
http://corporate.monster.com/Press_Room/MEI.html
http://intelligence.monster.com/

AFFILIATE MARKETING AS ONLINE JOBS

Affiliate marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.
Affiliate marketing is also the name of the industry where a number of different types of companies and individuals are performing this form of Internet marketing, including affiliate networks, affiliate management companies, and in-house affiliate managers, specialized third party vendors, and various types of affiliates/publishers who promote the products and services of their partners.
Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods to some degree, because affiliates often use regular advertising methods. Those methods include organic search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, and in some sense display advertising. On the other hand, affiliates sometimes use less orthodox techniques, such as publishing reviews of products or services offered by a partner.
Affiliate marketing—using one website to drive traffic to another—is a form of online marketing, which is frequently overlooked by advertisers. While search engines, e-mail, and website syndication capture much of the attention of online retailers, affiliate marketing carries a much lower profile. Still, affiliates continue to play a significant role in e-retailers' marketing strategiesMORE -- VISIT 1. http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Authoring/Webmaster_Resources/Affiliate_Programs/2. http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Business_Opportunities/Directories/Web_Site_Affiliate_Programs/3. http://botw.org/top/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Authoring/Webmaster_Resources/Affiliate_Programs/

CLICK FRAUD

Click fraud is a type of Internet crime that occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having actual interest in the target of the ad's link. Click fraud is the subject of some controversy and increasing litigation due to the advertising networks being a key beneficiary of the fraud.
Use of a computer to commit this type of Internet fraud is a felony in many jurisdictions, for example, as covered by Penal code 502 in California, USA, and the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the United Kingdom. There have been arrests relating to click fraud with regard to malicious clicking in order to deplete a competitor's advertising budget.

Pay per click (PPC)

Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content websites, such as blogs, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an advertisement to visit the advertisers' website. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. When a user types a keyword query matching an advertiser's keyword list, or views a webpage with relevant content, the advertisements may be displayed. Such advertisements are called sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to or above the "natural" or organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a webmaster or blogger chooses on a content page. Content websites commonly charge a fixed price for a click rather than use a bidding mechanism.
Although many PPC providers exist, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the largest network operators as of 2007. Minimum prices per click, often referred to as costs per click (CPC), vary depending on the search engine and the level of competition for a particular phrase or keyword list—with some CPCs as low as US$0.01. Very popular search terms can cost much more on popular search engines. The PPC advertising model is open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and other search engines have implemented automated systems to guard against abusive clicks by competitors or corrupt webmasters.

DATA ENTRY , ONLINE JOBS , FREELANCE , PAY PER POST, ETC SCAM OR NOT???

IMPORTANCE INFORMATION ABOUT ONLINE JOBS(fake companies)Friends this is not only my experience but the truth.We used to search in different search engines like google, seo, yahoo etc to know about online jobs, data entry, freelance online jobs etc. We get lots of companies related to this search.companies like :a. data entryb. online businessc. pay per postd. affiliatese. pay per click adsf. pay per playg. freelanceh. partime online jobsi. full time online jobsj. offline data entryetc and etcthese kinds of companies sites we get while searching about online jobs.Friends infact they all are fake cheater even freelance.I don't forece not to do any jobs but at last you will get only experience about the companies how you were cheated by them. Don't waste your time doing such jobs. They all will take your time and make you employed paying nothing that's it. In the internet all are only affiliates program. Some might be particularly others but they don't pay you even a paisa.All are affiliate programs. All companies are just making members and increasing members through referal program or by selling their unuseful products or services free or charging some amount.While searching " free online jobs " you'll get same fake companies as i listed using their characters of advertisement.Here is the reason why they are fake cheater. They offers that we can enter 100% free but after our entrance they makes us to purchase some of their marketed softwares or tools that charges us. If they were 100% free why they comes to charge using their such products or services.Friends they are cheating us through false advertisement. So they are fake companies.

NEO BUX IS SCAM OR NOT???

Neobux is one of the hottest Paid to Click (PTC) which prelaunched in Late March till Early April. Its Alexa ranking has been moving up non stop since early May (official launch) and its current rank is around 5000. So what makes it so great? What drives people to visit Neobux and continue using it? Is it Neobux a scam or not?This is the statement what we found in the popular sites forum.But is this really scam or not? that is not clear.Here is some datas that makes people clear is it scam or not ???Min PTC : $0.01/$0.015 (This refers to the value you earn to click)Min payout : $2.00 (This refers to the value you must have in order to cash out)Referral Commission: 1 Level $0.005/ $0.01Payout duration: INSTANT PAYMENT!!!!Latest payment proof: Click here (41x)Friends let me talk about neobux the new hot online parttime business or job let us say.This program is 100% affiliate program. It says earn through per click. But the main target is to make lots of members through referring program. That has been clear from the given rates. They gave you 4 ads in average per day to view. And their is clearly given the rates of viewing ads. $0.01/$0.015. It means your daily earning is 4*0.01=$0.04. That takes u around 1-5 minutes minimum. Now this program why people are so crazy about joining this program day by day in a large scale. Because this is 30 min job.Now can a people afford this job. Can they survive doing this job. Think of your using computers and electricity bills. They are far expensive than what you earn from neobux.So the only thing in this you have to do is refer others ie your friends and others to join through you. How much you make members that much your are credited if only they also do same as you. ie view ads and make others referral to them. ie every members you make should be active as you to survive. Because referral commission is : 1 Level $0.005/ $0.01.now calculate how you can earn per day.if you refer 1 member- $0.005*4=$0.02+$0.04=$0.06 is your real earning per day.if you refer 2 members- $0.005*(4*2)=$0.04+$0.04=$0.08 is your real earning per day.if you refer 10 members-$0.005*(4*10)=$0.2+$0.04=$0.24 is your real earning per day.if you refer 50 members - $0.005*(4*50)=$1+$0.04=$1.04 is your real earning per day.it means if you are serious and all the members you made are active then your approximate earning will beif your refer 50 members - $0.005*(4*50)=$1+$0.04=$1.04*30=$31.2 will be your monthly earning.may be so more if they are little more active.Now to make 50 members you need more times. And also more use of computers and more electricity bills depreciation of machine ie computer and internet bill. Now think what to do and not to do. Friends if you are very serious you can make more members and for that you have to motivate them. Lots of pressure.And more important thing - if you are not continuously viewing their ads or might be one of your member is not active ie not continuously viewing the ads you amount and your membership will be cut from them.Now think Is this scam or not???My rating for this business is 4 out of 10. I GAVE THEM 4 BECAUSE THEY HAVE COVERED LOT IN SCAMMING AREA. I MEAN THEY HAVE EARNED LOT MARKET DOING SUCH SCAMMING.

bux.com is scam or not

bux.com is affiliate program. bux is like neobux, bux.to and other bux programs.This company provides advertisement which are to be displayed by each and every members. Those advertisement are not shown to exact targetted customers. So, no use of giving advertisements to those bux, neobux and others affiliate program which targets the advertisements shown within their members not the real customers. In this case this bux... is scam. They are serving out of law. Advertisers are cheated from such fake companies. They are to make money not to taget the real customers.If talking in a view to members, friends do not involve with such affiliate programs. They are real cheaters. Who cheats the advertisers they can cheat the members too. I mean they are really cheating. Let me make u clear,They are giving members some ads each day to view. Their main target is to refer others and make little more. Each ad contains $0.002. Think how much you can earn per month. This is really a scam company. I give 3 out of 10 according to market. 3 BECAUSE THEY ARE REALLY ATTRACTING MORE INTERNET USER. BUT FRIEND I SUGGEST U BETTER DO SOMETHING ELSE. U'LL FINE MORE JUST VISIT NEXT POST.

ONLINE JOBS

online jobOnline job is related to internet connected computer jobs those are only done online. Some of them are offline too which don't need internet connection. Jobs are data entry medical transaction, pay per post, pay per data entered, and many others ie typing jobs.(Be careful of all the fake jobs while searching you'll be cheated only)1.The basic needs for online jobsa. internet surfingb. typing speed of at least 50 wps or morec. listening and accuracy power of at least 95%2. The advance needs for online jobsa. programming knowledge php, c++, .net(client server) and others ie demanding in modern world.b. webpage designing & developingc. others diploma course in it3. The professional needs for online jobsa. marketing skill & knowledgeb. knowledge of business strategyc. others which are needed in professional life which field you are in.Friends if you are known of these skills and knowledge then you are perfect for doing online jobs.Otherwise don't waste your time in searching jobs. Instead of doing search go back to home and start making your such skill if you are interested in doing online jobs.Note: if you are of such skill you can find jobs as your choice.There are lots of genuine companies who are searching perfect person. You can find job in every level ie if you have basic skills also From this blog you'll find the jobs provider companies and their offers of employment. Don't worry. But wait for next post.

Avoiding Internet investment scams/FRAUD

The US Security Exchange Commission have enumerated guidelines on how to avoid internet investment scams. The summary are as follows:
The Internet allows individuals or companies to communicate with a large audience without spending a lot of time, effort, or money. Anyone can reach tens of thousands of people by building an Internet web site, posting a message on an online bulletin board, entering a discussion in a live "chat" room, or sending mass e-mails.
If you want to invest wisely and steer clear of frauds, you must get the facts.
The types of investment fraud seen online mirror the frauds perpetrated over the phone or through the mail. Consider all offers with skepticism.
Do not use your credit card number and cvv number to buy products from online lesser known merchants.

SHORT-SELLING OR"SCALPING" SCHEMES FRAUD/SCAM

This scheme takes a similar approach to the "pump-and-dump" scheme, by disseminating false or fraudulent information through chat rooms, forums, internet boards and via email (spamming), but this time with the purpose of causing dramatic price decreases in a specific company's stock. Once the stock reaches a certain low level, criminals buy the stock or options on the stock, and then reverse the false information or just wait for it to wear off with time or to be disproved by the company or the media. Once the stock goes back to its normal level, the criminal sells the stock or option at a profit

PUMP-AND-DUMP SCHEMES FRAUD/SCAM

False and/or fraudulent information is disseminated in chat rooms, forums, internet boards and via email (spamming), with the purpose of causing a dramatic price increase in thinly traded stocks or stocks of shell companies (the "pump"). As soon as the price reaches a certain level, criminals immediately sell off their holdings of those stocks (the "dump"), realizing substantial profits before the stock price falls back to its usual low level. Any buyers of the stock who are unaware of the fraud become victims once the price falls. When they realize the fraud, it is too late to sell. They lost a high percentage of their money. Even if the stock value does increase, the stocks may be hard to sell because of lack of interested buyers, leaving the shareholder with the shares for a far longer term than desired.

STOCK MARKET MANIPULATION SCHEMES FRAUD/SCAM

These are also called investment schemes online. Criminals use these to try to manipulate securities prices on the market, for their personal profit. According to enforcement officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the 2 main methods used by these criminals are:

PAYPAL FRAUD/SCAM

This is new form of fraud where a buyer (a scammer) will target ebay auctions which are "Collection in person" and will have a fake address or storage address with P.O Box (as ebay/paypal now allows un-confirmed address and these transactions are not covered by seller protection.) What these people will do is buy an item from the seller and intend to collect it in person. This person will collect the item and will claim back, stating he hasn't received the item. Paypal has user policy that IF they don't have a tracking number they will grant the money back to the scammer (Paypal does not take video evidence, signature proof or any other proof as valid collection.)
It is strongly suggested if you are selling items with collection in person that you do cash transactions by handing the item and collecting cash to avoid the scheme.

AUCTION AND RETAIL SCHEMES ONLINE FRAUD/SCAM

Fraudsters launch auctions on eBay or TradeMe with very low prices and no reservations especially for high priced items like watches, computers or high value collectibles. They received payment but never deliver, or deliver an item that is less valuable than the one offered, such as counterfeit, refurbished or used. Some fraudsters also create complete webstores that appear to be legitimate, but they never deliver the goods. They take payment but never shipped the order. In some cases, some stores or auctioneers are legitimate but eventually they stopped shipping after cashing the customers' payments.
Sometimes fraudsters will combine phishing to hijacking legitimate member accounts on eBay, typically with very high numbers of positive feedback, and then set up a phony online store. They received payment usually via check, money-order, cash or wire transfer but never deliver the goods; then they leave the poor, unknowing eBay member to sort out the mess. In this case the fraudster collects the money while ruining the reputation of the conned eBay member and leaving a large number of people without the goods they thought they purchased.
Another variation of fraud is for a seller to ship an item with USPS delivery confirmation (but not require signature) to an incorrect address that is within the buyer's zipcode. The item shipped is usually an empty envelope with no return address and no recipient name. That successfully triggers the delivery confirmation receipt so the seller can claim the package has been delivered. Standard USPS Delivery Confirmation only tracks to the zipcode level, not to the specific address.

PHARMING FRAUD/SCAM

Pharming is the exploitation of a vulnerability in the DNS server software that allows a hacker to acquire the domain name for a site, and to redirect that website's traffic to another web site. DNS servers are the machines responsible for resolving internet names into their real addresses - the "signposts" of the internet.
If the web site receiving the traffic is a fake web site, such as a copy of a bank's website, it can be used to "phish" or steal a computer user's passwords, PIN or account number. Note that this is only possible when the original site was not SSL protected, or when the user is ignoring warnings about invalid server certificates.
For example, in January 2005, the domain name for a large New York ISP, Panix, was hijacked to a site in Australia. In 2004 a German teenager hijacked the eBay.de domain name.
Secure e-mail provider Hushmail was also caught by this attack on 24 April 2005 when the attacker rang up the domain registrar and gained enough information to redirect users to a defaced webpage.Anti-pharming technologies are now available

EMAIL SPOOFING FRAUD/SCAM

The sender information shown in e-mails (the "From" field) can be spoofed easily, though nowadays many domains have the Sender Policy Framework implemented, which helps prevent the e-mail spoofing. This technique is commonly used by Spammers to hide the origin of their e-mails and leads to problems such as misdirected bounces (i.e. e-mail spam backscatter).

PHISHING FROUD/SCAM

Phishing FRAUD/SCAM
"Phishing" is the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business with a real need for such information in a seemingly official electronic notification or message (most often an email, or an instant message). It is a form of social engineering attack.
The term was coined in the mid 1990s by crackers attempting to steal AOL accounts. An attacker would pose as an AOL staff member and send an instant message to a potential victim. The message would ask the victim to reveal his or her password, for instance to "verify your account" or to "confirm billing information". Once the victim gave over the password, the attacker could access the victim's account and use it for criminal purposes, such as spamming.
Phishing has been widely used by fraudsters using spam messages masquerading as large banks (Citibank, Bank of America) or PayPal. These fraudsters can copy the code and graphics from legitimate websites and use them on their own sites to create legitimate-looking scam web pages. They can also link to the graphics on the legitimate sites to use on their own scam site. These pages are so well done that most people cannot tell that they have navigated to a scam site. Fraudsters will also put the text of a link to a legitimate site in an e-mail but use the source code to links to own fake site. This can be revealed by using the "view source" feature in the e-mail application to look at the destination of the link or putting the cursor over the link and looking at the code in the status bar of the browser. Although many people don't fall for it, the small percentage of people that do fall for it, multiplied by the sheer numbers of spam messages sent, presents the fraudster with a substantial incentive to keep doing it.Anti-phishing technologies are now available

INTERNET MARKETING SEO FRAUD/SCAM

This type of fraud involves a supposed internet marketing specialist presenting a prospective client with detailed graphs and charts that indicate that the client's web site receives (x) thousands of hits per month. The specialist claims that payment for his services will increase web traffic, thus increasing the site's sales revenue. After payment the marketer does not provide the proposed services.

INTERNET TICKET FRAUD/SCAM

A variation of internet marketing fraud is offering tickets to sought-after events such as concerts, shows and sports events. The tickets turn out to be fake or are simply never delivered. The proliferation of online ticket agencies and the existence of experienced and dishonest ticket touts has fuelled this kind of fraud in recent years. Many such scams are run by British ticket touts, though they may base their operations in other countries.
A prime example was the global Beijing Olympic Games ticket fraud run by US-registered Xclusive Leisure and Hospitality, sold through a professionally-designed website, www.beijingticketing.com with the name "Beijing 2008 Ticketing". On 4 August it was reported that more than $50 million worth of fake tickets had been sold through the website. On 6 August it was reported that the person behind the scam, which was wholly based outside China, was a British ticket tout, Terance Shepherd.

INTERNET MARKETING AND RETAIL FRAUD/SCAM

This is a fast-growing area of internet fraud perpetrated by dishonest internet marketing and retail sites. A variety of products and services are involved. The customer is tricked by a legitimate-looking site and effective marketing into giving their credit card information and CVV number, or sending cash by other means, in exchange for what they believe to be the goods or services. The goods never arrive, turn out to be fake, or are products worth less than those advertised.
Where a credit card is involved, the perpetrators may also aim to use the customer's credit card information to obtain cash or to make purchases of their own. A common example of this type of fraud are pornographic websites that advertise free access. Upon further inspection, however, a credit card is required "for age verification purposes only". The scammers then use your credit card information to make large charges to the credit card.
In cases involving fake or worthless goods, many are health products, related to health fraud. These products might advertise anything from a quick way to lose weight to a cure for a serious disease, and may:
• promise a lot, claiming they can "do it all"
• claim to be a "scientific breakthrough", featuring fake doctors or scientists making claims for the product, with technical jargon that only experts in the field know is used falsely
• feature a long list of "personal testimonials", with no way to check if they are true or fake.
Once your credit card information is given to these type of scam companies, they usually will charge you no matter what type of cancellation you attempt to go through. This can often be overcome by contacting the credit card company. Credit and consumer protection laws in many countries hold the credit card company liable to refund their customers' money for goods or services purchased with the card but not delivered. The loss is then suffered by the card company, but ultimately passed on to customers in higher interest and fees.

INTERNATIONAL MODEM DIALLING FRAUD/SCAM

Customers of dial-up Internet Service Providers, such as AOL, use a modem to dial a local connection number. Some web sites, normally containing adult content, use international dialing to trick consumers into paying to view content on their web site. Often these sites purport to be free and advertise that no credit card is needed. They then prompt the user to download a "viewer" or "dialer" to allow them to view the content. Once the program is downloaded it disconnects the computer from the Internet and proceeds to dial an international long distance or premium rate number, charging anything up to US$7-8 per minute. An international block is recommended to prevent this, but in the U.S. and Canada, calls to the Caribbean (except Haiti) can be dialed with a "1" and a three-digit area code, so such numbers, as well as "10-10 dial-round" phone company prefixes, can circumvent an international block. One example is www4.bux.to

CLICK FRAUD/SCAM

The latest scam to hit the headlines is the multi-million dollar click fraud which occurs when advertising network affiliates force paid views or clicks to ads on their own websites via spyware, the affiliate is then paid a commission on the cost-per-click that was artificially generated. Affiliate programs such as Google's Adsense capability pay high commissions that drive the generation of bogus clicks. With paid clicks costing as much as US$100[verification needed] and an online advertising industry worth more than US$10 billion, this form of Internet fraud is on the increase.

DATING SCAMS/FRAUDS

Online dating scams and fraud are almost as old as Internet dating itself. Often called a Sweetheart Swindle this is often a long, drawn out process in which the con artist develops a relationship, and eventually convinces the victim to send money. The scammer often meets the victim in chat rooms or via online dating sites. Their object is not to get into their hearts, but get into their wallets. They will try to earn someone's affections and trust so that they can persuade him/her to send money. The requests for money can either be a one time event or repeated over an extended period of time. The details of the scammers' stories will vary with each case. The scenario commonly revolves around a tragedy having befallen the scammer, and he/she desperately needs money. After spending time communicating and building a relationship with the victim, the scammer will ask for help in the form of money. Most online dating services have a hard time dealing with scammers, outside of issuing warnings to their users to be alert for anyone you've never met asking for money.
Some potential indicators you may be dealing with a dating scam:
The online sweetie says, "I love you" almost immediately.
The person asks for money, to cash a check or money order.
The person claims to be a U.S. citizen who is abroad, well off, or a person of importance.
The person claims to be a contractor and needs help with a business deal.
The person claims to need money for a parent's "operation in the hospital".
The person will have an attractive photo posted on the website, but won't be willing to send you any other photos. Most likely, that is not a real photo of the scammer.

MONEY TRANSFERS FRAUD/SCAM

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

RE-SHIPPERS FRAUD/SCAM

Re-shipping scams trick individuals or small businesses into shipping goods to countries with weak legal systems. The goods are generally paid for with stolen or fake credit cards.

CASH THE CHECK SYSTEM FRAUD

In some cases, fraudsters approach merchants and ask for large orders: $50,000 to $200,000, and agree to pay via wire transfer in advance. After brief negotiation, the buyers gives an excuse about the impossibility of sending a bank wire transfer. The buyer then offers to send a check, stating that the merchant can wait for the check to clear before shipping any goods. The check received, however, is a counterfeit of a check from a medium to large U.S. company. If asked, the buyer will claim that the check is money owed from the large company. The merchant deposits the check and it clears, so the goods are sent. Only later, when the larger company notices the check, will the merchant's account be debited.
In some cases, the fraudsters agree to the wire but ask the merchant for their bank's address. The fraudsters send the counterfeited check directly to the merchant's bank with a note asking to deposit it to the merchant's account. Unsuspecting bank officers deposit the check, and then the fraudster contacts the merchant stating that they made a direct deposit into the merchant's account.
In other cases, fraudsters approach merchants for smaller orders: $2000 to $10,000 offering to pay with a check. They send the check and the instructions state that the merchant has to deposit the check, wait for it a couple days to clear and send the "excess" funds vira Western Union money transfer to an account in another country. The fraudsters send fake checks but drawn on the real accounts of large U.S. companies, which will probably clear immediately.

ONLINE AUTOMOTIVE FRAUD

There are two basic schemes in online automotive fraud:
1. A fraudster posts a vehicle for sale on an online site, generally for luxury or sports cars advertised for thousands less than market value. The details of the vehicle, including photos and description, are typically lifted from sites such as ebay motors or Autoscout24 and re-posted elsewhere. An interested buyer, hopeful for a bargain, emails the seller, who responds saying the car is still available but is located overseas. He then instructs the buyer to send a deposit via wire transfer to initiate the "shipping" process. The unwitting buyer wires the funds, and does not discover until days or weeks later that they were scammed.
2. A fraudster feigns interest in an actual vehicle for sale on the Internet. The "buyer" explains that a client of his is interested in the car, but due to an earlier sale that fell through has a certified check for thousands more than the asking price and requests the seller to send the balance via wire transfer. If the seller agrees to the transaction, the buyer sends the certified check via express courier (typically from Nigeria). The seller takes the check to their bank, which makes the funds available immediately. Thinking the bank has cleared the check, the seller follows through on the transaction by wiring the balance to the buyer. Days later, the check bounces and the seller realizes they have been scammed. But the money has long since been picked up and is not recoverable.
In another type of fraud, a fraudster contacts the seller of an automobile, asking for the vehicle identification number (VIN), putatively to check the accident record of the vehicle. However, the supposed buyer actually uses the VIN to make fake papers for a stolen car that is then sold.
COUNTERFEIT CASHIERS CHEQUE SCAM: This recent scam has been reported in Atlanta and Minneapolis. Real estate property owners placing advertisements on Craigslist or rent.com receive an e-mail response from a "24 year old in the U.K. on a research program in the United States". Addresses include john.yearwood__@yahoo.co.uk and kevin_taylor@excite.com.
The first inquiry seems legitimate. The second usually comes with request for more information, and a bogus attachment from JAPAN TOBACCO INC (who has posted information about this scam on its site) indicating that the "student" has won a part time scholarship from the JT UK office. The scam comes with the third e-mail, a request for name and address so that the counterfeit cashiers cheque can be sent. The amount supposedly includes the rent and fees plus an overage for the "student's" travel.
The owner is instructed to cash the cheque and wire the difference back to the student so that they can travel to the U.S. The photos often include a young man in graduation uniform from his college (Note: U.K. colleges are the equivalent to high schools, not universities. One photo includes a rather dumpy, depressed looking girlfriend who must be aware of the scam). Because of the lag between the cashing and clearing of the cheque, the owner does not realize he/she has been had until their account is debited the counterfeit cost and the wired sum. Greedy owners may even decide to keep some of the cheque, only to be had themselves later. It is best not to respond to this type of e-mail and requiring background checks before cashing first rent payments.

PURCHASE SCAMS

The most straightforward type of purchase scam is a buyer in another country approaching many merchants through spamming them and directly asking them if they can ship to them using credit cards to pay.
An example of such email is as follows:
From: XXXXXX XXXXXX [XXXXXXX@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, October 1, 2005 11:35 AM Subject: International order enquiry
Goodday Sales, This is XXXXXX XXXXXXX and I will like to place an order for some products in your store, But before I proceed with listing my requirements, I will like to know if you accept credit card and can ship internationally to Lagos, Nigeria. Could you get back to me with your website so as to forward you the list of my requirements as soon as possible. Regards, XXXXXX XXXXXX, XXXXXXXX Inc. 9999 XXXXX street, Mushin, Lagos 23401, Nigeria Telephone: 234-1-99999999, Fax: 234-1-9999999, Email: XXXXXXXXX@hotmail.com
Most likely, a few weeks or months after the merchant ships and charges the Nigerian credit card, he/she will be hit with a chargeback from the credit card processor and lose all the money.
Counterfeit Postal Money Orders
According to the FBI and postal inspectors, there has been a significant surge in the use of Counterfeit Postal Money Orders since October 2004. More than 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders (CPMOs) were intercepted by authorities from October to December 2004, and according to the USPS, the "quality" of the counterfeits is so good that ordinary consumers can easily be fooled.
On March 9, 2005, the FDIC issued an alert stating that it had learned that counterfeit U.S. Postal Money Orders had been presented for payment at financial institutions.
On April 26, 2005, Tom Zeller Jr. wrote an article in The New York Times regarding a surge in the quantity and quality of the forging of U.S. Postal Money Orders, and its use to commit online fraud. The article shows a picture of a man that had been corresponding with a woman in Nigeria through a dating site, and received several fake postal money orders after the woman asked him to buy a computer and mail it to her.
Who has received Counterfeit Postal Money Orders (CPMOs):
Small Internet retailers.
Classified advertisers.
Individuals that have been contacted through email or chat rooms by fraudsters posing as prospective social interests or business partners, and convinced to help the fraudsters unknowingly.
The penalty for making or using counterfeit postal money orders is up to ten years in jail and a US$25,000 fine.

INTERNET FRAUD/SCAM

"Internet fraud/SCAM" uses online services to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to others connected with the scheme. Internet fraud can occur in chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or Web sites.