Is someone trying to scam me?!..Need forum's opinion, please!

[Lyda]

I have my resume posted on CareerBuilder.com, and employers looking for my profile can find me there.

This morning I received the following email from some trade company in Switzerland, offering me position to print 200-500 email invoices to be mailed for this company every day, all expenses paid in advance etc, with guaranteed $1800 a month. I am not really naive, but offer seams really attractive and I am trying to find out if they are scaming people.. Googled it, but didn't find any negative info, so I may be gini pig of sorts?

Anyway here is the email:

"Your Career Builder Resume


Dear Candidate,

We have come to the conclusion that you are perfectly fit for our open position, as a part time overseas associate.

Our company needs a person, who has at least 2 hours per day, able to print 200-500 invoices per day.

We support all expenses, including shipping fees, printer hardware, ink, paper and envelopes. We offer 0.30 US Dollars per invoice printed and shipped, with a guarantee $1,800.00 salary per month.

We have at least 200 invoices to print daily for our US clients and it takes 1 hour to print 500.


Your job will be to print our invoices and ship those using Fedex mailing services, using the company’s prepaid account. You can choose to receive the invoices in the morning or evening.

Benefits:

- Working from home...

- Flexible program-2 hours anytime on the day.

- No selling; No telemarketing; No hot calls.

- Checking e-mail, printing invoices, ship the invoices.


Requirements:

- US citizen or permanent residence/green card

- Internet access for sending and receiving e-mails

- Two free hours daily, not including weekends.

If you are interested on starting collaboration with our company then reply with answer to the following question:
Do you know how to use a printer and how to change ink cartridge?
Kind regards

Ms. XXXX XXXXX"

So, yes I responded I use printer evry day and I know how to change cartridges;
I also received a response with contract to scan, sign and email back to them.
Here is the email and contract:

Dear xxxxxx,

You are one step away from being part of our company.

First, let us explain you what exactly are your duties:

1. The company will send you daily a set of invoices. All you
have to do is to download the file and press print. The printer will do the
rest. You can print at least 500 invoices in one hour.

2. Seal every invoice in an envelope. Is no need for writing
addresses on envelopes because you will use windowed envelopes.

3. Call to the shipping company and arrange a pick up hour. The
shipping will be made using the company's prepaid mailing account so you
don't need to put stamps on envelopes.

This is a very simple process and we will provide all the support needed.
After we receive the contract signed, we will send you the money to purchase
all the items required by the job (printer, toner, envelope, paper) and you
will start working right away.
Our company is a trading company located in Switzerland, which provides
trading services for more than 15,000 Alibaba.com's clients.

If you are interested on this position then download the company's contract
attached to this message and email it back signed.
You will be paid twice a month, starting from your first printing day, using
a check or a wire transfer and you need to inform us which payment method is preferred.
We guarantee a minimum salary of $1,800.00 US dollars even if the number of
printed invoices is less than 6000 per month.
As an independent contractor, it will be your obligation to declare your
earnings however we will provide a 1099 at the end of the year.
We prefer to receive the contract scanned with your authentic signature so
you need to print it and then send it scanned.
You can use a digital camera as well if you don't have a scanner.

If you don't have a scanner or a digital camera then you can fax it to
(011) 44-xxx-xxxx-xxx.

Note that this contract is valid from the day is received, until you will
contact us with a 2 weeks cancelation notice.

Kind regards,
Human resources department
Ms. XXXX XXXXXX
Company Name here
Alibaba.com

HERE IS THE CONTRACT ATTACHED:


ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OBLIGATIONS


This Acknowledgment of Obligations (the "Agreement") is made and effective this______________________ (the "Date"),



BETWEEN: ________________________ (the "Employee"), an individual with his main address at:

_________________________________________

__________________________________________



AND: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (the "Company"), a corporation organized and existing under the International laws, with its head office located at:

xxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxx, xxxx

Switzerland



1. Confidentiality


Employee acknowledges that in the course of Employee's employment by Company, Employee will be exposed to valuable confidential and trade secret information of Company. Employee agrees to treat all such information as confidential and to take all necessary precautions against disclosure of such information to third parties during and after the term of this Agreement.

Employee acknowledges that trade secrets of the Company will consist of but will not be necessarily limited to:

A. Technical information: Methods, processes, formulae, compositions, systems, techniques, inventions, machines, computer programs and research projects

B. Business information: Customer lists, pricing data, sources of supply, financial data and marketing, production, or merchandising systems or plans

Employee understands that this Agreement does not and will not prevent him/her from working for any other Company subsequent to the termination of his/her employment with the Company as long as the Employee does not use or disclose any such confidential and proprietary information.





2. TERM AND TERMINATION



The Employee must ship the client’s invoices in 24 hours after the facture is received by email.

A. Either Party may terminate this Agreement following the giving of 14 calendar days prior written notice of termination to the other Party.

B. If Employee terminates this Agreement prior to the expiration of the initial 1 year term, Employee will return the company’s documents.





3. WARRANTY AND LIABILITY



A. In case of any changes in the Employee’s address, the Company shall be informed immediately with a written consent.

B. Except as otherwise set forth herein, neither Party shall be deemed negligent, at fault or liable in any respect to the other for any delay, interruption or failure in performance hereunder resulting from fire, flood, water, the elements, explosions, acts of God, war, accidents, labor disputes, strikes, shortages of equipment or suppliers, unavailability of transportation or other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Party delayed or prevented from performing.

C. Employee shall not be liable for any damages to the company’s hardware for any reason, except to the extent the same is caused solely by the gross negligence or willful misconduct.



4. COMMISSION



A. The Company shall pay the Employee 0.30 US Dollars (30 cents) for every printed invoice.



B. The Company shall pay minimum $1,800.00 US Dollars (salary) every month to the Employee, after this contract is signed.



5. SUPPORT



A. The Company shall support any lack of technical equipment. For expenses, the company will redirect a US client’s payment to employee, which will arrive no longer than 7 business days.

B. Due to the fact that the client’s invoice value can be higher than the expenses, the employee has the obligation to forward the rest of the company’s money in 48 hours from receiving it.

C. The Employee does not have to support any charges, fees, investments or payments in the interest of the company.

D. Company warrants that Employee’s support and training shall be performed in a professional and workmanlike manner.





Note: If you fail to respect any of the terms mentioned above, our collaboration will be terminated.



Employee Signature:___________________

Employee name:______________ ________




What worries me is that I would be giving them my signature on paper, my full address and they obviously have my email already. I googled them but did not find any scams related to company's name,so how do I know?
Another thing that crossed my mind was a famous Nigerian check scams, but they offered wire transfer, so that threw me off a little. No such thing in actual contract mentioned, however. I would never give them my bank account, but I would ask them to pay me by PayPal to my email address.

Now, to me, this all sounds TOO Easy to make extra $1800 a month for few hours of work everyday, right? If they are scamers, they are getting more sophisticated these days because the offer is pretty attractive and believable.

Since I know you guys on Aspkin's forum are THE BEST, I ask for your advice what to do..Has anyone heard of a possible scam similar to this? Thanks a mill in advance and thanks for your time reading all this! and your comments, of course!

[GreenBean]

Have you checked with Customer Service at CareerBuilder? Can they give any references/info about the company? I would hold off signing until I had more info about them. You might think of trying a company title search. If you are not sure what that is let me know

[Lyda]

Thank Girlfriend! I will try to call CareerBuilder tomorrow because there is also in my email a unique number of that Employer. Thanks Girlfriend, the first one to the rescue!!! Got to love ya!!!!!

[Burning]

My brother got emails like these, he just ignored emails from overseas companies like these. There are too many scams.

[gurusgrafx]

If it works out let me know I got a couple extra hours a day I could waste making money.

[Lyda]

I'll call CareerBuilder tomorrow and see what they say...That's the thing, I wouldn't think CareerBuilder would let scammers in....and the offer came from them.. We'll see, but I am not signing anything yet.

[TGMT²]

Quick Note: If you are worried about the signature thing...just have someone else sign your name.

[Lyda]

Lol,TheyGotMeto.... you guys are really THE BEST! Good idea... Actually, very creative! lol..

[waterproof]

Lyda, since I'm learning from the best on the forum, well...here are my 2 cents. Why not check the e-mail for the "full headers", if there are any. There most likely will not be a specific "location" listed, but if it is a legitimate e-mail, especially from CareerBuilder and it being an established site, it just very well may say in the full header when opened where the e-mail is from.?.?
Also, depending on what type of e-mail you have, try going to the whatismyip.com site, and scroll down to the "trace an e-mail address". It may help. I have experimented with a couple of my friends e-mail addresses and their work addresses and either the abreviation of the state came up or the city. All came up correct!
Anyway, just food for thought.

Maybe the company that contacted you is simply trying to save money by having a domestic person pay domestic Fedex costs, instead of one of their own in a non-US country paying international Fedex rates to US recipients.

I can see me getting an idea like that and being willing to pay somebody.

Minimum 200pc per day domestic, guessing $10 less than sending from outside US, means they save 2 grand a day. Well worth paying 1.8 grand per month, I think.

Not saying these people are legit. Just saying they might be, and why.

Give them my email address. I'll send them a resumé.

[Lyda]

Thanks VicVelcro, the Fedex thing make sense. The part that worries me most is stated in Number 5 - B of the contract:

B. Due to the fact that the client’s invoice value can be higher than the expenses, the employee has the obligation to forward the rest of the company’s money in 48 hours from receiving it.

So, lets say they send a check for $3000 towards supplies and my cost is less than $1000. I would need to send back in 48 hours the balance, around $2000. I wouldn't have a problem with that if cleared funds are already in my account, (PayPal comes to mind..) but I am not doing this if they send me a check that I need to deposit, send them the difference after I buy new supplies in 48 hours and than my bank calls 10 days later and tells me that check bounced, so now I am out of my own money and out of money for new printer and supplies. It would be in a nutshell Nigerian scam but presented in much more thought out and sophisticated way.

Besides, even though they mention I would have a choice of receiving the check or wire transfer, I don't see it anywhere I check on that in the contract I'd be signing on.
I guess I need to do my due diligence, call CareerBuilder and have the company modify the contract addressing my concerns before I sign on anything. If they are not willing to do that, than I know its a scam.

Yeah, that does look a bit off. I'm seeing an issue - if the client pays an invoice, would it not normally be payable to the company instead of you? You wouldn't want the check made payable in your name, unless you'd like to try being a scammer. If you want to try switching sides, though... Now would be the time!

Just make sure you deposit those checks in a fresh bank account and not one you are currently using. Don't pull any funds until at least 30 days have passed since deposit.

I advise against becoming a scammer though. For the rest of your life, you'll never be able to hide it from yourself.

[Lyda]

Yea, I don't quite understand 5 - B of the contract. It was my understanding they were referring to part where they originally send me a check for my supplies to start the work, but they may send more than my actual cost of supplies so I wound need to forward back the difference in 48 hours.

You may be right though, I may be indeed sending out invoices which ask for some kind of payments. Good thinking Vic! Of course I don't want to be scammed into becoming a scammer...lol.That's why I posted here to have you guys look at it too....

[GreenBean]

But but but: define the client? The job is meant to be sending invoices to
others & I am reading 'client' as the company offering the job.
So if this is taking 'others' money (& they are not known to Lydia) then this is really heading to scamming. Why would/should Lydia get involve with refunding, forwarding overpayments?
Make sense?

Ok, the way I was reading the thing:

Company (let's say me) is located outside US. Has US clients. Wants to Fedex invoices to clients. Fedex from HQ to US is pricier than US to US. Me, if I had to send physical invoices and my HQ was outside US but invoices were going to US customers, I'd hire a US citizen, send some hardware, send invoices to employee via electronic means, have employee print them, stuff the envelopes, pay the domestic rate, pay the employee a buck, and save myself a ton of bucks. If we're talking 6000 invoices per month, look at the savings. It would be very cost effective to send 2 grand worth of hardware in advance and pay 1.8k per month. Even if the job only lasted a month and I never got the hardware back, I still saved 56.2k (assuming the rate difference is $10 per invoice) and the job got done.

Now, I am wondering though, why can't they just send an electronic invoice to their client and the client print the physical document? There could very well be a reason. I just don't know what it might be. Then again, maybe there is no reason...

[GreenBean]

^^^: agreed: if this party (Lyda) is asked to refund an over-price
(Made that up just for you,vic), then there is a chance of scam.

[Lyda]

Originally Posted by waterproof

Lyda, since I'm learning from the best on the forum, well...here are my 2 cents. Why not check the e-mail for the "full headers", if there are any. There most likely will not be a specific "location" listed, but if it is a legitimate e-mail, especially from CareerBuilder and it being an established site, it just very well may say in the full header when opened where the e-mail is from.?.?
Also, depending on what type of e-mail you have, try going to the whatismyip.com site, and scroll down to the "trace an e-mail address". It may help. I have experimented with a couple of my friends e-mail addresses and their work addresses and either the abreviation of the state came up or the city. All came up correct!
Anyway, just food for thought.

Thanks Waterproof! I use Outlook Express for my email, but I don't really know why its important for me to know where email was sent from? It could be sent from anywhere, US or Switzerland..does it matter? Unless I'd find out it's sent from Nigeria...lol

[Lyda]

Originally Posted by GreenBean

But but but: define the client? The job is meant to be sending invoices to
others & I am reading 'client' as the company offering the job.
So if this is taking 'others' money (& they are not known to Lydia) then this is really heading to scamming. Why would/should Lydia get involve with refunding, forwarding overpayments?
Make sense?

Yea, GB. The more I look at it , the more it looks like a scam to me. I sent an email asking them to clarify things... But you know the saying: " If it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck.....It's a duck!"

GB, I like that term. It's just as good as over-served (which ahem happens to me all the time).

Lyda, if the original email came via CareerBuilder or whatever site it was, it would have their info in the header if it had any info at all, anyhow. Not much help from a header until you actually get an email from whoever these strange people are.

If you want to PM me some details or forward the first email to my email address, I'll start sniffing them out for you. Whatever I come up with, after I pass it back to you, I'm gonna forget I ever saw it.

Have a peep at my profile, and see if maybe you think I can help you out.

[Lyda]

Originally Posted by vicvelcro

Ok, the way I was reading the thing:

Company (let's say me) is located outside US. Has US clients. Wants to Fedex invoices to clients. Fedex from HQ to US is pricier than US to US. Me, if I had to send physical invoices and my HQ was outside US but invoices were going to US customers, I'd hire a US citizen, send some hardware, send invoices to employee via electronic means, have employee print them, stuff the envelopes, pay the domestic rate, pay the employee a buck, and save myself a ton of bucks. If we're talking 6000 invoices per month, look at the savings. It would be very cost effective to send 2 grand worth of hardware in advance and pay 1.8k per month. Even if the job only lasted a month and I never got the hardware back, I still saved 56.2k (assuming the rate difference is $10 per invoice) and the job got done.

Now, I am wondering though, why can't they just send an electronic invoice to their client and the client print the physical document? There could very well be a reason. I just don't know what it might be. Then again, maybe there is no reason...

You are right, thanks for clarifying this for me. This is the email I sent this morning, so let's see what they respond:

Dear Ms. XXXX,

Thank you, I recived the email with contract attached. However, I'd like to
clarify few things before proceeding:

1.) I am not sure what point 5 B of the contract really means and would need
you to elaborate on it, please.

5B. Due to the fact that the client's invoice value can be higher than the
expenses, the employee has the obligation to forward the rest of the company's
money in 48 hours from receiving it.

2.) Exactly what kind of print material would I be sending out:
advertisements, invoices asking for payments? If so, in who's name the
payments would be made for and where would they be sent?

3. You mentioned that I would have a choice of receiving a check or wire
transfer for my services and for the cost of new supplies. However, this is
not part of the contract and it must be. I would need to have funds wired
into my PayPal account, where I would give you the email of my PayPal
account. This is important and I am wondering if you can modify the contract
to reflect this?

I am looking forward to your reply!

Best regards,
My name

Also, just noticed that the company's name has an Gmail address, which is another red flag, right?

[GreenBean]

What do you mean: the last part of their trading name is GmbH.... that's German. It means it is a duly registered company according to Swiss Law.
Gesellschaft mit Beschränkter Haftung (German: limited liability company; business entity)

That looks pretty good. Covers the issues that concern you.

One thing I am thinking - If you have them PP that amount of money to you, combined with any other money you receive into that PP, would that give PP a wiggly-eye? Maybe open a new PP just for that (if it pans out) or open a separate bank account and have them wire direct to the bank. Doing the bank thing will avoid PP getting a slice of your pie.