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Friday, October 23, 2009

Blue Seal Staffing Scam


Wow, it looks real. We see a lot of certified checks here, and this thing looks REAL. It even does that "VOID" thing in the background when you copy it. Kudos scammers. Except next time, it should say DOLLARS and CENTS, not DOLLAR and CENT. But other than that, top notch, really.
It came in this morning's mail accompanied by a letter from my new bestest friends at Blue Seal Staffing in North Carolina. But strangely the letter came from Canada. Good day, eh? I have been selected to be a mystery shopper! So, here is what I am supposed to do:
1. Deposit the $3,480.
2. Keep $300 for my first week's pay!
3. "Evaluate" Money Gram or Western Union by sending $2,900 to one of Blue Seal Staffing's training agents. Why we couldn't evaluate them for $29 is indeed a good question, and one that will be answered in a moment.
4. Pay the transfer fees of $180.
5. Go buy $100 worth of merchandise at one of several retailers, ostensibly evaluating their service. And I get to keep the merchandise!
That sounds just great, eh? They even did their math correctly. If I do good, I might even get a raise!
Here is what is really going to happen if I went along with this scam. I would deposit the check in my account. Since it is a cashier's check, the funds will probably be available in three days or less. I "keep" my $300.00. I send their "training agent" $2,900. I pay Western Union $180 (does it really cost that much to send money via Western Union? Yowza.) I spend the other $100 on trinkets at any local retailer. Since I want that big raise they promised me, I will send Blue Seal Staffing the forms with all of my personal information. By the time that cashier's check wends through the byzantine maze of banks, I will have spent $3,180. Then my bank will tell me that the check was a forgery, and I get to cover that money I sent.
Well, I thought I would try something different and contact the local authorities to see if they would like to have fun with these folks.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true........

www.thomasmoens.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, first time I'd seen that scam. Kinda funny seeing that you probably don't remember ever filling out a form to participate in such a program either, eh?

Thanks for the tip, I'll let friends and family know to watch out for this cause not everyone pays such attentions to important matters as such.