Internet scam

Dear everyone,

 

Here's a weird that has happened to me lately:

 

I found a job over the internet as a sales coordinator for a

photography agency based in the US, me living in London, we only

have been able to communicate via email.

The job was described as presenting some work to clients, finding

new clients and transfering some money coming from clients to

photographers via western union.

Now here's the weird thing, I've had around ﾣ3500(which is about

$7000) deposed onto my bank account to transfer to some people in

Russia. The thing is that I've never met these people neither have

had a contract with them or anything.

Now I am just wondering if that is normal kind of business in the US

or if I am kind of used as a money lauderer or some kind of things.

 

Any point of vue will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks a lot

Contact your equivalent to the F.B.I. I think it is M.I. 5 or Scotland yard it is at the least a scam at the most money laundering but not legit. It is a scam that is used often search the INTERNET for job scams. If you send the money you could be charged with mail and wire fraud witch is a felony in the U.S.

"Your" bank account? Hopefully a "company" account. If it was in your own account and they had the info to put it there, it's entirely possible that they also have the info to take it out of there. And maybe everything else.

 

It also sounds like money laundering but it may be one of those scams where you get sent a certain amount of money by a "safe" method of transfer, then you deposit it, apparently it clears, you send money on, then the deposit turns out to have been an illegitmate transfer - a counterfeit check, money order, etc. You, however, have sent what appeared to be good money out by a valid method and you are left holding the bag.

 

You should immediately contact the bank and law enforcement. Use of your account and lack of clear contracts should be a tip-off that something may be wrong. If everything is good but unsophisticated, no one will be unhappy to have helped investigate it with you. (Well the Russian criminal gangs aren't likely to be happy.)

Definitely not a legal activity-they are breaking the money trail.

YIKES!!! RUN!!!!

This stinks like a polecat ( I wonder why you chose this site for this and not a legally based one ? )

 

Anyway if what you say is true about them having such access to your bank account then the first thing to do is protect yourself. Go see your bank asap and block any transactions that you do not personally approve in writing.

 

They may also be able to advise you as to what legal steps you should take next and who to report this to - they may even report it themselves. If not, the next step is to contact the police.

Oh Boy! Sorry, but don't you think this thing sounds to good to be true? Man when they say "there's a sucker born everyday" they were right. Why don't people just use some plain ole common sense? Come on!

Well,

 

of course it sounds too good to be true, but sometimes you gota give yourself a chance.

The reason why I posted on this site is that it's related to photography and that I am not English so I didn't know exactly what to look for!

 

Thanks everyone

Sounds like you've unwittingly set yourself up a little laundrette business there, Damien. This isn't very much money so far; they're probably testing your reliability at this stage. Don't take silly risks in pissing anyone off - try to have the funds bounced straight back from whence they came, and of course get the authorities involved - they will know what to do and have the best advice of all. What you don't want is to get a midnight knock on the door from local thugs wondering why you haven't shifted the funds to the Russian destination(s) as instructed. You won't be the first person to have fallen for this (nor the last) - the most important thing now is to get proper advice from local authorities who deal in this kind of stuff daily.

There is another scam going on with a woman who lives in the UK.

 

She preys on artists, photographic and painters, and someone needs to put a stop to her.

 

She says she lives in the UK and is buying a home in Australia. She says she wants to buy about 10 of my paintings (first red flag) and offers to deposit the money into my account ASAP (second red flag).

 

The third red flag is that she knows nothing about me or my work. What FOOL would buy original art without first knowing at least a little about the artist, not to mention the work!

 

It's a klumsy scam but that only pisses me off more. At least give me credit for having a brain and the spunk to nail you when I figure you out ...

 

Watch out for this chick. Lives in the UK, moving to Australia, wants to furnish home with "art" and wants to give you money right away. Little idiot ...

My advice: contact your local police force (presumably the Met.) immediately. They will have a section of the so-called "fraud squad" with responsibilities for internet fraud, etc. You should try to contact them directly and not just wait for them to come back to you,

Also contact your bank.

 

You may have a hard time getting the police to act decisively and quickly. My experience is that due to the bureaucracy and staff working shifts, and different priorities, etc, they can take days to get back to you. Your bank could be more responsive, freezing accounts, etc.

 

I'd suggest you are pretty quick about all this - remember, you do not know what these folk are up to - but they do: they have the initiative. Technically, you may already be close to breaking the law. If you move the money on you most probably will do so.

 

I manage an online shop for a professional institution: within our business we are very wary of money movements like this and of 'notional' sales. If we had someone BACS (Bank Automated Credit Transfer) money to us that was not a direct payment for our goods or services we'd be on the phone to the police straight away.

 

Good luck.

I suspect that this is not money laundering, but a scam to get cash out of you. You send the money to Russia, then your bank discovers that the original deposit was fraudulent and debits your account. (This can sometimes take weeks for an overseas deposit.) I'd definitely call the bank and the police, then wait. Whatever you do, don't move the money, or you could be SOL.

Damien,

This same scam is advertised here in the US, and claims the company is based out of Europe. They advertise on craigslist. Beware! and good luck!

 

gerard