Moneygram/Azimo testing scam Thread poster: qwerty2qwertz
|
|---|
qwerty2qwertz
United States
Local time: 05:39
German to English
+ ...
Received the following scam e-mail a short while ago (this appears to be the same as the "secret shopper"/"Western Union testing" scam noted in the wiki ( See more Received the following scam e-mail a short while ago (this appears to be the same as the "secret shopper"/"Western Union testing" scam noted in the wiki ( http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Detecting_and_reacting_to_false_job_offers_and_other_scams#.22Secret_Shopper_.2F_Wester_Union_testing.22_scam ):
******************************************
Good Evening,
I am an agent conducting evaluations for Azimo.
Azimo was born of frustration at the money transfer industry. So
much waste, cost and poor customer service. Set up by a super hard-working team, we think we’ve created a
better way to send money overseas.
We believe sending money abroad should be fast, easy and good
value for everyone
We have created a way to send money that suits how people live
today – online, mobile and social.
We are currently searching for individuals in the USA to help us
with our research.
Currently, we have not commenced operation in the USA hence we
want to conduct a research on our rival and leverage on her
weaknesses before introducing our start-up to the US market.
The Moneygram is a company that offers just money transfer
services.
The sole aim of this job is to research the services of any
Moneygram in your area.
We have received a lot of reports about their poor services.
Hence i will give you a detailed job description in key points.
1. You are to locate a Moneygram office you intend to
research.( If you need a list of Moneygram in your area please
specify.)
2. A check would be sent to you to enable you have funds that
would be transferred to another researcher
like you who would be evaluating another Moneygram office in
his / her location
3. You deposit the check into your account.
4. You deduct your wage of $240
5. You transfer the remaining money(after the subtraction of your
wage and possible bank charges) to the name and address that
would
be communicated to you.
*NOTE* during the transfer process, you observe key things that
would be sent to you inform of a questionnaire via email/mail to
enable you give us a detailed feed back of the whole process.
6. After the transfer, you fill out the questionnaire and give a
general comment about the whole process.
The reports would be used to make our services at Azimo be
better.
Materials needed for the evaluation would be mailed to you.
Hence your duties would be to go to a Moneygram outlet in your
locality as a customer.
You do not require any experience in this field as detailed
guidelines would be given to you to ensure a successful
completion.
This role would pay $240 per research carried out.
To confirm your interest for this job, kindly respond with your
full name, Full address and cell phone number.
We await your urgent response. Thank you for your help, we look
forward to working with you.
Kind Regards,
Azimo Research®
https://azimo.com/en/
----------------------------------------
This message was sent to you via the ProZ.com directory.
Sender: [redacted due to forum rules]
Sender's profile: [redacted due to forum rules]
Sender's IP address: 100.9.194.20
To adjust your ProZ.com email preferences, visit this page:
http://proz.com/?sp=ef
For technical assistance, please submit a support request:
http://proz.com/support ▲ Collapse
| | | |
How could this be a scam if it involves a check being sent to you that needs to clear for there to be any further interaction between you and the scammer?
So what is the scam here if you respond? They fail to send you the check and "convince" you to transfer them $500 out of your pocket and keep 240 for yourself so that they make $260?
I don't understand.
[Edited at 2015-05-28 22:30 GMT]
| | | | James McVay 
United States
Local time: 06:39
Russian to English
+ ...
| Two possibilities | May 29, 2015 |
Other than the unlikely case that it's a legitimate offer, that is...
1) It's money laundering (less likely).
2) The check appears to be a legitimate cashiers check, but your bank later determines it's a forgery and deducts the amount of the check from your account -- after you have transferred the $260. You think you made an easy $240, but instead you're out of pocket $260.
Think about it. If all they want is a report on how Moneygram does business, why ma... See more Other than the unlikely case that it's a legitimate offer, that is...
1) It's money laundering (less likely).
2) The check appears to be a legitimate cashiers check, but your bank later determines it's a forgery and deducts the amount of the check from your account -- after you have transferred the $260. You think you made an easy $240, but instead you're out of pocket $260.
Think about it. If all they want is a report on how Moneygram does business, why make the amount so large? Any amount would do. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I wonder what would happen... | May 29, 2015 |
if the receiver of the check simply kept the whole amount.
The whole thing doesn´t make sense to me.
It´s usually easy to discover what a scammer wants, but in these case it is not clear to me.
| | |
|
|
|
qwerty2qwertz
United States
Local time: 05:39
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | This is a well-known scam. | May 29, 2015 |
Like I pointed out in my original post, this is a variation of the Secret Shopper/Western Union testing scam documented in the ProZ wiki (see http://wiki.proz.com/wiki/index.php/Detecting_and_reacting_to_false_job_offers_and_other_scams#.22Secret_Shopper_.2F_Wester_Union_testing.22_scam). Here's what the wiki entry says about this scam:
"How it works
- Scammer contacts you impersonating a service evaluation company such as Secret Shopper, allegedly to employ you as a tester of quality of the services of money transfer company, usually Western Union.
- You will receive a check,cash it, keep an amount per transaction as your fee and use the remaining money to make wire transfers to anotother contact in order to evaluate the service of the money transfer company and to report on them.
- The checks or money orders used to pay you are forgeries, or stolen and they bounce even if originally accepted by your bank and you lose the amount you sent in the "test transfers" (and may also have legal problems because of the bad checks you deposited in your bank)."
▲ Collapse
| | | | Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 18:39
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
tanert wrote:
How could this be a scam if it involves a check being sent to you that needs to clear for there to be any further interaction between you and the scammer?
So what is the scam here if you respond? They fail to send you the check and "convince" you to transfer them $500 out of your pocket and keep 240 for yourself so that they make $260?
I don't understand.
[Edited at 2015-05-28 22:30 GMT]
I never thought I would actually see someone gullible enough to fall for what is essentially a variation of the most common scam in the book.
| | | | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 12:39
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER
Lincoln Hui wrote:
I never thought I would actually see someone gullible enough to fall for what is essentially a variation of the most common scam in the book.
You would be very surprised to see how many people really fall for what is a classical scam!
| | | | | The key is YOUR credit rating with YOUR bank | May 29, 2015 |
Natalie wrote:
You would be very surprised to see how many people really fall for what is a classical scam!
If you have a good credit rating with your bank, without asking, they'll convert an incoming foreign check/funds transfer as cash credited to your account immediately, under the proviso that they'll charge your account for that amount plus fees in case it bounces.
The interest and risk are covered in the hefty fees banks charge for you to receive, e.g. a wire transfer, and the bouncing fees help that.
Of course, if you are a new client at the bank, or if your credit rating there is not that high, they'll have you wait, often for a month or more, until the transfer clears definitively, before crediting your account.
| | |
|
|
|
Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 04:39
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam | Bank will confirm | May 29, 2015 |
Recently I played along with a scammer long enough to get him to send me a check... a fairly large amount in 4 figures. Coincidentally it was even supposedly drawn on the same bank I use. I took it directly to the bank manager and he could see it was a forgery just by looking at it, which I could also see, and upon verifying the account, he confirmed it was false.
Just don't send them any money. End of story.
| | | | | can't think of any title | Jun 1, 2015 |
Lincoln Hui wrote:
I never thought I would actually see someone gullible enough to fall for what is essentially a variation of the most common scam in the book.
Lincoln, it's rather that the people can't be bothered to read anything. You send the link, you try to summarize it to them, but no, they just ignore you, instead of engaging in all kinds of ridiculous speculation (which is mostly quite gullible, yes ). I doubt those couple of individuals here bothered to read what the original poster copy pasted for them from the wiki article. I had very same situation in another thread here where people were engaging in all kind of ludicrous speculation about what was basically the most primitive CV theft. They'd devote any time and effort to it rather then spend a couple of minutes reading what others already found out for them.
But I wanted to ask about that Azimo thing. I've never heard of it, is it legitimate and they just pretend to be from that company?
[Edited at 2015-06-01 18:09 GMT]
| | | | Vie007
Local time: 03:39
Vietnamese to English
+ ...
| "Sender's IP address: 100.9.194.20" | Jun 1, 2015 |
[quote]
----------------------------------------
This message was sent to you via the ProZ.com directory.
Sender: [redacted due to forum rules]
Sender's profile:
With this info (Sender's IP address: 100.9.194.20) would local authorities do something about it?
| | | | qwerty2qwertz
United States
Local time: 05:39
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Katarzyna Slowikova wrote:
But I wanted to ask about that Azimo thing. I've never heard of it, is it legitimate and they just pretend to be from that company?
[Edited at 2015-06-01 18:09 GMT]
Azimo is a legitimate online international money transfer processor headquartered in the UK, which the scammer apparently used to lend himself/herself an air of legitimacy. However, this was undermined by the fact that they sent the message from a Gmail account.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Moneygram/Azimo testing scam | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
