This is half-pie.

Another posting about spam.

This time, it wasn’t an actual phishing spam, although I’ve had plenty of those in the last few months. This one was probably the other side of the scam: a money transfer agent recruitment “job offer”.

It says “Honest workers needed!” and “we need an official representatives(sic) in New Zealand”. It claims to be from an outfit that sells plasma TVs over the Internet direct to customers in New Zealand. They say their customers can’t pay them directly, and so:

Your work will consist in accepting on your bank account payments for the goods bought from us and send payment our agents via Western Union or Money Gram. The payment for your work will make 5% from the sum which have sent to you […], you should to send other part to our agent via WU or MG.

It sounds too good to be true, and of course, it is. The money I would be transferring, if I accepted the job offer, would be hot money belonging to other New Zealanders who had fallen for phishing scams. The BBC has a good explanation of how it works here.

So Olga Slabikova and Igor Kazakov won’t be getting a reply from me.

The email I received is below.

From bogsuz@msn.com Sat Mar 27 22:59:54 2004 Return-path: <bogsuz@msn.com> Received: from fep12 (fep12-yellow.clear.net.nz [192.168.16.113]) by local-daemon (CLEAR Net Mail) with ESMTP id <0HV600I4IT4G6D@local-daemon> for ******@clear.net.nz; Sat, 27 Mar 2004 02:19:30 +1200 (NZST) Received: from 212.210.251.2 ([212.210.251.2]) by mx3.clear.net.nz (CLEAR Net Mail) with ESMTP id <0HV60016SSZBSY@mx3.clear.net.nz> for ******@clear.net.nz; Sat, 27 Mar 2004 02:19:29 +1200 (NZST) Received: from unknown (HELO localhost) (127.0.0.1) by localhost.suprexk.com with SMTP; Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:12:31 +0000 Received: from 239.112.183.211 (239.112.183.211[239.112.183.211]) by 212.210.251.2 (IMP) with HTTP for <******@clear.net.nz>; Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:12:31 +0000 From: Algernon <bogsuz@msn.com> Subject: Honest Workers Needed!!! X-Originating-IP: 239.112.183.211 X-Envelope-To: ******@clear.net.nz To: Noll <******@clear.net.nz> Message-id: <8554701080295951@212.210.251.2> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) 3.2.2 Original-recipient: rfc822;******@clear.net.nz

Honest Workers Needed!!! Are you a college student with odd class schedules impairing regular work time? Are you blessed with a new child yet unable to attend work? Well you are in luck!!! Jump start your career today!

We are looking for honest and smart people for business co-operation. Requirements: 1. computer with e-mail; 2. New Zealand resident; 3. Adult people only (we cannot hire people who don t reach the adult edge); 4. 2-3 hours free during the week (mainly in the evening / non-business hours) for communication; 5. banking account

Also it is all!! You will need no money to start!!! This is a business requiring only limited amounts of your time.

About Us Plasma Connection is your direct connection for plasma TV and displays. Our plasma TV sales staff work with plasma manufacturers and specialized distributors to provide you, our customers, with the broadest selection of plasma TV, plasma displays, LCD TV and accessories at the most competitive pricing. Our sales consultants are trained experts in plasma TV and display technology and will help identify the right products for your application. If your needs are for a plasma TV, plasma display, LCD, LCD TV, or simply need your questions answered, our friendly sales staff are here to help you.

Plasmaconnection , corp. is engaged in sale of plasma TVs via Internet. 3 years we sell TVs worldwide, and at the given stage of work we want to offer you co-operation. As against that you heard earlier, this real business offer advantageous for our company and you. And the most important, for this business from you is required a minimum of efforts. The essence of our offer is those: recently clients from New Zealand began take in interest in our products, but the majority of them is not want to pay the goods in a e-currency (such as e-gold or webmoney) or by money transfers such as Western Union (WU) or Money Gram (MG), because do not trust this kind of payment methods or simply are not able to use them. Thus for the majority of our clients Wire transfer remains a priority kind of payment. We, in turn, cannot open bank accounts in all countries of the world. That s why we need an official representatives  in New Zealand.

About your activity

Your work will consist in accepting on your bank account payments for the goods bought from us and send payment our agents via Western Union or Money Gram. The payment for your work will make 5% from the sum which have sent to you (on the average the prices for our production is 1500 - 6000 USD), you should to send other part to our agent via  WU or MG. All transaction fees is paid also by us!

We will inform you about the payment which have sent on your banking account by e-mail, or by phone (as you will wish). Information about WU and MG transfers which have sent by you we ask to mail us. The quantity of our agents in each country is limited, therefore it is possible you late to conclude the contract with us. Fill the form with your personal information and send it to us.

Sign Up

Two simple steps to do business together with us 1. Fill the form with your personal information and send it to us. Every completed form will be reviewed and our manager will contact you same day. 2. Wait for confirmation letter . Also it is all!! Since this moment you start to make a money, not spending for it is a lot of time. Simple as 1-2-3. Mail to us if you were interested with our offer and we shall send you the form of the agent for filling.

Job description:

Persons who will be accepted for this job will follow these simple instructions:

1. Receive the money transfers on banking account 2. Take 5% from the sum which have sent to you 3. Send other part of received money to our manager via Western Union or Money Gramm 4. Report to our manager via e-mail (to sales@plasmaconection.net) transfer details

What can be easier??? This is not a sales gimmick requiring you to pay setup fees or sign up to a mailing list. As you see, you can  lose nothing, working with us.

ATTENTION!!!

Spaces are limited so act now for this great job offer. DO NOT TURN THIS OFFER DOWN!! GREAT OPPORTUNITY!!!

Please, be free to ask us any questions you will have.

Thank you for reading this document. Good luck.

Plasmaconection , corp.

Reply to sales@plasmaconection.net or to  one of our managers, Olga Slabikova - plasmaconnection@hotmail.com And Igor Kazakov manager@plasmaconection.net