For Starters, PAY ATTENTION ...May prevent others from getting scammed, being foolish enough to cash the checks sent by the GTM for "mystery shopping," etc; **OR, by ANY other companies, via email, regular mail, even over the phone ie: where they solicit you (with the scam) for your personal info; banking and or credit card(s) information (from national, international, global companies).**
FIRST & foremost Rule (no matter how convincing, tempting, what financial dire straights you may be experiencing, etc;): NEVER, EVER, give ANY of your personal information, social security, banking etc;
account numbers, date of birth, your phone numbers (work and or home--obviously, if they called you, they have some of your personal info aside from your phone number and, seeking more); credit card(s) numbers;
to: callers, online solicitations (emails, chat rooms etc), regular mail solicitations; even "door-to-door" in person solicitors. Scams are a dime a dozen and, doesn't look like it's slowing down anytime soon lol.
I Lived in Stamford, CT. for many years & still frequent there often. There is NO SUCH ADDRESS: "1100 112 th Av 1351 Washington Blvd. Suite 5000 Stamford, CT. 06902 !!!" Yes, there IS a "Washington Blvd."; Yes, the city, state & zip code ("Stamford, CT. 06902") IS actually legitimate. NO, there is no such "112 th Av." street /road/ave/etc; ANYWHERE (should be written as AVE. not "Av.") AT ALL, in Stamford, CT. . There never was or has been a "112 th Av." in Stamford, CT. and, never will be either!
I received the same letter (I get crap like this constantly in mail, emails) on 9/24/12; Same fake address in Stamford, CT. etc., as most of the people writing in this forum here, also have.
I'm naturally a suspicious minded person (98% times can "smell a rat" so to speak), as I sifted through the day's mail, I saw the envelope & immediately noticed the post mark from: "
www.canadapost.ca 120921 00:17". Directly below this was: "
www.postescanada.ca 3810 M4L 1A5". I immediately noticed the LACK of return address on front upper left envelope (didn't even have it on back envelope flap, as sometimes will see a return address when one isn't on the front). This raised my suspicions instantly, for starters. I placed some of the mail (including this envelope) aside unopened for approx 2 hrs., to open later when had time.
I go through the mail discarding most (junk mail). I opened this "canadian post marked" envelope, saw a one page "letter" with the header as: " GLOBAL TEST MARKET 112th Av 1351 Washington Blvd. Suite 5000 Stamford, CT. 06902 Tel 1-647-408-5763_Fax 1-866-791-22841 (NO, that's not a typo for that "fax number" given)
www.globaltestmarket.com ". Below the address header, in large, bold heavy black print
states: " Rep I.D # 87632 ". The letter had same nonsense about the Walmart agent..."to eval. security & efficiency the payment system they provide called MONEYPAK etc; .....". Also interesting, it states in letter (Above the "breakdown of enclosed check to cover your first week's assignment as follows.." ):
"This offer expires 48 HOURS from the day you call in the receipt of this letter. This program is run on a weekly basis." Like those morons would know WHEN I received this letter "to expire it within 48 hrs"-- if I don't call!! **FYI: I didn't call!
The check enclosed was for: $985.00. The "breakdown": "1)- Participation Pay for first week $120.00;
2)-Stipulated Amount for MONEYPAK $840.00; 3)-Service Fee Charged by MONEY PAK per assignment
$5.00; WALMART retail shopping assignment (which you keep) $20.00
TOTAL--------------------------------------------------------------$985.00 ". Told to: "call your Assigned Training Coordinator @ 1-647-894-7517 or 1-416-856-2454 ........."
The dumb ass who 'signed' (bold faced black script wrting) this, also had his name typed (all caps) under it with his 'title' in brackets. The name signed was "Joe Coring". The typed name under it: "JOSEPH CORING (PROJECT DIRECTOR) ". After this, was a box with a bar code without numbers under bar code but, had the words under bar code: " Rep. ID No." (no numbers were after this 'rep. id no.', either) .
The Check supposedly comes from the "Harris Trust & Savings Bloomingdale, IL 60108 ". The check, upon quick glance, looks like typical commercial business check. I immediately KNEW, just from the letter alone, the check & its supposed "Harris Trust & Savings etc", were not legit. I never bothered to check this "bank" out further (no need to). **The area codes: 614 = Ontario, Canada; 416 = Ontario, Canada.**.
How I KNEW this was a Scam, by its ENVELOPE & its LETTER (Obvious Key Factors--in order):
1) Double Post Markings, each different (should only be one post mark --for USA, Canada).
2) No Return Address on front envelope (or on back envelope flap --if not on the front upper left side)
3) Front Header Company Name & Address (no such "Avenue" in the City of Stamford, CT.)
4) No Such numbered "1100" Address, for this no such "112 th Av.". Along with: word "Av." - improper
business letter addressing --It would legitimately show: Ave. or, Avenue written, NOT "Av." .
5) The Company Address Header Phone & Fax Numbers were Transposed --the "fax number" by
header address is actually the Phone Number; the "phone number" is actually the Fax Number.
6) Fax Number as THEY show on this letter: "1-866-791-22841" **NO, not typo, it's how was printed.**
7) Fax Number has more than 11 numbers -- the phone numbers in USA, Canada, have 10 and 11
numbers (the area codes included), NOT more than 11 numbers.
8) No Salutation and Name of Recipient (targeted person sent letter with enclosed check); ie: Dear Mrs.
(or, only recipient's name: "Dear Jane Doe"; "Dear John Doe"; "Dear Jane"; "Dear Mr. Doe") Jane
Doe; --Legitimate businesses WILL address recipient at start of the letter by name, and often salutation,
as in above examples.
9) Space for Recipient's Name & Salutaion Replaced--instead of addressing recipient at start of letter,
puts something else in place. --This letter had: " Rep. I.D # 87632." **this was exactly how shown.**
10) Faulty & Poor: Punctuation, Spelling, Typing, Poor Writing, Poor Layout & Structure for a Company
Business Letter. --Legitimate businesses will NOT send corrospondence to clients etc; having: faulty
and poor wrting content; many typing and spelling errors; poor layout /formating of letter; horrendous
punctuation errors etc; (unless they hired morons). The writing etc; of the "business letter" sent, is
and was, absolutely atrocious.
11) Improper Closure of Letter: Signature of Writer has printed name and title below it, shown
(Example Only) with signature ie: "Joe Shmoe"; followed with their FULL name & title typed under the
signature, in all capital lettering, ALL on this same line with "title" in brackets ie:
"JOSEPH SHMOE (PROJECT DIRECTOR)". Notice, he didn't write "Joe Shmoe", as did for signing.
The CORRECT way to 'close' the letter -- First, the full name & signature of "Joseph Shmoe"; then
their typed full name & title under the signature, ie: "Joseph Shmoe, Project Director".
NOTE: The dumb ass, obviously, doesn't even know how to present self as a competent business
man either, in writing. ** A "project director" ? Of what...Latrine Patrol (toilet patrol) ?!?!?!! **
These were the obvious key factors, I used. HOPE others use and benefit from these glaring, (literally)
in-your-face, tell tale signs, to AVOID falling prey to any phishings & scams. Do realize, there are other added factors as well, to further prevent oneself from being scammed. Though the few I listed above, can apply to many scams (not all), it's enough to AT LEAST heighten your awareness and, hopefully, not fall
prey to scams (whether by phone; regular mail; email; in person etc;).
SECOND foremost Rule: When in Doubt (trust your instincts), Don't! **Yes, if it's "too good to be true"
it 99.9999% times IS - pure BS!
Until I know which agency I can send these to (that will actually DO somethingt about this, not the local police where I am, they're like the Keystone Kops and, a bit pathetic), I think will make paper airplanes out of them (hope they'll fly lol) to amuse my dog and cat with these. For the cat, I'll sprinkle a bit of cat nip inside paper plane and see how he reacts to the flying cat nip plane (indoors) rofl. For my dog, I'll watch her chase the paper planes and the cat (he's declawed--who always slaps her every oppty. he gets, 95% for no reasons at all). BTW--they continually chase & torment each other, yet never hurt each other (just annoy).
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