If they are legitimate, they better figure out a less suspicious way of doing business, or they will never make it here in North America - they’re operating like a bunch of idiots! Don’t be one of them…. As it turns out, I think they’re a real company, but this person that emailed me is probably a scammer. From what I can gather, their typical business is radar and electronic charting systems - why the heck would they need a payment representative?

If this Jennifer that emailed them really works for them, and is out acting like a loose canon trying to recruit for them, I would suggest they fire her and find someone who knows what they’re doing. Post a Want Ad! In this age of Internet scam artists taking advantage of people through email, I loathe any such activity that asks people for any information, for any purpose via email. They should not be perpetuating or condoning that people on the internet do such a thing! If they find any candidates that WOULD fill out this form, they should not hire them, because they lack common sense!!! Sorry to be so brutal - its not that I don’t love you, but its tough love for some of you folks… be good!

UPDATE:

I found several sites that talk about this email incuding this one: http://www.scamfraudalert.com/f37/xenex-navigation-inc-www-xenex-com-12421/

Essentially, those involved are probably from countries like Nigeria, who want you to be a MoneyMule - you cash counterfeit checks to have wired out via Western Union or MoneyGram. I’m sure if you’re caught going along with a scam like this, you’ll probably end up in federal prison eventually. Nice eh?

Here’s a copy of their email:

Hello Sir/Ma

Best Regards
Ms Jennifer Cornwell
Job Processing Unit

So my advice is to ignore those stupid stock tips. These people are just trying to make a fast dollar off the unsuspecting public. Don’t open up one of those emails, then go into your Ameritrade account and start trading them. They may say that the stock is at a current price of 50 cents, and there’s a target price of $1 or more - this information isn’t coming from Forbes Magazine folks. Alot of these stock tips look like they were written by someone who barely knew English. Beware of these tips - they are nothing more than scams.

Who knows, maybe I should create a website that lists such companies that are big that resort to such tactics and encourage people not to conduct business with them. One has to be careful though - these companies can be Goliaths. I’m pretty busy these days - I’ll pick that battle for sometime in the future.

From: Dudley Shapiro [SelenaMorse@politickin.com]

Hello,

We spoke a few days ago and I’d like to confirm everything now.
Please go over the information below and let me know if you have any questions.

http://www.savemoneyforustoday.com/?t=Grabadora

We are accepting your form. Your status has been accepted.
We need to confirm your details one more time.
Just check the URL above and fill out our last form.

Thank you,
Laurie Pratt

First of all, I have an issue with the sender. The name is Dudley Shapiro, with an address of SelenaMorse@politickin.com . The letter is ’signed’ by Laurie Pratt.

Also, I never spoke to these people, a few days ago, a few years ago, or EVER! The form that the link goes to asks for the type of mortgage loan that I need, and the information asked for is MORE than a few details (contrary to what Laurie, or Dudlye, or Selena Morse).

If you get an email like this, its a safe bet that they’re just phishing for your personal information to sell to other companies. In this case, they want to sell my information to mortgage brokers as a ‘hot lead’. I may also end up on a list of ’suckers’ who would fill out those forms. Don’t let that happen to you.

I just received a spam email today, sent on behalf of a company trying to get you in as a travel agent. I bet you have to pay for their training. Nonetheless, the site’s copyright listing was 2004. Why wouldn’t someone change that just to make things look more current? I suppose that in itself would be a lie, if nothing else got changed, but to be a viable online business, that’s worthy of the trust of those who visit the site, your business should show that its growing and alive - not just some stale site that may survive for the sole purpose of running an affiliate program.

Be leary of sites that advertise their services , yet don’t keep their copyright dates and content fresh. Besides, maybe the pilot is asleep at the wheel - you might sign up and never get an answer or recieve a product you’ve tried to buy. Beware.

In general, people feel foolish when they fall for such scams - half of them may not ever get reported. Some simple tips will help you from EVER becoming a victim of a spammer who wants your identity and information:

1) Do not ever respond to a company’s request to give them private information using the Internet - especially a bank. Call them on the phone - no matter WHO it is… DO NOT TRUST THAT WEB ADDRESS LINK IS REALLY GOING TO THAT COMPANY. If you have been trusting these, think twice about it from now on.

2) If you are dealing with a company that doesn’t have a phone number - stop dealing with them. Only deal with companies that have phones that they answer, and addresses you can actually visit.

For example, one of my bosses this week got an email he was concerned about. It talked about a virus going around and how to fix it. It was something forwarded to him and one hundred other friends/acquaintances of the guy he got it from. Typically, when something is forwarded around like that, its a hoax. Sure enough, a search on the Internet revealed websites that had the same email, word for word, listed with an explaination that it was a hoax with instructions to mess up Windows 2000 (delete needed files… registry keys, etc.)

My wife, just before we got married, got an email once from one of them kind Nigerians who wanted to deposit some money into her bank account. It would have been nice if they could have bank rolled our wedding, especialy since she and I paid for everything! Over the phone, she told me about the email and I had her forward it to me, as I worked late at the office. I did a search on the first sentence of the email, and Viola! - I had found a letter that was almost exactly the same, with just a few name changes, on a website talking about Nigerian scam email.

Anyway, if you actively seek answers on the Internet about scams and schemes, give yourself a good pat on the back. Intelligence isn’t always measured in what you know readily, but in knowing where to find the information you need! I got really smart, after working for a library for 6 years. haha….. sigh… those were the days (18 years ago).

From: Vertical Skip Marketing Team
To: [Author of this Website]
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 2:30 PM
Subject: Give Me a (Tax) Break - [Author of this Website's FIRSTNAME..sweet]

Hello [FIRSTNAME AGAIN....wow, they remembered me! I'm flattered],
As if we havent given you enough reasons to become a part of the Vertical Skip Marketing System, heres another one — TAXES!

Here are some of the tax advantages for actively building your business with the Vertical Skip Marketing System.

Personal expenses can become wholly or partially deductible: even your home or apartment, car, computer, meals, education, and entertainment.

Amounts you pay for your Vertical Skip Marketing System Membership and the cost to purchase qualified leads or other advertising are 100% deductible. In fact, purchasing leads proves you are actively trying to build your business - a key factor the IRS looks at in determining deductibility.

You can put family members on the payroll and pay them wages. This lets you shift income to relatives in lower tax brackets. The result: you reduce your family’s overall tax bill.

Travel and vacations can qualify in whole or in part as deductible business expenses. For example, attending a business meeting in Los Angeles can be written off, even if you make a nondeductible side trip to Palm Springs.

By taking advantage of these deductions, you can actually earn less than you did working for someone else and still come out ahead after taxes.

Take it from me, when you see your first tax return as a business owner, you’ll know becoming a Member of the Vertical Skip Marketing System was the best tax-saving move you ever made.

Click on the link below now to review the information, set up an appointment with me and then upgrade to Team Member, and start saving taxes today!

P.S. I am sure you dont want to be the last person to hear about Vertical Skip Marketing a few years from now!

I replied back and said, “No thanks, I’ll put my money into my own Vertical Skip Marketing scheme and deduct the expenses, before I ever sign up with yours.” (Of course I won’t ever start one of these schemes! )

See how they try to WORK people? They want your money… They’re telling you by joining them, you’re essentially running a home business where your expenses are tax deductible - the more you spend to BUY leads (notice the word above…. BUY), the more you can deduct.

The lady that sent me that email probably did not get my email address for free. The poor gal had to pay for it. I guess I should have said, “Oh, don’t forget to deduct your loss on this bad lead.” naw… that’s mean!

Anyways, save your money - these schemes are just too expensive and you end up having to spend a lot of money and work hard scamming people into the same system you get yourself stuck in. I would bet a majority of people pay the money for a few leads and give up… Who’s ahead? The top people of the Vertical Skip Marketing group - those who paid the most money to get to the top (or even the middle) so they wouldn’t have to work so hard and pay as much money over the years, as someone with not as much money to blow on their position.

If you’re in one of these schemes, and haven’t spent more than a thousand dollars or so, get out now while you still can! Don’t let them keep playing on your fears of “If you don’t keep buying leads/position, you’ll miss out on a great opportunity!” I would rather say that if you don’t stop now, you’ll miss out on an opportunity to save your family fortune.

Save yourself some money, and avoid these types of schemes - unless you’re the type who likes to scare people into thinking, “oh no, I better spend this $99 today or else I’ll lose my chance to make $1 million”….. The people who left their jobs to join this scheme already had millions of dollars and probably have no quams about taking advantage of the little guy. Don’t be a NetIdiot - beware of these types of programs.
Study up on the stock market instead - your chances to make money in stocks are alot better.