Western Trust - Is this a scam?

[sharosa]

I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of Western Trust, LLP located at 39 Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX12RG, United Kingdom. They claim to specialize in growth-orientated business consultancy services. They, like many others claim to be opening a US office in mid-May 2009 and they do have a website http://westerntrustinc.com. They offer an excellent weekly base salary & 8% for each transaction handled but only pay on the 1st business day of the month. The position is 'service manager' and what happens is that the customer sends money to you, sometimes via bank wire transfer, you retrieve the money from your account or clear a check and forward the full amount less transaction fee via Western Union to the 'supplier' of software - within a 1 1/4 hour time slot when it's a bank wire - which I was not aware of from the start.

I've dealt with other 'investment companies' before and I do realize that it does take up to 3 weeks for foreign companies to clear a US payment, but when I found out how quickly the transaction had to be handled, I declined.

The company has agreed for me to wait until they open their US office before I handle any transaction as they want me to be comfortable with working with them.

I'm just wondering if they are only telling me this because they know that I've done my homework or if they really will be opening a US office. So, if anyone has ever dealt with this company, I would appreciate any information that you can give me.

Thanks

[mumbles]

that's not a job. its a well known scam.

they print fake checks, drawn on some company account, someplace, send them to you. you deposit the checks, thinking you are an "account manager" or some other nonsense title. you then send cash to the scammer by western union.

or, you get real checks and bank tranfers from people that think they bought something from fake listings on ebay. you send the money on to russians or nigerians, but there is no product ever sent to customer.

in a few days or weeks, the companies report the fake checks, the police come and get you.

you tell the police you sent the money to a company as part of your job but that company and that person that hired you cannot be found.

don't be a fool.

no real company is ever going to allow some stranger to handle their money, plus pay them to do it. business is not done on western union, scams are.

[mumbles]

the website was created on march 13, 2009. it will be gone soon after the webhost gets complaints.

the website registration appears to be for somebody in argentina. entirely false of course.

Registrant Contact:
Excmo Embajador
Embajada de Argentina
Kingston, ACT 2604
AR

this website has nothing to do with any real company and was created in a few minutes to trick suckers.

i found the website for a real company that this crook copied, but i won't mention the real company name here.

[sharosa]

Thank you so much Mumbles for your response. I am not a stupid person and I did have a bad feeling about this company once they gave me the first assignment that's why I posted.

At first, they sent me a general email about the position in response to my careerbuilder.com resume. When I replied, I had several quiestions that I had asked, only a couple were initially answered . When I finally got their web address, I couldn't find the site. A man from Florida (my 'finance manager') had called me to tell me that I had been accepted for employment, I mentioned the website problem. He stated that there had been a problem and it was fixed now. I accepted the position and even signed an employment agreement after I had found the website (which looks very authentic). This man had a very 'American' name but he had a very heavy middle eastern accent. When I found out how I was to handle my first assignment, my gut when ballistic. I called my bank to ask some questions and they had advised me not to get involved, so I did decline. I was, however, concerned about the 'employment agreement' - if I could be liable for breach of contract. I have to say that it was never mentioned by the company and they were 'understanding' as to my decision and I haven't heard from them since.

I did post on this site as to this company from the get go, but I apparently posted it wrong and didn't get any response.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to respond.

[clarkmanning]

I just got an email from "John" in Miami. Yes, he want's me to sign an employment agreement. I am to send him my new bank account information. This seems to be a little more elaborate scam that the typical scams run on *****'s list. I told him I would play along. He will need to send me only legit cashier's checks or money orders. I presently have a collection of fake cashiers checks overnighted to me by these type of scammers. The cashier's checks are all drawn on large American banks. I guess if they get a 1% transaction completion rate, they are successful.

[Meri Widow]

I hope you are 'scambaiting' safely and have checked with your local law enforcement agency to make sure your collection of fake checks and money orders is legal. In some places the mere possession of fake checks/moneyorders is illegal even if they are marked 'fake'.

The running of stolen credit cards and spoofed paypal accounts into the victims bank account is a just a new twist on the old 'cash the fake check' type scam. It is easier for the scammer, no need to 'hire' a check mule to print and mail the fake checks. No need to steal shipping supplies and an account number from FedEx, UPS and DHL.

[mumbles]

yes, be careful, the scammer isn't using his own fedex account. it is stolen too. if fedex notices alot of stolen account usage going to your address, you may have to explain. after *****boarding, of course.

[katiescorner]

Hopefully you are also collecting valid phone numbers to turn over the police and maybe put at least one guy out of business on this scam.