I responded to a personal assistant ad on Edmonton Kijiji, and was contacted by a John Legends, who was apparently the Director of this Retail Rapport Company. My first contact email is pasted below:

ATTN: ****Personal Information Removed****

My name is John Legend, Director of Retail Rapport Company. Our Company provides a full-service General Contracting, Mystery Shopping Management. To begin to understand the required position, you need to know that I keep a hectic schedule, extensive traveling (both domestic and international). I am presently in New York, United State and I will be back in Edmonton Canada in about three Weeks. Understand that this position at this time is not based from our company office at this time, due to my frequent travels and tight schedules.It's a part-time, work from home position, with flexibility meaning that there will be busier weeks than others; so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per-week. If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra time allowing you do something else on the side. I'd would like for us to start as soon as possible. I do have a lot of work that has accumulated and a number of unattended tasks which your assistance would be required. Eventually, we will even out the work flow, but permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence, and also to work out our schedules so that we have compatibility. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and in the long run, I feel quite confident that we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us. In the beginning, it might seem a little cumbersome working out the time difference between us, however, we will get acclimated. I'm online most of the time as I am hard of hearing so I prefer to we contact each other through E-mails, but if there is need for me to call, I will use the web online phone system.I am glad you are willing to work with me and I promise to be a good boss. I have been reviewing my files putting a "to do" list together. This week I need you to do a few errands on behalf of an orphanage home that I do charitable work every month. The funds will be in form of a check, and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients. I have a few lists that I will email you once you received the funds. You will make arrangements to purchase items for the kids in the nearest store and prepare the items to be mailed out.

So that I may have some basic information, please fill out the following information:


*Full Name:-

*Contact Address:-

*City:-

*State:-

*Zip-Code:-

*Cell Phone Number:-

*Occupation:-

*Sex:-

*Age:-

*Canadian Citizen Yes/No:-

*Marital Status:-

*Alternate Email Address:-


Once I have received your information, I will contact you with the task for this week. Let's not forget your pay, you will compensated on a weekly basis. Hope I am clear with that. Get back as soon as possible

John Legend
Retail Rapport Company

This is the second email I received from him:

Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:24:25 +0100
> Subject: Reconfirm Interest!!
> From: [email protected]
> To: ****Personal Information Removed****
>
> Attn: ****Personal Information Removed****
>
> I received your information, and I am very pleased to inform you that,
> your application has been selected out of the hundreds that have
> applied for this position. I want you to note that this job is
> home-based and it can be done at your own convenient hours {1-2hrs}.
>
> Please be advised that you will be receiving a check from our rental
> client via Fedex courier service, Which you will cash at your bank or
> any financial facility; and then have the Money transferred by Western
> Union to our regional office. I will email you the information {Name
> and address of our regional office} so that the accountant officer can
> process accounts and audit.
>
> Your weekly wage is $400.00 which you will be paid after the end of
> each week or Begin of your first assignment with us by deducting $400
> from the check sent to you as soon as the job commences. Please check
> your email a tleast twice daily, in the morning and later in the night
> to ensure confirmation of each email message you receive. Your first
> assignment will be carried out this week so i want you to kindly
> confirm your contact information that the check will be sent to.
>
> Do answer the following questions below,
>
> * Your Name and Address On The Check
>
> * Have you ever made use of the Western Union before?
>
> * Do you have a good understanding of company's code of conduct and
> privacy policy?
>
>
> I hope with honesty and trust, this will be the beginning of a long
> lasting relationship.
>
> Thank you in advance for being a team player!.
>
>
> Regards ..
>
> John Legend
> CEO
> Retail Rapport Company


So here I am excited as it has been a struggle to find a decent position, and it looked pretty real (with the exception of the marital status and cell phone thing, just didn't seem normal), so I followed it up and googled his name and company, everything seemed ok so I responded to him with acceptance and then nothing, until yesterday I received this email:


Greetings,

I hope this email finds you in good spirits. Please be advised that a check has been sent to you at the address you provided from one of our rental agent, for the sum of $3500. Upon receipt, please make the Transfer to our regional office as soon as possible. Here is the payment tracking number {798821358322}. You can track it at www.fedex.ca so that you can know the time for the package to get to you by today.

I will want you to get the check cashed instantly at your financial center or at any cashing place; so that you can take the cash to the Western Union and send the donation funds to my accountant listed below as instructed in the previous mail.

Regional Office Information

Name: Lisa O'brien
Address: 335 rollstone ave
City : Essex
State : London
Country: United Kingdom


You will get your weekly salary every friday of the week.As soon as you get this done, My client and I will want you to get back to me with the Western Union Tranfer Details.But if you feel you need the funds ASAP.You could deduct $400 from the funds from the check and send the rest and get with the below info such as...

MTCN #:-
Total Amount Sent :-
Sender's Name and Address:-

I look forward to hear from you expeditiously, because I have other assignments for you to do by next week. Be assured that i won't put too much if any at all stress upon you in any assignment that you undertake; and your weekly fee will be paid as promise and promptly.

May God Bless You and Your Family. Kindly get back to me Asap.


Coordially,
John


Wouldn't you know he would have the audacity to actually follow through and look for the money, here is the email :


Hello Julia Kindly advise if you received the payment and have carried out theassignment accordingy Thanks


Thankfully I don't have sucker written across my forehead any longer, I was the victim of an online scam about 2 years ago, and it left a real sour taste for me and it ultimately saved me today! Here is my response to his last email to me:

John, I received the fedex package and immediately took it to my bank cibc, which was the bank listed on the cheque, too bad it was a clear cut case of fraud!!! I was almost held responsible for 3500 dollars!!! I am an honest person just trying to get by and I cannot believe people really do this to people, you should be ashamed of yourself!!! You and your like are beyond despicable. I am going to bring everything I have to the police.

****Personal Information Removed****

This has turned out to be a much longer spiel than originally intended but I wanted to make sure I did my best to help people as much as I can, I know dealing with hard times makes it so much easier to believe the unbelievable ... my best advice to anyone is if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is ... Good Luck!