IAFAO recruitment an apparent scam of U.N. program

[poirot]

Cliquer ici pour les détails en Francais: (http://fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1481)

INDEX of all U.N. & USAID Job Scams (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?p=6129#post6129)

IAFAO offer posted on some university web sites is a fraud recruitment program.

The real FAO has issued a warning regarding this: Click here (http://www.fao.org/askfao/viewquestiondetails.do?questionId=9531)

IOWA STATE**: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/newsfiles/IAFAO.pdf
**UPDATE...The document was removed from Iowa State University's web site this morning, at our request. We are grateful to them for acting so promptly.

TEMPLE: https://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0602b&L=mmc&F=&S=&P=676
**UPDATE...The listserv administrator at Temple advised us that a posted message cannot be removed from their archives, therefore they have posted our warning to the list so that the subscribers have been informed.

also on the United Nations Association of Slovenia site: http://www.freeweb.siol.net/unas/Razpisi.doc
**UPDATE...As soon as UNA of Slovenia where made aware of the problem, they promptly remove the IAFAO refference from their document. For which we thank them.

This "Offer" was brought to our attention by a United Nations program coordinator who was concerned about it's legitimacy. Further investigation by Fraudwatchers seems to point to a fraud. We have not been able to confirm an organization named IAFAO other than the legitimate "Indo American Foundation of Arizona", a non profit group. Nor have we been able to locate a Dr. Ferdinand Alamgir other than in relation to this document.The contact email used "jobs@iafao-org.ca.tc" uses an email redirecting server in Turks and Caicos(.ca.tc) which hides the real destination address. The fax number 206-202-0978 is a free and anonymous fax2email service based in Seattle.

After initial contact, the scammer will ask for Orientation Fees, using the following:

Dr. Christy Owen
Mr.Peter Lehman(ACCA)
Dr. (Mrs.) Blessing Libi
James Water Price Consulting
registration@jameswaterprice.euro.st
accounts@jameswaterprice.euro.st
jobs@iafao-org.ca.tc
legal@iafao-org.ca.tc
registration@jameswaterprice.euro.st
blessing_libi@yahoo.com
Tel: 206-350-4818, Fax: 206-350-6234

The real FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS web site is (www.fao.org)

The FAO job vacancy announcements are published at http://www.fao.org/VA/Employ.htm

The fraudulent document looks legitimate since it mentions various job offers in well known U.N. programs, but the obfuscation of ALL contact information and other concerns mentioned above points to a fraud in our opinion.

*Update: We now have solid proof that this scams originates from an I.P. registered in Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria.

Pasted below is information from the first and last page since it's a multipage document.


The International Agency of the Food and Agricultural Organization (IAFAO) supports
leading efforts to eradicate hunger in developing countries of the world. We intend to
assist to modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fishery practices and ensure
effective nutrition for all. Recently set up by the UN, we intend to focus special attention
to developing areas which is the home to about 80% of the world's hungry people.


they then list jobs offers with real U.N. agencies such as:

NEW ENTRY PROFESSIONAL (NEP) PROGRAM
Special Emergency Programmes Service (TCES)

and then, their contact information on the last page pasted below:


Consequently, applicants meeting the basic requirements may not go through the entire
screening/interview/selection process.
Application is open to all interested applicants from any nationality.
RETIREMENT AND ANNUITIES
New Entrants employed with IAFAO may retire voluntarily after 20years of service.
Retirement is mandatory at age 65. The maximum period of creditable service is 35
years.
TO APPLY:
Send your application/CV to:
Fax No: 1-206-202-0978
OR
Email: jobs@iafao-org.ca.tc
Attention: Dr. Ferdinand Alamgir
Human Resources Manager
IAFOA, Washington


*Update May 4, 2006

If a participant unfortunately send these criminals their "Orientation Fee", he is now entrenched in a typical Advance Fee Fraud. Every time you pay the "last" fee, another one comes up. It only ends when you stop paying because the product, in this case the job placement, does not exist, and NEVER DID.

Specifically, with this IAFAO Job Scam, here are some steps that will happen:

1- You fill in the application form and submit it.

2- You will be asked to fill and sign an Employment contract form

3- Congratulation!!! You receive a Letter of Offer. You're in. WELCOME TO THE IAFAO!!! Yeah right!

4- Now, you receive a document stating that you must go through a training with some consultant firm. They ask that you send US$2,590.50 to a China Bank account, or via Western Union. Once you send that money, You're in. WELCOME TO THE IAFAO!!! again.

5- should you be so unfortunate as to send that orientation fee, you will receive a document stating that the trainees will be housed in the Hilton Hotel (Complete with Hilton logo) and you must pay the hotel fee of $5970. 00 USD. Should you mention that you will find your own accommodation, you will be told that this is not possible as you are now an employee of the IAFAO and you must follow the rules. WELCOME TO THE IAFAO!!!

6- You are now out over $8000. Should you tell them that you have changed your mind and wish to have a refund, you will be told that it's "NO PROBLEM" "We will send you a refund soon". That's it. You will never hear from them again. Should you decide to continue with the Advance Fee, they will send you a document requesting more money for some other excuse. WELCOME TO THE IAFAO!!!

[poirot]

Fraudulent IAFAO UPDATE

We now have confirmation that this program originates from Nigeria, and that the same scammers are using the official FAO logo and United Nation address in their fraudulent application document.

Also, as expected, it is appearing on new websites such as:

The Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
http://www.biw.kuleuven.be/vacatures/documenten/v0603IAFAO.doc
*EDIT: K.U.Leuven has removed the .DOC from it's server. Thank you.

Biología y medio ambiente
http://www.hispadata.com/biologia/internacional.htm
*EDIT: Hispadata.com has removed the document. Many thanks.

The George Washington University, Dept of Health Policy
http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/healthpolicy/job-results.cfm
*EDIT: It appears that the document has been removed from GWU's web site.

The African Youth Foundation
http://www.afribase.net/vacancies.php
*EDIT: Many thanks to afribase.net for recognizing the urgency and immediately removing the document.

Update April 11,2006

SOCIETY OF MEDICAL AND SOCIAL ECOLOGY listserver
http://www.elistas.net/lista/ambiental/archivo/msg/232/

We are asking these sites to remove the document as quickly as possible to minimize victim impact.

[Unregistered]

We have removed the offer from http://www.hispadata.com/biologia/internacional.htm

We received it from an scientific forum, MARINET and we have sent an e-mail to them to avoid this fraud. We are so sorry about this.

[poirot]

This particular scam has been setup in a very cunning way. Instead of doing a regular E-mail spamming, these perpetrators have meticulously "seeded" job listings of universities and social organizations thereby giving it an air or authenticity.

This only makes it that much more dangerous for victims hence the importance to act quickly. For that reason, it is commendable that you removed it promptly and we thank you for that sincerely. Also for helping us out by contacting others about this document.

[Aeval]

Thank you for removing the offer!

The only way to combat scammers of this sort is through cooperation and education. You have not only removed the offer, but also contacted others about its fraudulent origins.

That's a job well done! :)

[Unregistered]

By submitting a resume to this fraud organization, what damage can be done? It appears as though they do not request banking information, but rather they want to get a scanned signature and copy of a passport photo upon offereing an individual a job. With only a resume for a job and no signature and photo, what can they benefit from?

[Saturn Girl]

They can use any scanned information to create fake profiles and documents to use in scamming other victims.

[Aeval]

As Saturn Girl mentioned, the information that you provide them with, especially a scan of your passport, can and will be used to scam other victims.

What else?

Your resume contains enough of your personal information for a resourceful scammer to find out everything else about you. For example, by letting the scammer know where you have worked before, you open an avenue for him to request your personal information from your previous employers.

Some Human Resources departments have very tight security measures, and will not give out any information without first getting in touch with you. Others will give a former employee's data over the phone, upon a faxed request, or when in receipt of a letter.

Another angle to be considered is the presence of "employment verification" and "background check" companies on the internet. For a fee, and even when provided with little personal information, they are capable of tracking a given person down and running a background check on them.

And what does a background check of this kind contain? At the very least your current address, phone number and Social Security Number and\or other government issued personal identification number. Once the scammers put their hands on that parcitular piece of information, they can easily assume your identity and cause you grief to no end.

Should someone be willing to pay a little more, they can obtain within no more than 48 hours the list of all of your addresses for the past 10 years; names and addresses of all of your family members, roommates and other people associated with you in any way; if you own any P.O. boxes; your driver's license number and if you've had any traffic infractions within the last few years; and pretty much anything else short of your shoe size.

In the age of the internet, even just a name and former place of employment is enough to track someone down. That's why keeping your personally identifying information private is so crucial.

I hope this answers your question. Should there be any more issues you'd like to discuss, feel free to post them here.

[GL from Rome]

Thank you for your effort!
I received the description of the job offer. I spent a lot of time to check whether this could be some sort of fraud, but I did not get any clue.

They sent me an application form and a formulaire for a 'written interview.' Some days later (Friday, 31 March) I received an email with the job offer.
Too suspicious to be true at this stage. A 179.000 UD dollar/ year job without even talking to anybody???
Today I found this web-site.
Many thanks again.

GL

[poirot]

Thank you GL for taking time to detail your experience with this fraud. It will help others who hopefully will also do a search before sending these criminals any money. This adds to our effort and it's very much appreciated.

I welcome anyone else who may have had a similar story with this IAFAO and Dr. Ferdinand Alamgir, to share it here.

[joewein]

The UN job offers are a derivative of much more common scams targeting job seekers in the oil industry.

Recruitment scams run by Nigerian gangs typically involve advance payments at the final stage of the scam, after an employment contract has been sent to the victim. The reasons given include visa processing fees, travel tickets and insurance. As in most online scams involving Nigerian gangs the money is usually demanded to be sent via Western Union. I expect this would be the case here too.

[poirot]

Thanks Joe for the insight and the additional details. That helps victim identify the process. As with any scams there are variations. In this one, they are now using "Refundable training fees" as reason for the advance fees, and instead of sending you to the usual Barrister, it's a fictitious "James Waterprice Consulting".

Some victims report that they where asked to use Western Union while others where asked for the money to be transferred into a China bank account. In spite of those variant, the basics remain. Advance Fee Fraud. And all traceable emails lead to Lagos.

[Unregistered]

I sent them my CV, but when the very detailed application form came and interview form came, I decided to take closer look at the advertisement and application, which looked very suspicious. I even emailed them a question to see if I receive a reply, I did and again it didn't look too professional.

In any case, I am glad that you have posted it on your website, now I am sure that it is a scam and it will help other people avoid sending their CVs and wasting time and possibly money.

Best regards,
Nina