The work-from-home scam in my inbox

Tony Levene is offered an exciting opportunity to work from home...

I have always found it strange that the Office of Fair Trading's annual Scams Awareness Month takes place in February. After all, that's the shortest month of the year – people fall victim to scams and rackets every single day – even Christmas.

But by pure coincidence, the first day of February was when emails from an organisation called “Automatedhomeprofits” first started popping into my inbox. And since then, they've continued in various guises on a near daily basis.

The first said:

Hi tony,

Thank you for applying to Automated Home Profits. We currently have positions available to work from home in your local area.

Here's the link to get started immediately:

http://www.automatedhomeprofit.com/qualified/

If you have already joined that's great, you should by now have received your membership access. If you haven't yet joined I highly recommend you take advantage soon as we only have 1 position left in your region. Although you will be working from home we need people working in your specific region.

To avoid disappointment we have secured your position for the next 5 minutes.

I'm looking forward to having you as a member and training you.

To Your Success

Cameron Davidson

Founder - AutomatedHomeProfits

I had not applied for this position! Probably, my email address was on a list or it had somehow been captured by a pop-up. In any case, five minutes was hardly enough time for me to check this one out.

A few hours later, another email from Davidson – oddly, this time he is no longer the “founder” but a “consultant”. The good news here was a 50% discount to £9.95 – obviously good things come to those who wait!

I was directed to a website where I found the usual glowing testimonials. One said: “We have always been sceptical of working from home but we were recommended to Automated Home Profits by a friend and since joining we have looked back! Our entire lifestyle has changed. Our marriage is the happiest it's ever been and we finally got Porsche (sic) we always wanted.”

This comes from Jane & Jeremy C who live in Liverpool. And there is a picture of the happy couple. Now, here's something amazing. In a parallel universe, Jane & Jeremy C of Houston figure on AHP's US site where it seems the same scheme has both created marital happiness and a Porsche. In fact, despite some 4,000 miles in distance and different nationalities, they use they exactly the same words. Creepy?

And here's another unbelievable synchronicity for X-files fans. Shelly on the US site has exactly the same earnings (except in dollars rather than pounds) as the UK's Shelly from Oldham. And the third testimonial – from Lindsay in Dublin – is, you've guessed it, a carbon copy of American Lindsay. The photos used are – well – anybody!

Davidson's UK address is shared by Dotcom Internet Marketing and a number of other firms which also market quick money from working at home concepts. Automated Home Profits used to be called the Quick Cash Kit and is also using some elements of the Home Income Cash System website.

Back to my inbox. Over the following days, Davidson told me there was still one position left in my area (whatever that might be). But as I did not respond, I was finally told that the program was full. However – lucky me (again) – Davidson (signing himself as founder again) told me of a great opportunity with his friend Scott Davenport, the owner of "Home Wealth System.” Davidson assures me “this is a proven system and one which I highly recommend to all my customers. Scott has helped develop multiple millionaires over the last two years.”

Finally, there's yet another site – this time with a phoney news story which apparently featured in a US newspaper.

Does anyone believe this nonsense? Sadly, the answer is yes.

And what happens if you are daft enough to fall for it? You'll have to fork out more and more – extra fees for “material” plus a monthly fee for “website hosting” plus more for “website maintenance”. Scott or Cameron (who may be the same person?) will be the only ones to get rich out of this if you fall for it.

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