Employment scam ads

A new scam has appeared in the news today – which as always is best to be aware of.

DETECTIVES in Plymouth are trying to unravel a complex employment scam after arresting three city people.
Police say the trio appear to have been duped into cashing fake traveller's cheques by an online con-man.
The arrests have all led investigators to the same job advert on the Gumtree website.
Officers were alerted to two separate incidents last weekend, one at a bank and the other at a Post Office. Both saw foreign nationals attempt to cash in 3,000 Euros in counterfeit traveller's cheques.
Staff spotted they were fakes and called the police, who arrested a 22-year-old woman on Friday, April 15, and a married couple – a 35-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman – the following day.
Detectives say both parties had applied for a housekeeper/cleaner job they had spotted on Gumtree.
They were then emailed by the advert's author and asked for personal information.
Police say the fraudster told them they were 'the lucky one' who had landed the job, saying their future employer wanted to give them an advance as a retainer.
According to police, they were sent traveller's cheques and told to cash them to pay for his 'house broker', sending the bulk of the money via a wire transfer to a third party.
The con artist, who used a British-sounding name, said he was living in Spain but about to return to the UK.
However, after trawling through emails provided by the arrested trio, detectives say they are unconvinced English is the man's first language.
All three have been released on bail until May 19.
Dc Dave Neale, who is leading the investigation, said: "The people we've arrested have given us plausible accounts of their initial intentions."
Appealing to anyone else who may have been in contact with the 'employer', he added: "There are scores of this type of fraud going on in this country. The targeting of specific individuals is becoming more complicated and more intricate. In this case the person behind the fraud provided a wealth of seemingly legitimate information. But it should be a warning to people in Plymouth and the surrounding area; we don't want to see any more people risking their own liberties."
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 08452 777444 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference EC/11/3972.