I received the following phishing email today. It’s a variation on the “your email inbox is too large” scam I posted in June. It plays on Habitat’s name, Haiti relief, and pure greed — it claims you can earn big tax-free commissions as a fundraiser. There are so many things wrong with this pitch. Fundraising (at least in the U.S.) doesn’t work this way — commissions violate the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ code of ethics. The income wouldn’t be tax-free just because it’s from an international charity. An organization like Habitat wouldn’t look for employees by sending mass emails to “undisclosed recipients.” And they wouldn’t use a Gmail address.
I hope no one falls for this.
==========================
Subject: Important Message(Job Offer)
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL, we work hard to improve and provide training, technical expertise and support in fund-raising to the national organizations in all the regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is carried out at the community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI Board of Directors. The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers from around the world who share a deep concern for the problems of poverty housing.
This is demonstrated in our role as a corporate sponsor for the HAITI RELIEF PROGRAM with money raised going towards helping displaced and disabled children and their families.
We are an organization with a remarkable heritage.
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for funds raised plus an ANNUAL UPFRONT ALLOWANCE paid at the beginning of the fiscal year in early January .This Could earn you an average of $500 – $1500 weekly and as much as $5000 (TAX FREE) in a month depending on how active you are.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront and this won’t affect your current job earnings or disability payments in any way and you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our esteemed Voluntary Donors in your region and other parts of the world and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10 percent (10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as your remuneration for the great service you would be rendering in support of saving lives in the third-world countries. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required to be forwarded to the Regional Co-ordinators of the various charitable projects we are involved in around the Globe.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any travelling and WILL NOT be required to pay any fees, this position won’t affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at the email listed below for further instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
GENDER : ..
AGE : ..
EMAIL ADDRESS:…
COUNTRY : …
Your prompt response is solicited
Coordinator’s Desk,
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL
+44(0)7031883958, +14092915940
Registered No. MHQLTH1084442
REPLY TO BE SENT THROUGH : habitatcareers1@gmail.com
I received this today as well.
I received this mail today (13/04/10). I reside in South Africa. I did not for once believe this to be ligitimate so hence looked up for similar mail to varify my suspicion, this is a scam and dont fall for it!!!!!
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, we work hard to improve and provide training, technical
expertise and support in fund-raising to the national organizations in all the
regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is carried out at the
community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI Board
of Directors. The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers from around
the world who share a deep concern for the problems of poverty housing.
This is demonstrated in our role as a corporate sponsor for the HAITI RELIEF PROGRAM
with money raised going towards helping displaced and disabled children and their
families.
We are an organization with a remarkable heritage.
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for funds
raised.This Could earn you an average of $200 – $500 weekly and as much as $2000
(TAX FREE) in a month depending on how active you are.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront and
this won’t affect your current job earnings or disability payments in any way and
you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our esteemed Voluntary Donors in
your region and other parts of the world and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10 percent
(10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as your remuneration for
the great service you would be rendering in support of saving lives in the
third-world countries. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required to be forwarded to
the Regional Co-ordinators of the various charitable projects we are involved in
around the Globe.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any traveling and WILL NOT be required to pay any
fees, this position won’t affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at the
email listed below for further instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
GENDER : ..
AGE : ..
EMAIL ADDRESS:…
COUNTRY : …
Your prompt response is solicited
Coordinator’s Desk,
Habitat for Humanity International
121 Habitat Street
Americus, GA 31709
1-800-800-2190
Registered No. MHQLTH1084442
REPLY TO BE SENT THROUGH : habitathumanty6@gmail.com
I received this email today as well. I was suspicious as well, and did a search on a couple of the web sites like Snopes.com. Nothing came up. Then, when I read the email again, I noticed it was asking for age/gender info–something that is not done in the US. I called the 1-800 number, and it was busy. Then, I googled the 1800 number and found your web site. Thank goodness! I wish it were a bit easier to track some of these scams!
I got something similar, but it’s an offer for part-time work:
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, We work hard to improve and provide training, technical
expertise and support in fund-raising to the national organizations in all the
regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is carried out at the
community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI
Board of Directors. The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers
from around the world who share a deep concern for the problems of poverty
housing.
JOB DESCRIBTION:
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for
funds raised.This Could earn you an average of $150-$300 weekly.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront
and this won’t affect your current job earnings or disability payments in any
way and you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our esteemed Voluntary Donors
in your region and other parts of the world and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10
percent (10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as your
remuneration for the great service you would be rendering in support of saving
lives in the third-world countries. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required
to be forwarded to the Regional Co-ordinators of the various charitable projects
we are involved in around the Globe.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any traveling and WILL NOT be required to pay
any fees, this position won’t affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at
the email listed below for further instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
GENDER : ..
AGE : ..
EMAIL ADDRESS:…
COUNTRY : …
Your prompt response is solicited
Coordinator’s Desk,
Habitat for Humanity International
121 Habitat Street
Americus, GA 31709
USA
1-800-800-2190
Registered No. MHQLTH1084442
REPLY TO BE SENT THROUGH : humanitydonation1@gmail.com
Since they’re using Gmail for the Reply To email account, you should report these to Google:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=29381
They’ll at least kill that account.
The email comes from Habitat for Humanity at a .com address, while the real Habitat uses .org and that raised my suspicions immediately. The reply address is at gmail, not a Habitat address. Too much suspiciousness for me.
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Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:24:46 -0300 (BRT)
Reply-To:
From: “Habitat for Humanity International”
Subject: Work With Us(Part Time Job)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:25:12 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset=”Windows-1251″
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Message-Id:
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, We work hard to improve and provide training, technical expertise and support in fund-
raising to the national organizations in all the regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is
carried out at the community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI Board of Directors.
The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers from around the world who share a deep concern for the
problems of poverty housing.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for funds raised.This Could earn you an
average of $300-$500 weekly.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront and this won’t affect your current
job earnings or disability payments in any way and you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our esteemed Voluntary Donors in your region and other parts of
the world and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10 percent (10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as
your remuneration for the great service you would be rendering in support of saving lives in the third-world
countries. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required to be forwarded to the Regional Co-ordinators of the various
charitable projects we are involved in around the Globe.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any traveling and WILL NOT be required to pay any fees, this position won’t
affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at the email listed below for further
instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
GENDER : ..
AGE : ..
EMAIL ADDRESS:…
COUNTRY : …
Your prompt response is solicited
Coordinator’s Desk,
Habitat for Humanity International
121 Habitat Street
Americus, GA 31709
USA
1-800-800-2190
Registered No. MHQLTH1084442
REPLY TO BE SENT THROUGH : careershelp1@gmail.com
I received this today (01/18/11) at my State E-Mail address.
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, We work hard to improve and provide training, technical expertise and support in fund-raising to the national organizations in all the regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is carried out at the community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI Board of Directors. The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers from around the world who share a deep concern for the problems of poverty housing.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for funds raised.This Could earn you an average of $300-$500 weekly.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront and this won’t affect your current job earnings or disability payments in any way and you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our esteemed Voluntary Donors in your region and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10 percent (10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as your remuneration for the great service you would be rendering in support of saving lives in the third-world countries. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required to be forwarded to the Regional Co-ordinators of the various charitable projects we are involved in around the Globe.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any traveling and WILL NOT be required to pay any fees, this position won’t affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at the email listed below for further instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
EMAIL ADDRESS:…
Habitat for Humanity
1-800-800-2191
REPLY TO BE SENT THROUGH : habitathumanity at gmail.com
I received a version of this email tonight. Having been an investigative journalist, I immediately figured it was BS. The only two things that made it seem possibly legit were that my version came from an @habitat.org email address. Further it referred to being able to earn the income without triggering problems with a disability pension.
I was contacted recently by a legitimate non-profit contractor for the IRS to do part-time call-center work from home under the Social Security Ticket to Work program to try to get people on disability to find a way to reenter the workforce. I had been at the SSA office earlier in the day and had been asked about it. I get a call like that for a rehabilitation agency right after every time I go the Social Security Office.
However, of course, there were just too many things wrong with the email, such as the please resond with all this personal information mess. So, I did a quick Google search for “habitat for humanity spam” to see what was up and found this site. Thanx.
David,
I’m glad this saved you some grief.
Robert
I just got this in one of my personal accounts, a job offer to be a Habitat for Humanity rep… but you reply to a hotmail account. Not very clever but it could zoom someone who wasn’t thinking critically about it and took it at face value.
—————–
Hello Prospective Employee,
At HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, We work hard to improve and provide training, technical expertise and support in fund-raising to the national organizations in all the regions of the world. However, the actual work of HABITAT is carried out at the community level by affiliates that have been officially approved by the HFHI Board of Directors. The International Board of Directors (IBOD) are volunteers from around the world who share a deep concern for the problems of poverty housing.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
You’ve got a chance to be one of our representatives and earn a commission for funds raised.This Could earn you an average of $300-$500 weekly.
You can be rest assured that you WOULD NOT be required to pay any fees upfront and this won’t affect your current job earnings or disability payments in any way and you can conveniently work from your desk at home.
Private donations will be made in your name from our Voluntary Donors in your region and you’ll be allowed to deduct 10 percent (10%) of the total amount on these donations. This serves as your remuneration for the great service you would be rendering in support of saving lives in the country. Balances (after the 10%) shall be required to be forwarded to the Regional Co-ordinators of the various charitable projects in all the states.
Please Note: You won’t have to do any traveling and WILL NOT be required to pay any fees, this position won’t affect your present employment.
To apply, Kindly forward the following info: to our Human Resource Department at the email listed below for further instructions.
FULL NAME :
FULL ADDRESS :
CITY :
STATE:
ZIP CODE/POSTCODE: ..
PHONE NUMBER (S) :(must be valid) would be called to confirm.
Habitat for Humanity
1-800-800-5428
REPLY TO BE SENT TO: homeprojects10@hotmail.com