I recently posted an item on Craigslist trying to sell some jewelry. A few days later i was contacted through yahoo messenger by (Charlse Mathebula) asking if i would like a job. After a few minutes of conversation, I learned that I would be printing and mailing checks from one company to their employees. He claimed to be part of the Nielsen Company (http://www.nielsen.com). He told me I would be paid $1500 a month. I was told to contact him through ([email protected]). I was told to purchase the VersaCheck Gold 2012 Software to begin printing the checks and I would be reimbursed when i get paid at the end of the month. I purchased this through amazon. i have not been asked for any of my information which was seeming a little odd to me. I have NOT given him any money but i have bought the software. I trained one day and then the next day he had me print and mail off checks, all to different people in different parts of the country. I mailed 8 checks total. He gave the the account number and name of a bank in Pennsylvania YET he claims to be in NY. I am worried that this is a scam bc he has not given me any information about himself. Today i filled out an employee form that i and to scan an email to him. All of the contact information on the form for the company matches up except for the email ([email protected]) and phone number (909-233-6351). On the Nielsen website every contact email ends in (@nielsen.com). We have been communicating through yahoo messenger which is very odd to me. I also looked on the Better Business Bureau website and found that the Nielsen Compant is A+ accredited BUT under the list of known company names, Nielsen Ltd. is not listed. Here is the url of that info (http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/busine ... -ny-17566/). I am not out very much money but I would like to be sure this is not a scam before i put out anymore. If anyone could give me any information on this it would be very much appreciated. I know that the Nielsen Company is legitimate but I am worried this person is posing as an employee when he is not really one. Also if you believe this is a scam could you give me some advice on what actions to take and so on. Thanks for your help.
Welcome to ScamWarners. You've done some good research. Your instinct is correct: this is a scam. You should stop ALL contact with this person immediately. What you have done is to work as a check mule and you have unknowingly committed a crime. Save all correspondence as evidence to the fact that you were a victim in case you should need it.
If you still have the list of people you sent checks to, please send it to me or one of the moderators by private message. Those people are all check scam victims being sent fraudulent checks. We'll try to make sure they are warned.
You can also send us the information on the check account itself, if there is a real account owner, he/she is another victim.