Help With A Possible Scam

[robeetle]

I just spoke to my g/f in bkk. She told me of a job offer that could be possible to work in the USA.

Here it is. She needs to take a Thai foot massage course, then fork over 50,000 baht, and also have a certificate of marriage. The lady said that she could arrange for her to be married to some guy . We were to be married next year.

Then after all the paperwork is done, she comes to America and works in hospitals doing foot massages.

All food, and housing is supposedly paid for, plus she makes $50 per hour. Right now the economy in america is in the dumper, jobs are being LOST at record levels with no end in sight.

This woman that told her about this she has known less than a month. She also knows that my g/f just sold her beauty shop for guess what?...$50,000 baht......

So does anybody know of this being legit, OR, is a rat at work?

Edited June 19, 2008 by robeetle

[britmaveric]

I think you know the answer, not to mention the fraud implications. Could even be a front for forced prostitution.

[robeetle]

I think you know the answer, not to mention the fraud implications. Could even be a front for forced prostitution.

That is what I emailed back to her, it happens all too often here.

[toptuan]

Rat

[seagull]

I just spoke to my g/f in bkk. She told me of a job offer that could be possible to work in the USA.

Here it is. She needs to take a Thai foot massage course, then fork over 50,000 baht, and also have a certificate of marriage. The lady said that she could arrange for her to be married to some guy . We were to be married next year.

Then after all the paperwork is done, she comes to America and works in hospitals doing foot massages.

All food, and housing is supposedly paid for, plus she makes $50 per hour. Right now the economy in america is in the dumper, jobs are being LOST at record levels with no end in sight.

This woman that told her about this she has known less than a month. She also knows that my g/f just sold her beauty shop for guess what?...$50,000 baht......

So does anybody know of this being legit, OR, is a rat at work?

I would gathered that the bht 50,000 is meant for "her to be married to some guy" for a marriage certificate, and for "all food and housing". Is these possible in the states ? Bht 50,000 equals USD1562 at bht 32/USD. What about airfare? IMO, is a scam. A poorly thought out one at that.

[rick75]

I think the alarm bells would be ringing at $50/hr, unskilled labour would not be worth more than $10-$15 an hour tops.

[robeetle]

Hey everyone, thanks, as I am going to forward this to her, so your comments may save her a lot of grief. My sister and I both live in The San Diego area and we felt scam all the way here.

And the more comments the better.

Edited June 19, 2008 by robeetle

[geriatrickid]

I think you know the answer, not to mention the fraud implications. Could even be a front for forced prostitution.

Agreed.

[Scott]

She may get housing and food and $50 an hour, but she should remember that she will be locked in a brothel and what she will be massaging probably won't be feet!

[PattayaParent]

Scam.

Anytime someone wants money from you in order to give you a job just walk away. There's plenty of legitimate companies out there that will pay all your expenses in order to employ you.

Why not visit your local San Diego Hospital or Area Health Authority and ask them about the likelihood of someone getting a job as a foot massager.

[dave111223]

Why the heck would you need to "marry some guy" in order to get a job massaging feet at a hospital...

I'm thinking one of the following scams:

- Women takes the 50K and does a runner

- Some kind of forced labor/prostitution

- Some kind of weird forced marriage situation to the "some guy"

P.S.

$50 an hour 40 hours per week and 52 weeks a year that would be over $100,000 a year.... PLUS accommodation and food!!! YEAH RIGHT!!

Edited June 19, 2008 by dave111223

[initiala4]

not legit....$50 bucks an hour for a foreign hire? No way....for a foot massage

[greenwood]

See if you can get the name of the company that she is working for and the try doing a google search on the company name.

Here is Australia, if companies are found scamming this way, they are blacklisted by the authorities and placed on Internet Scam Listings etc. To me $50 an hr to massage feet is way over the top for payment of that position.

As others have suggested contact the local medical board or the wages tribunal and see what the going rate is. How can she work without a green card, as far as I know no card no work (unless illegal)

Also bearing in mind how hard it is to get into the USA these days even if your girl was to marry someone over there she would have to show some form of relationship with the guy she is marrying. If this all goes belly up, it will also jepordise and chance you will have to get your GF over to the USA in the future.

Do your best to steer her away from this, it is an obvious scam and should not be entered into at any cost. Good luck

[ILovedogs]

I can't believe this is a serious question from an American person. You need to be certified to do massage in the US, and a certificate from Thailand won't cut it. Who do you know who goes to a hospital for a foot massage? And then, gets a non-certified person to do anything they are having done?

How much does an R.N. make? Do any American jobs include food and housing? That are remotely legal and pay $50 an hour?

Do you think if this was a real job, there would be a need to find people in Thailand to fill it, because there is a lack of people in San Diego, legal and not, who would be willing to do this work?

[Farma]

The deal sounds similar to the scams that were going around that some Thai and Filipinos guys wanting to work in the offshore oil industry told me about.

First they want money to arrange a job, then money to pay for a course, then they want more money for the ticket, then more money to arrange a visa, then more for this, then more for that……. it just keeps going on until they can’t pay anymore.

It sounds like a scam to me.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

If this is a real offer and they wanted her bad enough to pay $50 per hour then they would pay for any schooling and provide air fare to the US. A legal operation would not get involved in a scam that requires a phony marriage.

Tell her to tell them she is interested if they pay for the school and provide the air tickets. She will not hear from then again. If they insist on her paying for the school or anything else tell them they can deduct it from her pay at $10 from the $50.

If they tell her that they need her to pay bacause they cannot be sure she will come after they pay the money. Her response should be she will put the money in a bank escrowe account to be released to them after she has completed six months of work with pay and all other conditions have been met, or returned to her if any of the conditions are broken.

The chances of the deal being legit or them accepting any of the above terms is about the same as the chance it will snow in Bangkok tomorrow.

[wasabi]

Who is this lady offering the job? What a con artist. If she's foreign get that fool deported.

[Bluelotus]

To give foot massage in a hospital in the USA you would have to have a State certification requiring passing a written and demonstrative exam with extensive knowledge of musculature , and most likely be a licensed physical therapist involving another certification and at least 2 years of college level training . SCAM !

[dave111223]

You should probably report this woman to the local police, imagine if it is some kind of forced prostitution scam? Think about the potentially 100s of more gullible girls who could become slaves for the rest of their lives.

Maybe you should ask the woman the name (or names) of possible hospital(s) where she would be working. If woman cannot give any hospital names then it's definitely a scam and should be reported.

Edited June 19, 2008 by dave111223

[jayjayjayjay]

My gf's best friend just arrived back after 3 months in Arizona. Deal was 60,000baht(inlcuded return airfare, visa, work permit green card or whatever she worked with) upfront. She is a first year student at a good uni, not from THE business. Went to work as cleaning staff, made $4000 US in 3 months she was there. Spent most of the $2000 she had over the cost. She got back on June 4th, worked hard, hated it, but enjoyed the experience!! Was arrange by a company that promotes themselves with the Uni's knowledge. Is close to what you have explained..

[dave111223]

My gf's best friend just arrived back after 3 months in Arizona. Deal was 60,000baht(inlcuded return airfare, visa, work permit green card or whatever she worked with) upfront. She is a first year student at a good uni, not from THE business. Went to work as cleaning staff, made $4000 US in 3 months she was there. Spent most of the $2000 she had over the cost. She got back on June 4th, worked hard, hated it, but enjoyed the experience!! Was arrange by a company that promotes themselves with the Uni's knowledge. Is close to what you have explained..

"Close" except for the fake marriage and $50 per hour

[jayjayjayjay]

My gf's best friend just arrived back after 3 months in Arizona. Deal was 60,000baht(inlcuded return airfare, visa, work permit green card or whatever she worked with) upfront. She is a first year student at a good uni, not from THE business. Went to work as cleaning staff, made $4000 US in 3 months she was there. Spent most of the $2000 she had over the cost. She got back on June 4th, worked hard, hated it, but enjoyed the experience!! Was arrange by a company that promotes themselves with the Uni's knowledge. Is close to what you have explained..

"Close" except for the fake marriage and $50 per hour

I've always thought their all scams, the difference with this one is there was nothing illegal proposed up front, others at the same uni had gone the year before. She had a good time, worked harder than ever before! Did her good.

[TerryLH]

Lots of information on legitimate jobs overseas can be found at Labor Dept offices.

[robeetle]

10 million red flags. That is what I told her straight up, but she is desperate for change, and I'm in the states until next year. So, as I said before "too good to be true" usually is.

This morning i talked with her again and she beleives everone thank Gawd.

[distortedlink]

This is a scam that was running in London, some years ago:

I first met my Thai wife in London, England. She obtained a visa because her brother lives in the UK married to an English woman. We married in England 1987.

For a while my wife worked at a patisserie in London owned by a Swiss who mainly employed young Thai female staff. He always gave the best looking girls an option to live in his many apartments free of charge.

In time I discovered that most of my wife's Thai friends were able to remain and work in England indefinitely because they had paid a standard fee of £2000 to £3000 to an underground Thai agency with farang partners operating in the UK for arranged marriages of convenience. After 2 years the girls applied for a quickie divorce. All they had to do was get the so-called husband to sign and agree and that was it. If the girl lost contact with the marriage partner, she just got someone else to forge a signature on the divorce agreement.

The scam worked like this:

The agency would arrange for the Thai girl to enter England mainly London as a student of English language at specially chosen English language schools around London. The girl paid the agency £3000. This included the agency fee, airfare and 1 year school fee. Once in the UK on a 1-year student visa, the girl worked at specially selected work places as cheap labour and the school created bogus records that she was in attendance learning English language.

Before the 1 year visa was up, the agency would arrange a marriage of convenience to a British subject for another fee of between 2 to 3 thousand pounds. After 2 years a quickie divorce and she could stay in the UK forever.

Once established in Britain many Thai girls gained connections with corrupt home office and council officials who were then given council accommodation in prime London locations, such as Covent Garden and able to claim social security benefits, while working cash in hand. With the government's right to buy scheme, they could later purchase the council property at a bargain price, raking in huge profits. Some moved on to becoming front owners of Thai restaurants, enabling them to bring over more Thais as employees with work permits. Once in, these girls could be used for any purpose.

At the time these girls were always on the look out for mugs to marry them or pay their expenses as a favour so as to give permanent residence in Britain. Some guys fell for the con.

These scammers were reported, but the metropolitan police gave this low priority and only very few were ever deported.

I know now of Thai women living in London, who would prefer to return to Thailand, but have young children, living in council accommodation, on social security benefits and stay in Britain for this reason.

At the time I was appalled by this, my wife and I worked out guts out to achieve what we have now. I wanted to report these people, but knowing who was involved, including drug dealers, pimps and corrupt officials, I was worried about repercussions and thought it best to stay out of it.

This was all in the late 1980s, early 1990s. Since than the Thai economy is much improved for Thais, but I am sure this practice still continues.

It could be that your girlfriend is using something similar to be able to live permanantly in the USA, or the operators are scamming your girlfriend for money and who knows what they may have in store for her when she arrives in the USA.

Firstly any one asked to pay money in order to obtain a job, it`s a scam. Marriage of convenience is illegal.

I wouldn`t touch it with a barge pole and to the OP, beware if your girlfriend asks you to contribute any money towards this venture.

[submaniac]

I would gathered that the bht 50,000 is meant for "her to be married to some guy" for a marriage certificate, and for "all food and housing". Is these possible in the states ? Bht 50,000 equals USD1562 at bht 32/USD.

My thoughts too. Who wants to get married for a measly $1,562? It's a felony. And it's a Federal felony (meaning that you are unlikely to be released early due to prison overcrowding).

[JetsetBkk]

I just spoke to my g/f in bkk. She told me of a job offer that could be possible to work in the USA.

Here it is. She needs to take a Thai foot massage course, then fork over 50,000 baht, and also have a certificate of marriage. The lady said that she could arrange for her to be married.....

You need to find out where the scam originated - the "lady" or your "future intended".

[robeetle]

I just spoke to my g/f in bkk. She told me of a job offer that could be possible to work in the USA.

Here it is. She needs to take a Thai foot massage course, then fork over 50,000 baht, and also have a certificate of marriage. The lady said that she could arrange for her to be married.....

You need to find out where the scam originated - the "lady" or your "future intended".

"The Lady" is the one that mentioned it to her. This woman obviously is very savvy and used that to try and convince my gal to fork over her money. Fortunately all here helped her make the correct choice.

I wish she could be investigated , she is Thai I know that much.

[Moonrakers]

Surely you could set up a 'sting' operation with the coppers, by having your gf agree to it all but have the coppers tag along. I'm sure they'd go for it if there is something in it for them.

[grantbkk]

Surely you could set up a 'sting' operation with the coppers, by having your gf agree to it all but have the coppers tag along. I'm sure they'd go for it if there is something in it for them.

People have to use common sense which I have learned is not that common at all. You have a better chance of making a reality show out of this than getting the police involved, especially since there is no victim yet. Where are one of those 250,000 police officers when you need one? Not working an employment scam unless they are working with the suspect. The amount of money is negligible compared to the losses some men and women in Thailand actually experience in some variation of this scam.