14 DAY TRIAL // Who wouldn’t want their photographs to appear in a Pepsi ad along with the ones of international celebrities? Many internauts might jump at the offer, which is why we must warn them that a money laundering scheme that relies on this topic may come their way.
Money laundering schemes are often advertised via randomly sent out emails, but they’re usually masked by a long and well thought out story. In this case, the initial information is kept to a minimum.
The poorly written emails look like this:
I am pleased to inform you that your photo here we are interested in an ad for Pepsi. We need your permission If so let us know so we can send you more details on this and write us with your e-mail address and name.
All we need is your photos to this announcement will be made in France and we pay you for it. Is very important that you send us an email to the email address provided here for you. Best regards and please make sure we reply to this email: [email protected]m
According to Hoax Slayer, there are other variants which claim that the ads will be shown in Ecuador, instead of France.
In either case, once users accept the tempting offer, they’re sent an amount of money that exceeds the sum they initially agreed upon. Then, the victim is instructed to wire the rest of the funds to a third party, the payment allegedly representing legal costs and other fees.
In reality, the money received by the victim is stolen from hijacked bank accounts or obtained through other fraudulent means.
In case of an investigation, authorities are immediately led to the one doing the laundering. The victims might unwittingly participate in the whole operation, but telling police that the money came from Pepsi will most likely make them even more suspicious.
Once again, we advise everyone to beware of too-good-to-be-true job offers. Be sure to check them out before applying.