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RationalFX: A Stunning New Work-at-home Scam (REVISED)
Posted on Jan 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Update 1/23/07: It appears a real company called RationalFX was the target itself of corporate ID theft and was incorrectly shown here to be the scammers themselves. RationalFX (at www.rationalFX.com) is a legitimate business and a victim of phishing attacks. It was the fake phishing websites that are running scam job offers which fooled me into thinking it was RationalFX itself doing this. So be careful: there are bogus job offers circulating from a company posing as Rational FX. If the job offer includes processing money or checks and wiring funds on someone else's behalf, THIS TYPE OF JOB IS A SCAM that can get you into serious trouble. Scroll for details below.
I believe RationalFX is a remarkable example of a sophisticated scam operation. It's the classic work-at-home scam I've been writing about since 2004 on scamsafe.com: a foreign money exchange business. Take a look at their website. This is well-funded and designed to run as a real business. Their web site will fool 9.9 out of 10 people, it's that good. They are a valid registered business in England (I checked) and are members of several groups that appear to bring credibility such as the The Association of International Property Professionals. (Ask yourself why a financial exchange company would be members of a property management trade group?)
The domain rational-uk-cfx.com was registered JANUARY 10 2007. Come on, a real business wouldn't register a domain name right before they launched. Even stranger, they are a UK company but the domain name is registered to a guy named Andrew Zeiler in Kalamazoo, MI. I called the phone number on the domain registration and it's the HOUSE of someone named Zeiler (they did not answer).
In my opinion, this is a scam and this criminal gang will steal money from thousands of people and make off with millions. I really hope someone from the Secret Service or FBI is reading this so they can start on this sooner rather than later. However, unless they are already in the middle of a related investigation, it's highly unlikely they will act. Without a large number of victims reporting this, law enforcement probably won't touch this until its too late.
Please don't accept any job or business offer that requires you to receive checks and wire or send money out of the country. Or offers you a ridiculous fee for doing little or no work. RationalFX's job offer pays 10% of every check you transfer for them which is utterely absurd. Stay away from RationalFX.
Ps. I found out about this because they were bold enough to post a spam comment on a scamsafe.com blog post I wrote about OTHER foreign exchange scams.
Update 1/23/07: I was contacted by RationalFX's CEO (email below) saying that his firm is being victimized. I did some digging, as best I can, and I decided there is reasonable doubt as to whether my original post is accurate. Frankly, I am not an investigator so I can't possibly spend dozens of hours verifying this like law enforcement could. From what I can determine after HOURS of research, is that RationalFX appears to be a legitimate business in the UK. Unfortunately, there are/were a number of phony companies posing as RationalFX (via bogus job postings and websites) trying to harm people with advance fee, work at home and other scams. I hvae some lingering doubts about this, but I have to be fair and reverse my original assessment--RationalFX appears to be the victim here. BUT if you get a work-at-home job offer from RationalFX, it is likely a scam, since the real RationalFX (based in the UK) does NOT offer work-at-home jobs doing financial processing. And their true website is www.rationalfx.com.
Here's an email I received from Rajesh the CEO of RationalFX (I edited slightly to remove data like emails and mobile phone number):
From: Rajesh Agrawal [mailto:xxxxx.xxxxxx@rationalfx.com] Sent: 21 January 2007 20:35 To: 'tom@xxxxxxxxxxx' Subject: Blog Dear Tom,We are a well established company based in the UK (company registration number 5385999). We provide foreign exchange services to private individuals (particularly people buying property overseas) and businesses. It has recently been brought to our attention that we have been a victim of phishing (not sure if it’s the right term). Someone has been posing as RationalFX in the US, have duplicated our website (our geninue websites are www.rationalfx.com www.rationalfxonline.com www.rationalfx.co.uk and www.rationalmortgages.com and through careerbuilder.com have been offering jobs to the people in the USA.
It is a clear case of identity theft. I found 4 websites pretending to be RationalFX www.rational-euro-cfx.com www.rational-usa-cfx.com www.peroalsleroaswe.com/?id=2 and www.rational-cfx.com . The first 3 websites were hosted by Yahoo! Hosting. We immediately requested Yahoo! To take action and they have shut those websites. The fourth website www.rational-cfx.com is hosted with Pacific Internet in Hong Kong. We have contacted them and hopefully they will take action very soon. The case has also been reported to http://www.ic3.gov
Unfortunately, because Internet is global, the crimes related to the Internet do not fall in the laws of one particular country, which make it even more difficult to deal with.
We are determined to fight back with such internet criminals who not only cheat the hard earned money, but also ruin the name of our company.
As those fraudulent websites are now shut, may I kindly request you to take that message off from the blog. It might deter even our genuine customers and affect the business adversely.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or on 0044 845 130 xxxx or 0044 207 404 xxxx. Thanks you for your cooperation.
Regards,
Rajesh Agrawal
CEO
RationalFX
39 Hatton Garden
London EC1N 8EH
Tel: +44 (0)845 130 xxxx
Mobile: +44 (0)7876 751 xxx
Fax: +44 (0)845 130 xxxx
Email: xxxxxx@RationalFX.com
Web: www.RationalFX.com
Tags: crime, exchange, money, rationalfx, scam, workathome
Comments
Spike Troublemaker on Jan 20, 2007
Yeah, I figured that however I am just going to bait them for a little bit and then break it off up in deep.
dbdayton on Jan 21, 2007
Thanks for the heads up. When I got their email, I was automaticly suspecious. Your post was a big help!
J on Jan 22, 2007
Yeah, I just recieved a check in the mail today that I was suppose to go cash and wire. Luckly, I researched the company first and found this. Their website looked like the real deal. Registered in Michigan?! What a joke.
Too good to be true!
Melissa on Jan 22, 2007
I already sent them back an e-mail with my name address and phone number. Am i already screwed or not?
RR on Jan 23, 2007
Well, I too, received an "offer" from "Henry Gee" of the "RATIONAL-CFX.COM" domain & 3 days later that website was no longer in service!
Today I received an eMail from "Phillip Ball," "RATIONAL-FR.COM" domain. I thought it strange, so when I went to "www.rational-cfx.com," I realized something was strange.
I replied to both of these with threats of engaging the FBI should I receive ANYTHING from them either via eMail or snail-mail, and I will contact the FBI. I have already contacted the JOB sites they got my eMail address through. The nerve!
P.Moore on Jan 25, 2007
You may also want to look into the following website:
http://rational-fin.com/
I got an email from someone at this website through Career Builder and have been trying to find out if it is legit or now.
------------------------
Phil,
this i believe is a scam site and not related to the real RationalFX.
DO NOT ACCEPT ANY JOB WHERE YOU WILL BE PROCESSING AND TRANSFERRING FUNDS ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE. THESE ARE ALL SCAMS AND YOU CAN LOSE MONEY OR EVEN BE ARRESTED FOR FRAUD.
--Tom
Truston
TMorgan on Jan 26, 2007
I was contacted by a Helen at rational-fin.com. This posting was helpful. It should stay up for others.
L.D. Helfer on Jan 30, 2007
Tom,
Thanks for the 411 on this. I received a job offer as a "Transfer Manager" through one of the bogus sites. I however, research things that sound to good to be true and found the information on the REAL Rational FX. When contacted by two different Rep's for the company, both with different return e-mails and websites, that sent up a RED FLAG. The individuals participating in such crimes should be punished to the maximum of the law. They not only cheat innocent hard-working people, but also adversely affect any and all real companys they are posing as.
Yolanda on Jan 31, 2007
I too received an email from katharine_sander@rational-fin.com...and was offered a job as a Transfer Manager to process payments, and also gave up my name, address and phone numbers. I need to know what steps I need to take next,and need to know if I am screwed as well?
=================
This is Tom from Truston. If all you gave them was name address and phone, then you are probably totally safe. However, you should expect to receive some counterfeit checks in the mail. Do NOT attempt to cash or deposit the checks. No matter what anyone at a bank tells you, they will be fraudulent and you can get into serious trouble if you try to deposit them. And don't waste your time calling the bank to confirm the accounts--that proves nothing. Trust me I've been working on these scams for three years and I have seen literally hundreds of these.
When you get the checks, it's your choice. You can just destroy them and break off all contact. Or to be a good citizen, contact the bank on the check and report fraudulent checks. Ask to speak with a fraud investigator and tell them you KNOW the checks are fake and you want to alert the account holder to close their account. Tell them you were mailed the checks and had nothing to do this the scam.
Again, don't be foolish and attempt to deposit or cash the checks. EVEN IF THE CHECKS CLEAR, THAT PROVES NOTHING!!!!
Good luck.
Ch. riddick on Feb 27, 2007
I rec'd emails from nicola_jones@rational-fin.com, "Matthew" help@worldcashutilities.com,"Natalya Kozlova" admin@western-soft-software.com (http://western-soft-software.com/)these people found my resume on careerbuilder.com and started sending me bogus email scams about getting in the business of money transfers. I rec'd a check in the mail from I don't know where! The return address says Florida as on the check, but the postage stamp is from the foreign country "TURKEY"...so I just tore the check up. Watch out for these people!
Blake on Mar 12, 2007
I received an e-mail from Natalya as well and entertained her questions. The next day, $1,899 was deposited into my PayPal account.
It may be money laundering, tax evasion or possibly primitive attempts to circumvent some other country's tax laws. Either way, it smells like a fish.
---------------
Blake,
No doubt this is a criminal operation. please don't do any business with these folks. Report the fraud and don't send any funds to these people.
--Tom
Truston
deena on Mar 31, 2007
Most payment processing work at home jobs seem to be scams. You can find more detailed information at http://www.pcworkathome.net/scamcheck.html
jack on Jul 10, 2008
Not too long ago someone contacted me asking me to forword $1000 in hopes of getting information on my banking institution and told me if i did not comply that he would dig up dirt that would not go away easily. They said i could losse my home, car or any investments I. had I was kind of scared
at first when he sent me a copy of my W2 forms. I was in shock; how could someone get my W2 forms? Any suggestions?
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