Why payment representative emails are fake

Assuming that you actually get here to this part, here's some reasons that the representative scams are fake, aside from the fact that they are ALWAYS a scam.

What's the scam?
In this subforum you are going to run into the fake check fraud. In the fake check scam you are asked to be a claims agent, paying etc or some kind of representative for a company. The fake check scam is just that-- all you are ever going to get is a fake check or money order. You can read elsewhere (like here) about why you don't want to have a fake check for any reason.

If you have read about how to identify a scam email (which is here) then in addition to things like bad grammar, poor spelling, even poorer punctuation, the use of free email servers, etc. these are some other things that make a representative scam format completely bogus.

1. "We can't get a tax ID in the U.S"
This indicates that the scammer is stupid and clueless about tax law in the U.S. Getting a tax ID in the US is about as easy as falling off a log. There's a form you fill out and send to the IRS. It takes about a week to do and it's free (or close to it). I even had one once for a small business I owned. A major company can't get a tax ID in the US? Just a scammer talking.

2. "The tax rate in our country (x) is 25% for companies but only 7% for individuals"
This may or may not be true for any particular country but it is not true in this situation. The tax authorities in country (x) are constantly on the alert for accounting tricks like this and would be all over something this transparent as a "tax dodge". Company officials who tried something like this would be subject to high fines ($$$) and could possibly face prison time. Additionally, if you get one of these from Latvia (how did a scammer even find it on a map?) remember that Latvia is a member of the EU and the EU is making effort to harmonize taxes across the whole EU so the story doesn't hold up.

3. "Our customers are always paying with money orders"
Umm, actually in the real world, no business would EVER pay for anything with a money order. Services are available in banks precisely to facilitate international commerce. This includes things like letters of credit etc. No real company ever uses money orders to pay for anything. It's just a scammer talking. The various instruments that banks have developed to assist businesses are to make the transfer of funds quick and fast. A company does not need you to do this for them. (The same thing holds true for checks. Most companies would not pay by check either for the same reasons as mentioned).

4. "We can't open a bank account in the U.S."
That would be because they haven't tried. Opening a bank account is almost as easy as getting a tax ID. Yes, someone would have to go to the US to do that but nowadays even that can probably be done by an affiliate bank. This is such a ridiculous statement that it almost isn't worth addressing.

5. "We don't have an office in the U.S."
So what? Almost as ridiculous as #4. So what if they don't have an office in the US? They can still do business there. Even a small business would considering opening a branch office in the US because it's such a large market. And opening an office or hiring an agent is easy to do and any real company would know that. Scammers don't know that, or they hope you don't.

6. "We do not have an account in your country that will clear this money"
Well, I suppose if you lived in Antarctica that might be true, but other than that, there are banks for this work. Even if they don't have an account in your country they would have an agent to handle this kind of work. Unless they are going to make you the agent then this is just another ridiculous scammer statement.

7. "The cost of coming to the states and getting payments is very expensive and time consuming"
Yes it would be if you actually had to do it. Fortunately for all those artists, textile companies, and other types of companies there's a solution to this problem. It's called a bank. That's what banks do.

8. "Clients make payments for our supplies every week"
Oh well, then the company already has financial procedures in place so they don't need you.

9. "Send the Remaining Funds back via Western Union"
If you have read elsewhere (as indicated in this little exposition) then you know that the use of Western Union or Moneygram always indicates you are dealing with scammers. Real companies do not EVER use Western Union or Moneygram for anything. They use banks. If you ever get an email like this, drop it. Delete it. It's just a scammer.

10. "You don't have to worry about the IRS...."
Another cute piece of invention by an idiot scammer. Actually you do have to worry about the IRS , the Inland Revenue Service or any other taxing body authority in your country and/or state/province. Taxes are one of the main sources of income for governments and they jealousy guard the power to tax. You aren't going to be able to hide from them just because you're doing business for some company that is sending you checks. Even if this were a real job you would still have to pay the taxes on what you make.

No, they have NOT checked it carefully with anyone to make sure that it falls under relevant taxing provisions or authority of any government. They are criminals. They aren't going to talk to anyone with authority to arrest them.

11. "a lot of Credit is being owe our company"
If they were actually concerned about losing money during the transfer of funds they could always buy some foreign currency hedges. If they were a real company someone would know that, probably an accountant or finance manager or two. 

12. "....plus other incentives and benefits that accrue, which includes tax holidays..."
This is sent by a scammer/criminal who has absolutely no clue as to what the term "tax holiday" means, although it sounds good to him since all the money he steals is tax free. Delete the email. 

13. We will pay you 10% for every check collected.
Think about that one. Why would they pay you 10% just to collect a check? If you collect it, why don't they pay you 1%? Is your time worth that much to them? On a $10,000 check, that's $1,000 for you to get a check in the mail and wait a few days until it clears the bank. What makes you worth $1,000 for that? Why don't they pay you a monthly wage (which would be a lot cheaper for them) or pay you a smaller percentage? Simple, there is no job here. There is only a fake check. 

14. "Unfortunately we are unable to open Bank Accounts in the united states without first registering the company."

Guess what? This is more stupid nonsense from a scammer who knows nothing about international business except that he tries to steal money from everyone, everywhere. Companies would "register" in the U.S., that is, they will register trademarks, brand names etc, because companies are very protective of those things. They would also register any patents on any products they make. Real companies know that.

If you get this kind of garbage from a "company" you can rest assured they are not a real company and you can also delete the email because it's just another dumb scammer/criminal talking nonsense. 

15. Anyway our employees never leave us because for us, our employees come first.

So why exactly do they need to hire you if no one ever quits?

16. We want to hire you as a certified payroll specialist.....
All right, great. Do you have have a background in payroll work? Are you an accountant? Do you have any bookkeeping skills? If not, why exactly would they hire you?

In addition, sometimes you get a "payroll specialist" offer from a company in country A and you live in country B. Why in the world would anyone hire you to be a payroll specialist when live in a completely different country? Aren't there in bookkeepers in country A? Of course there are so the whole idea is preposterous. What they probably want you to do is buy some check printing software and mail out fake checks for you. That makes you a party (an accessory) to felony fraud in most jurisdictions. Kind of makes that great payroll specialist not look like such a great job after all, especially if you end up in prison.

17. IS THIS LEGAL? YES, It is very legal (article 15.3) Employment Opportunity Act. My lawyer checked all legal provisions concerning any domestic or international law against businesses or deals of domestic monetary trade. Doing this business is 100% safe and legal.
No it is not legal. Stealing money is not legal anywhere, except Wall Street. The Employment Opportunity Act? Of what country? And no, the lawyer did not check anything. 

18. "We need your assistance because these payments, which are usually in the form of cheques are not payable in Chinese Banks because of the differing Banking Systems."
This point actually came up recently. In fact, the difference in banking systems means absolutely nothing. 50 years ago, yeah, maybe, back when stuff was all done by paper but it's all electronic now. This is the 21st century. China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. They are high-tech, they are clued-in, they know how to do banking. They probably invented it thousand of years ago. The above quote is from an idiot scammer who knows nothing about much of anything and hopes that you don't know any more than he does. But of course, you do. You know to delete the email.

http://antifraudintl.org/showthread.php?3631-Why-representative-emails-are-fake