Psst... Buddy! Wanna Job?

So I've been getting some rather suspect e-mails lately. I copied one to the bottom of this message. (Curiously, other than the title and From: address, they're all identical, so when you've seen one, you've seen them all...)

It was only a matter of time, really, before the current economic situation revived the scammers into attempting to separate desperate people from what money they have left by pretending to offer paying jobs. But one wonders why people still persist with obvious scams like the one copied out below. Does anyone still fall for this? This message is chocked so full of red flags that it looks like an old Soviet pass-in-review. Since when would you be getting pitches for insurance company jobs from "physicstoday.org?" The fact that they spoofed or invented a sender e-mail address is also suspect (just in case the fact that the contact information at the end is a Gmail account doesn't tip you off). And the poor grammar should be another clue - what business based in an English-speaking nation would hire someone with such a remedial grasp of the language to write business communications for them? (Unless poor "Julie Mathews" is actually being held in some basement somewhere against her will, and the mangled English is actually a coded plea for help. [Say... maybe there's a movie idea in that... the "419 Code." I wonder if Tom Hanks is busy...])

I could go on and on (like mentioning the fact that they misspelled the job title)... but you get the idea.

Newly opening at careers.physicstoday.org for you.
From: Koitiro Statelandscaping (xxxxxxx@hotmail.com)
Sent: Mon 1/26/09 3:13 PM
To:

Phone: (925) 237-9566 , Fax +(1) 520-844-0888
We value your response back regarding the open vacancy Prime Insurance is offering. We're currently seeking motivated and responsible individuals to attend the post of a 'Work at home Money Transfer Assitant'. This remote position itself covers a broad range of directions an individual would have to perform. It's a part time position, which let's you perform your duties directly from your home location. In the nearest future, we're planning to achieve the expansion of our company throughout the United States of America and United Kingdom, providing local offices and departments in the vast areas, where logistic and insurance services are definitely in demand. Until then, we're trying to fill in our personnel with new individuals, which will increase the efficiency of the services we're catering. If you wish to apply or have any questions regarding the position, feel free to contact me back either via e-mail. Hope to hear from you soon.
In order to reduce the corporate overhead, we've implemented the thrift solution of disseminating bases of control over certain regions of the United States of America. It provides a great opportunity for beginners to participate in the standard operations of the future subsidiary departments. Besides the expansion project, the upcoming regional accountants are expected to learn a great deal about different realms of the insurance market mainly through digesting the experience gained from the large scale practical assignments.
1) This is part time work at home position and can easily combine this vacancy with other work.
2) Your fixed salary is $2000 a month + 5% from each payment processed by you.
3) You will receive payments (Direct Bank Deposits and wire transfers) from client within United States and send it by instant payment sistem such as Western Union. You will receive 10% of processed amount.
4) You do not spend your own money and there are no startup fees. All charges for withdrawal or transferring the money will be deducted from the payment.
5) To start work with us you must only have basic checking account at any bank. Your financial information will never be disclosed to third parties.
6) You can work 1-3 hours per day or fulltime.
7) This is not insurance sales position and you don't need to sell insurance, this is Money Transfer Assistant vacancy.
8) Your education and status don't matter.
9) We do not ask any personal information and we run business according to laws of the United States of America.
Now I'll explain the details of this job.
1. An ACH or Wire transfer will be made to your bank account from our client. I'll let you know it's exact transfer amount and date.
2. You should receive the transfer and send me the confirmation that you've received it. Then you'll have to cash out this transfer at your bank.
3. Then you'll have to sent the money you took from you bank account via Western Union. I'll let you know all the necessary information on this transfer(the name of person who will receive the money and destination city/country).
4. Then you should send an email to me to confirm the Western Union transfer is sent. This email should include sender's name, name of the city the transfer has been sent from, exact Western Union transfer amount, and Western Union MTCN (it's essential for receiving the money).
5. We communicate with our agents mainly by e-mail, but we will also communicate by phone (if your e-mail is not available). It is your responsibility to check your e-mail daily and inform us about any change in your contact information. Supporting communication is your top-priority obligation.
6. The fixed monthly salary which is $2000 will be sent to you by direct deposit after 30 days period from first transfer.
Let's see how it works. For example, $1000 have been transferred to your account. The amount you'll receive for each transfer is 5% from the initial payment to your bank account. 5% from $1000 is $50 so you'll have to send $950 via Western Union. Western Union fee(it's about $50) should be deducted from $950.
Please ask me with more questions or just let me know you're ready to get started.
We do not need access to your bank accounts. This is information that you can see at any check and only let us to send ACH and Wire transfers to this accounts.
Note: Actions depicted below, are authorized by Prime Insurance Company, and therefore sustain legitimacy status. Our venerable organization doesn't condone or incite improper or out of border incentives, which may contradict to federal law.
Shall you have any enquiries, don't hesitate to contact our support department at HRManagerPIC51@gmail.com . We're looking forward to our further communication.
Respectfully,
Julie Mathews. HR department.

It almost makes you wish you could find out how many people they actually manage to sucker into this...