Live Scam Taking Place! You be a part of the action!

This scam happened and is happening to me right now and to probably thousands others as we speak. You can help me scam the scammers! <!--break--> <img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/topbanner.jpg"><br> Here is the beginning of the story, the middle, but you the audience can help write the end&amp;#8230;. Two months in the planning, emails back and forth from the &quot;Zafirah Language Institutes&quot; and also the &quot;Department of Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency - Dubai&quot; only to find out at the last minute that the school and Department were complete frauds. My family and friends were all psyched for me and I genuinely was excited. But now I am getting funny offers from my sister and brother to teach in Uganda and Togo and other far-fetched places. For the past three months, since my contract ended with Element K, I have been looking for work in journalism, in teaching, I even have been considered going postal - I mean being a postal worker. So when I got this job lead through a ESL web site, I applied for it. Dubai, super cool place - &quot;The Instant City&quot;, I figured I could go there teach English, try to learn Arabic, and that would provide good skills for a future diplomatic field I was thinking about. Foreign service, international business, etc&amp;#8230;.Who knows&amp;#8230;.Dubai right? I didn't even question the legitimacy of the job since it was advertised on a ESL job web site bulletin put out by the Language school I attended in Spain. I assumed they would vet all the phony offers out for me. Getting married in June, pressured enough to produce some kind of sustainable income, be a man, I must have been pretty desperate to just believe the Dubai offer as it was: $4,400 a month, round-trip airfare, 100% health care coverage, housing provided. They even said they would provide a weekly allowance for transportation and food in addition to the salary amount. Of course right&amp;#8230;.!! Here is the first email: &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;- Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:30:50 -0800 From: zafirahlanguageinstitutes@yahoo.com Subject: Acknowledgement Letter To: rbarnabas@hotmail.com To/Rajesh Barnabas, From/Zafirah Language Institutes, We have today received your resume attached with your letter of application and interview conducted on our behalf by Global Recruiters. After going through the submissions, we are satisfied and will be sending to you your letter of employment and contract working details. Urgently revert to us on reciept of this e-message. Yours faithfully, Jamal Al Mehairi [Zafirah Language Institutes] P.O.Box 3962 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel/Fax:+971-42080705 Email:info@zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk www.zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; After responding I was then sent the following email: <img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/logo.gif"><br> &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:46:37 -0800 From: info@uaeministryofeducation.tk Subject: Letter of Employment and Contract Details To: rbarnabas@hotmail.com Coat of arms of United Arab Emirates To/Rajesh Barnabas, From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES, Find as attached your letter of Employment, Contract conditionality and all other rules and regulations as stipulated by the law of the land. For your traveling visas and work permit, you are advised to contact the below listed address directly. This is the office that is responsible for final approval and issuance of visas and work permit. Atten. H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai. {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department} P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603 E-Mail:info@uaeimmigration.tk www.uaeimmigration.tk We are urgently looking forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Jamal Al Mehairi [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES] P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355 Email:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk www.uaeministryofeducation.tk UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; The only one condition I had was that I needed to return for the wedding in June. So instead of the one week off promised in the contract they were very generous: &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES (info@uaeministryofeducation.tk) Sent: Thu 1/31/08 9:03 PM Reply-to: info@uaeministryofeducation.tk To: Rajesh Barnabas (rbarnabas@hotmail.com) Coat of arms of United Arab Emirates To/Rajesh Barnabas, From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES, The school Authority Agreed that You will be given 2 weeks levy for your wedding by June 7, 2008 You will get 150USD weekly Allowance and $4400USD month end Salary The Allowance can be changed at anytime thats why it is not written in the Letter of Employment Yours faithfully, Jamal Al Mehairi [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES] P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355 Email:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk www.uaeministryofeducation.tk UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; Notice the title for Jamal had changed from &quot;Zafirah Language Institutes&quot; earlier in the email messageing to now &quot;UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES&quot;. But I did not catch that until later. So the decision was made after weeks of consultation with my friends and family, a cousin who traveled back and forth to Dubai for business quite frequently, and most notably with my fiance's family's reluctant approval. We arrived at her parents house to inform them of our intentions. My fiance even put a number of articles about Dubai in a folder to show how serious we were about our plan. The plan was for me to go over to Dubai and then if all was well, my fiance - their daughter, would follow after the wedding. The father was okay with it generally, but the mom was upset that we would be neighboring the &quot;Axis of Evil&quot; and may get bombed. There would be no convincing her that this was a good idea. I had sent in my application for a work visa via email to the &quot;UAE Immigration Offices&quot; and surprisingly within one working day the visa was approved. Now I should have known by the quick turn-around of paper work by any government office that it had to be fraud. But I just thought, damn Dubai - land of corporate efficiency, maybe that speed had taken over there bureaucracies too. In every instance, I just assumed hmmm Dubai, something different, I gave every doubt a free pass. So then when it was time for me to commit just $320, via Western Union Money Transfer to Mrs. Shila Wasabanagah at the UAE Immigration Offices in Dubai, UAE, hey I could do that much. They were paying for everything else. I went to send the money through the on-line Western Union portal and on the last step was signaled to call a 1-800 Western Union number to complete the transaction. It was there that Mrs. Beverly questioned me quite thoroughly as to where this money was going. &quot;We don't usually encourage people sending money to people they don't know personally. Western Union will not be responsible for any money lost should you not receive the purchased goods.&quot; I told her that I agreed to the policy disclaimer but I still wanted to go ahead with the transaction. This was a school in the Middle East and of course they had to give me these warnings. Since this was my first Western Union Money transfer, I just figured all the questioning was part of the procedure. Then Mrs. Beverly questioned me, where my former addresses were, where I lived, checking as to the validity of my identity and if it matched correctly with my credit card info. It did and she sent the money. The minute I hung up, I darted into Google search. I put in &quot;UAE Immigration&quot; into the search engine and the &quot;http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/&quot; was no where to be found. Google uses this pigeon system for search ordering and the professed site &quot;http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/&quot; would have come up if it was a legitimate site dealing with UAE immigration. That was it. I called up Western Union back, a few minutes later and canceled the $320 money transfer, and thus thwarting the scam artists. HAAA! Now I am brainstorming my reply. It is only yesterday that I discovered the fraud - Febuary 6th. -&quot;Yours faithfully, Jamal Al Mehairi &quot; - Does not know yet that I know that he/she/it is a fraud! So I am taking suggestions for my reply? I am thinking of stringing him along as long as possible. THAT IS WHERE I NEED YOU THE AUDIENCES - HELP! My latest email today is this: &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;- RE: NOTE‏ From: Rajesh Barnabas (rbarnabas@hotmail.com) Sent: Thu 2/07/08 11:01 PM To: info@uaeministryofeducation.tk Dear Mr. Mehairi, As you may well know the elections have been taking place here in the US and I have been working diligently on Barack Obama's campaign and neglecting my own finances in the process. I will get a paycheck next week and then will be able to afford the work visa. Sorry for the delay. The UAE Immigration offices said I had 72 hours to send the visa money. It will take me a bit longer than that. Hopefully I will not have to re-apply for it next week again, but I will do that if I must. One question: How far is the school I will be teaching at, from my residence? I want to know how much money I should be saving for the initial expenses for the week or so I am there. Thank you for your patience, -Rajesh &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212; Here is the latest (notice the grammar is getting worse): ------------------------------------------------- GENERAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES‏ From: UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES (info@uaeministryofeducation.tk) Sent: Mon 2/11/08 3:29 PM Reply-to: info@uaeministryofeducation.tk To: Rajesh Barnabas (rbarnabas@hotmail.com) To/Rajesh Barnabas, From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES, You must endeavor to pay your fees or re-apply . We have gotten the email you sent to us. For your information The UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES is located at 593-594 Sheikh zayed Road,Dubai United Arab Emirates. P.O.Box 925 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355 Email:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk www.uaeministryofeducation.tk Our school is a new generation school thats why our online employment/Interview is conducted by Ministry of Labour. As requested, the ages of the students varies because it is a language school which has no age limit.Size of students-20 Working hours/ 6 hours daily, 9am-3pm. Break time, 12-1pm, monday to friday. A rent free furnished Apartment within the school premesis.The basic household necessities include a bed, television, and access to the kitchen facilities. salary offer is $4400USD tax free plus free 2 WAY Airticket which will be provided after the Approval/Confirmation of visa/work permit to enable the legalization of your employment with us. Please note that All the neccessary information required from us have been forwarded to the foreign employment visa issuance dept. You are hereby adviced to contact/ Atten. H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai. {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department} P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603 E-Mail:info@uaeimmigration.tk www.uaeimmigration.tk I look forward to seeing you and being one of us. Please let us know the convienent date of your departure to Dubai Int'l Airport so that we can bookyour 2ways Airticket Immediately we are in receipt of your travelling visas/work permit, we will therein book your tickets online and send the details to you for reconfirmation. Because we will be needing some details from the visas/work permit when booking.It will be nice working with you and the earlier you secure your visas/work permit, that will be helpful to you.the arrangement is that you will arrive early inother to aclamatize with the working Yours faithfully, Jamal Al Mehairi [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES] P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355 Email:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk www.uaeministryofeducation.tk UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION ----------------------------------------------- Request for confirmation‏ From: UAE IMMIGRATIONS (info@uaeimmigrations.tk) Sent: Tue 2/12/08 4:34 PM Reply-to: info@uaeimmigrations.tk To: rbarnabas@hotmail.com الرئيسة Department of Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency - Dubai Dear Visa Applicant [ Rajesh Barnabas ] Your application was recieved and confirmed Okay. Unfortunately,we didn't recieve your processing fees payment reciept. Please you are required to send us the 10 digits Western Union MTCN Code Numbers and the sender name and address for confirmations of your payment Please note that you are given 72hours to pay your fees otherwise your application will be revoked Automatically. Sincerely yours, H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai. {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department} P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603 E-Mail: info@uaeimmigration.tk www.uaeimmigration.tk ------------------------------------------------- Send suggestions for my email responses for Jamal to: rbarnabas@hotmail.com And please do not contact Jamal directly, as that would spoil the fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<p>This scam happened and is happening to me right now and to probably thousands others as we speak. You can help me scam the scammers!</p> <!--break--><p><img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/topbanner.jpg" /><br /><br /> Here is the beginning of the story, the middle, but you the audience can help write the end&amp;#8230;.</p> <p>Two months in the planning, emails back and forth from the "Zafirah Language Institutes" and also the "Department of Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency - Dubai" only to find out at the last minute that the school and Department were complete frauds.</p> <p>My family and friends were all psyched for me and I genuinely was excited. But now I am getting funny offers from my sister and brother to teach in Uganda and Togo and other far-fetched places.</p> <p>For the past three months, since my contract ended with Element K, I have been looking for work in journalism, in teaching, I even have been considered going postal - I mean being a postal worker. So when I got this job lead through a ESL web site, I applied for it. Dubai, super cool place - "The Instant City", I figured I could go there teach English, try to learn Arabic, and that would provide good skills for a future diplomatic field I was thinking about. Foreign service, international business, etc&amp;#8230;.Who knows&amp;#8230;.Dubai right?</p> <p>I didn't even question the legitimacy of the job since it was advertised on a ESL job web site bulletin put out by the Language school I attended in Spain. I assumed they would vet all the phony offers out for me.</p> <p>Getting married in June, pressured enough to produce some kind of sustainable income, be a man, I must have been pretty desperate to just believe the Dubai offer as it was: $4,400 a month, round-trip airfare, 100% health care coverage, housing provided. They even said they would provide a weekly allowance for transportation and food in addition to the salary amount. Of course right&amp;#8230;.!!</p> <p>Here is the first email:</p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;-<br /> Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:30:50 -0800<br /> From: <a href="mailto:zafirahlanguageinstitutes@yahoo.com">zafirahlanguageinstitutes@yahoo.com</a><br /> Subject: Acknowledgement Letter<br /> To: <a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a></p> <p>To/Rajesh Barnabas,<br /> From/Zafirah Language Institutes,<br /> We have today received your resume attached with your letter of<br /> application and interview conducted on our behalf by Global Recruiters.<br /> After going through the submissions, we are satisfied and will be<br /> sending to you your letter of employment and contract working details.<br /> Urgently revert to us on reciept of this e-message.</p> <p>Yours faithfully,<br /> Jamal Al Mehairi<br /> [Zafirah Language Institutes]<br /> P.O.Box 3962 Dubai United Arab Emirates<br /> Tel/Fax:+971-42080705<br /> Email:<a href="mailto:info@zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk">info@zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk">www.zafirahlanguageinstitutes.tk</a> </p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;</p> <p>After responding I was then sent the following email:</p> <p><img class="dada-image-center" src="http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/migrate_dada/logo.gif" /><br /></p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;<br /> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:46:37 -0800<br /> From: <a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> Subject: Letter of Employment and Contract Details<br /> To: <a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a></p> <p> Coat of arms of United Arab Emirates </p> <p>To/Rajesh Barnabas,<br /> From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES,<br /> Find as attached your letter of Employment, Contract conditionality and all other rules and regulations as stipulated by the law of the land.<br /> For your traveling visas and work permit, you are advised to contact the below listed address directly. This is the office that is responsible for final approval and issuance of visas and work permit.<br /> Atten. H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar<br /> United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior<br /> Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai.<br /> {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department}<br /> P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E<br /> Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603<br /> E-Mail:<a href="mailto:info@uaeimmigration.tk">info@uaeimmigration.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeimmigration.tk">www.uaeimmigration.tk</a><br /> We are urgently looking forward to hearing from you.</p> <p>Yours faithfully,<br /> Jamal Al Mehairi<br /> [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES]<br /> P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates<br /> Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355<br /> Email:<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeministryofeducation.tk">www.uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION<br /> &amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;</p> <p>The only one condition I had was that I needed to return for the wedding in June. So instead of the one week off promised in the contract they were very generous:</p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;</p> <p>UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES (<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a>)<br /> Sent: Thu 1/31/08 9:03 PM<br /> Reply-to: <a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> To: Rajesh Barnabas (<a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a>)<br /> Coat of arms of United Arab Emirates </p> <p>To/Rajesh Barnabas,<br /> From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES,</p> <p>The school Authority Agreed that You will be given 2 weeks levy for your wedding by June 7, 2008</p> <p>You will get 150USD weekly Allowance and $4400USD month end Salary<br /> The Allowance can be changed at anytime thats why it is not written in the Letter of Employment</p> <p>Yours faithfully,<br /> Jamal Al Mehairi<br /> [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES]<br /> P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates<br /> Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355<br /> Email:<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeministryofeducation.tk">www.uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION</p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;</p> <p>Notice the title for Jamal had changed from "Zafirah Language Institutes" earlier in the email messageing to now "UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES". But I did not catch that until later.</p> <p>So the decision was made after weeks of consultation with my friends and family, a cousin who traveled back and forth to Dubai for business quite frequently, and most notably with my fiance's family's reluctant approval.</p> <p>We arrived at her parents house to inform them of our intentions. My fiance even put a number of articles about Dubai in a folder to show how serious we were about our plan. The plan was for me to go over to Dubai and then if all was well, my fiance - their daughter, would follow after the wedding. The father was okay with it generally, but the mom was upset that we would be neighboring the "Axis of Evil" and may get bombed. There would be no convincing her that this was a good idea. </p> <p>I had sent in my application for a work visa via email to the "UAE Immigration Offices" and surprisingly within one working day the visa was approved. Now I should have known by the quick turn-around of paper work by any government office that it had to be fraud. But I just thought, damn Dubai - land of corporate efficiency, maybe that speed had taken over there bureaucracies too. In every instance, I just assumed hmmm Dubai, something different, I gave every doubt a free pass.</p> <p>So then when it was time for me to commit just $320, via Western Union Money Transfer to Mrs. Shila Wasabanagah at the UAE Immigration Offices in Dubai, UAE, hey I could do that much. They were paying for everything else.</p> <p>I went to send the money through the on-line Western Union portal and on the last step was signaled to call a 1-800 Western Union number to complete the transaction. It was there that Mrs. Beverly questioned me quite thoroughly as to where this money was going.</p> <p>"We don't usually encourage people sending money to people they don't know personally. Western Union will not be responsible for any money lost should you not receive the purchased goods."</p> <p>I told her that I agreed to the policy disclaimer but I still wanted to go ahead with the transaction. This was a school in the Middle East and of course they had to give me these warnings. Since this was my first Western Union Money transfer, I just figured all the questioning was part of the procedure.</p> <p>Then Mrs. Beverly questioned me, where my former addresses were, where I lived, checking as to the validity of my identity and if it matched correctly with my credit card info. It did and she sent the money.</p> <p>The minute I hung up, I darted into Google search. I put in "UAE Immigration" into the search engine and the "<a href="http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/&quot;">http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/"</a> was no where to be found. </p> <p>Google uses this pigeon system for search ordering and the professed site "<a href="http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/&quot;">http://www.uaeimmigration.tk/"</a> would have come up if it was a legitimate site dealing with UAE immigration.</p> <p>That was it. I called up Western Union back, a few minutes later and canceled the $320 money transfer, and thus thwarting the scam artists. HAAA!</p> <p>Now I am brainstorming my reply. It is only yesterday that I discovered the fraud - Febuary 6th.</p> <p>-"Yours faithfully,<br /> Jamal Al Mehairi " -</p> <p>Does not know yet that I know that he/she/it is a fraud! So I am taking suggestions for my reply? I am thinking of stringing him along as long as possible. </p> <p>THAT IS WHERE I NEED YOU THE AUDIENCES - HELP!</p> <p>My latest email today is this: </p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;-<br /> RE: NOTE‏<br /> From: Rajesh Barnabas (<a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a>)<br /> Sent: Thu 2/07/08 11:01 PM<br /> To: <a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> Dear Mr. Mehairi,</p> <p>As you may well know the elections have been taking place here in the US and I have been working diligently on Barack Obama's campaign and neglecting my own finances in the process.</p> <p>I will get a paycheck next week and then will be able to afford the work visa. Sorry for the delay. The UAE Immigration offices said I had 72 hours to send the visa money. It will take me a bit longer than that. Hopefully I will not have to re-apply for it next week again, but I will do that if I must.</p> <p>One question: How far is the school I will be teaching at, from my residence? I want to know how much money I should be saving for the initial expenses for the week or so I am there.</p> <p>Thank you for your patience,</p> <p>-Rajesh</p> <p>&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;&amp;#8212;</p> <p>Here is the latest (notice the grammar is getting worse):</p> <p>-------------------------------------------------</p> <p>GENERAL EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES‏<br /> From: UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES (<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a>)<br /> Sent: Mon 2/11/08 3:29 PM<br /> Reply-to: <a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> To: Rajesh Barnabas (<a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a>) </p> <p>To/Rajesh Barnabas,<br /> From/UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES,</p> <p>You must endeavor to pay your fees or re-apply .</p> <p>We have gotten the email you sent to us.<br /> For your information The UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES is located at 593-594 Sheikh zayed Road,Dubai United Arab Emirates.<br /> P.O.Box 925 Dubai United Arab Emirates<br /> Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355<br /> Email:<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeministryofeducation.tk">www.uaeministryofeducation.tk</a> </p> <p>Our school is a new generation school thats why our online employment/Interview is conducted by Ministry of Labour.<br /> As requested, the ages of the students varies because it is a language school which has no age limit.Size of students-20<br /> Working hours/ 6 hours daily, 9am-3pm. Break time, 12-1pm, monday to friday. A rent free furnished Apartment within the school premesis.The basic household necessities include a bed, television, and access to the kitchen facilities. salary offer is $4400USD tax free plus free 2 WAY Airticket which will be provided after the Approval/Confirmation of visa/work permit to enable the legalization of your employment with us. </p> <p>Please note that All the neccessary information required from us have been forwarded to the foreign employment visa issuance dept.<br /> You are hereby adviced to contact/<br /> Atten. H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar<br /> United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior<br /> Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai.<br /> {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department}<br /> P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E<br /> Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603<br /> E-Mail:<a href="mailto:info@uaeimmigration.tk">info@uaeimmigration.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeimmigration.tk">www.uaeimmigration.tk</a></p> <p>I look forward to seeing you and being one of us. Please let us know the convienent date of your departure to Dubai Int'l Airport so that we can bookyour 2ways Airticket Immediately we are in receipt of your travelling visas/work permit, we will therein book your tickets online and send the details to you for reconfirmation.<br /> Because we will be needing some details from the visas/work permit when booking.It will be nice working with you and the earlier you secure your visas/work permit, that will be helpful to you.the arrangement is that you will arrive early inother to aclamatize with the working</p> <p>Yours faithfully,<br /> Jamal Al Mehairi<br /> [UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LANGUAGE STUDIES]<br /> P.O.Box 295 Dubai United Arab Emirates<br /> Tel/Fax:+971-4397 8355<br /> Email:<a href="mailto:info@uaeministryofeducation.tk">info@uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeministryofeducation.tk">www.uaeministryofeducation.tk</a><br /> UNDER THE CONTROL OF UAE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION<br /> -----------------------------------------------</p> <p>Request for confirmation‏<br /> From: UAE IMMIGRATIONS (<a href="mailto:info@uaeimmigrations.tk">info@uaeimmigrations.tk</a>)<br /> Sent: Tue 2/12/08 4:34 PM<br /> Reply-to: <a href="mailto:info@uaeimmigrations.tk">info@uaeimmigrations.tk</a><br /> To: <a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a><br /> الرئيسة<br /> Department of Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency - Dubai</p> <p>Dear Visa Applicant [ Rajesh Barnabas ]<br /> Your application was recieved and confirmed Okay.<br /> Unfortunately,we didn't recieve your processing fees payment reciept.<br /> Please you are required to send us the 10 digits Western Union MTCN Code Numbers and the sender name and address for confirmations of your payment<br /> Please note that you are given 72hours to pay your fees otherwise your application will be revoked Automatically.</p> <p>Sincerely yours,<br /> H.E. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar<br /> United Arab Emirates-Ministry of Interior<br /> Naturalization &amp;amp; Residency Administration-Dubai.<br /> {Foreign Employment Visa Issuance Department}<br /> P.O.Box: 4333, Dubai, U.A.E<br /> Tel/Fax: +971 4338 1603<br /> E-Mail: <a href="mailto:info@uaeimmigration.tk">info@uaeimmigration.tk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.uaeimmigration.tk">www.uaeimmigration.tk</a></p> <p>-------------------------------------------------</p> <p>Send suggestions for my email responses for Jamal to: <a href="mailto:rbarnabas@hotmail.com">rbarnabas@hotmail.com</a></p> <p>And please do not contact Jamal directly, as that would spoil the fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>