This is a story of crime and mystery. It starts like all classic detective stories.
I was a gloomy, grey morning. The sky was overcast and a strong wind from the East was shaking the leaves from the trees. I had let myself into my office - my secretary was nowhere to be found. She must have quit again after I had not been able to cover her last pay cheque. The coffee from last night was still where I had left it. It looked murkier now than the sky, like something you wouldn't want to drown your cat in. This would be another one of those days. I was just going through my mail for the morning when there was a knock on the door. It was firm and purposeful and yet too soft to be the cops - or the tax collector. It was worse: a dame. Dames always ment trouble. Can't be professional when a beautiful face is involved. Larry had always warned me never to get involved with a client. Larry knew - he was a smart man. But Larry had never had trouble with his landlord over payments. A client meant I'd be able to pay the rent for another month.
"You're Mr. E" she asked in a smokey voice. The door framed her appearance beautifully. From the way she was looking at me, the way she was standing there I knew I would regret this. A dame like this could mean nothing but trouble. Larry's voice was screaming in my head to turn her away. I didn't pay attention - never liked people telling me what to do anyway.
I studied her intently from behind my desk. "Depends who's asking, lady."
"I need your help, Mr. E." Damn that voice. "People tell me you're the best."
"People say one thing about you today and another tomorrow. What can I help you with, lady?" I sat her down in a chair opposite me. I lit myself a cigarette. Always helped me think more clearly. Still dazzeled by the sultry red of her lips against her milky skin and the black of her hair I listened to her story.
Now, this is a story that really happened to one of my friends. Nothing has been added nor taken away.
My friend, let's call her J, is a Chinese girl who lives in Beijing. Very recently she did an online application for a job in London, UK. The advertiser was specifically looking for candidates from China that wanted to work in UK.
Shortly after sending in her CV she received a reply offering her the position: a job in the city for £28,000. There was no interview, no test, she never even talked to anybody from the company. Quite unusual for this country, I thought, but she does have experience in the field and maybe they need somebody urgently. It got stranger, though.
Still, she never heard from anybody at the company. Only the company's lawyer contacted her, his details an address in London without post code, a mobile phone number and a yahoo email address. He sent her the employment contract - by email. Apparently, the contract lacked even such basic details as working hours and number of holidays per year. This was when she got suspicious and consulted me.
After one look at the email she had been sent I felt that there was something fishy. First of all, there were quite a number of spelling and grammatical mistakes - not something you'd expect in a professional context.
Next, the lawyer, a certain Barrister Paul Rick, claimed that the CEO of the company - Derek Computers - had already signed a copy of the contract, which was now being held by Mr. Rick. The CEO was never named but J told me his name was also Paul. My friend was to print and sign her copy of the contract and send it back to the lawyer. Again, highly unusual since contracts are normally signed by both parties on the same piece of paper. They should have sent her the already signed original copy.
She was also told that for him to put his stamp on both copies both parties had to pay his fees. Both parties? For a lawyer employed by the company? To this end, she was to transfer to him £200 using Western Union Money Tranfer. Nicely anonymous. Could just as well have been a Swiss bank account. This was what made me really suspicious - I had never heard of a case where a candidate had to pay a company's lawyer to be employed.
Questions of visa application were to be addressed right after the payment had been received and the contract completed.
Various searches on the Web for "Derek Computers London", "Barrister Paul Rick" or "Venus Court Chambers" (the law firm Mr. Rick claims to work for) returned no relevant results. Even the address of the law firm could not be found on leading map sites.
Finally, I rang up the British Law Society, which holds records of solicitors, and the Bar Council, which holds records of all barristers. Neither organisation could find a law firm called Venus Court Chambers. The Bar Council also did not have any records of a Paul Rick being a barrister.
Clearly, it has become a well-known fact that many Chinese people are eager to gain work experience abroad - especially in UK and US. This scam - what else could it be - seems to be aimed at exploiting exactly those ambitions. A job vacancy in UK aimed at Chinese candidates, an offer without any questions asked, just pay the lawyer and we'll get you a visa. Too good to be true. But if you live so far abroad, maybe have never been to UK, maybe don't know how business is done here how would you expose it? The money would be lost. Imagine the trouble of getting this before a court all the way from China. And that would be assuming you can actually locate the culprits.
In the end I advised my friend to insist on more details and the signed copy of the original contract, and not under any circumstances to pay them any money. I don't expect she'll hear from them again. I rest my case.
Back in my dimly lit office I could see the disappointment on her pretty face. Sometimes I hate it when my suspicions turn out to be true. Shows me again and again that there are many bad people out there. People that spend all day trying figure out how to con you out of your hard earned dollars. Of course, folks like that keep me in business.
"How can they do this to me?" Her voice quaked. She was confused, shocked. Understandibly. She wanted - needed - reassurance. I could offer none.
"Those guys are sharks, lady. They'll do what it takes. Better stay clear of them now."
She dabbed at her eyes with a white hankerchief, careful not to smudge her flawless make-up. Then she turned to me again.
"Thank you, Mr. E." Her voice was composed again - that same smooth, smokey tone that had first gotten my attention. "You really are the best. I will never forget this. Is there anything I can do for you?"
She looked at me from under her elegantly curved eye lids pursing her lips. A couple of dozen things went through my mind. She meant trouble. Never get involved with a client. Another couple of dozen things went through my mind. I lit myself another cigarette, studying her through the whisps of smoke.
"My bill will be in the post, ma'am."
I could see she'd been expecting something else. She didn't say a word but her face spoke volumes. The door slammed and she was gone. I sat back in my chair and blew another cloud of smoke towards the ceiling. What the hell did Larry know.