Edited version of a lengthy email, part 1:

This is very, very important. The Magazine Article Evaluator job you applied for is a complete scam. This person was trying to collect your personal & banking information so he can steal money from you. There is no job, no Entertainment Media Consultants, no David Franklin, no Patricia Hernandez, no Cathy Smith.

The second you finish reading this email you need to contact your local police department. This is very, very serious!

The identity theft crime must be reported in the jurisdiction of where the crime occurred- your police department. They in turn will contact the jurisdiction of where the criminal is- Las Vegas, Nevada.

We have contacted the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Internet Crime Division, Detective Ettinger 702-229-5598 and he said the above is how this crime must be reported. He can’t do anything until contacted by your local police department.

Part 2:
I know you’re all thinking this sounds crazy, it is, but here’s how we know all this. My girlfriend responded to the Magazine Article Evaluator ad. We became very suspicious of the whole situation after she sent him the application but before she sent out the employment forms. She googled “Magazine Article Evaluator” and there was a Craigslist posting warning that this was a scam. All of the original employment ads had been removed by Craigslist staff. I called “David Franklin” on the 206-852-7498 number posing as an investigator, and he answered and identified himself as David Franklin but denied knowing anything about or ever having heard of Entertainment Media. He claimed he lived in Los Angeles and gave me a bogus address there. We emailed Craig of Craigslist asking for the proper authorities to report this to and he was immediately concerned but then we never heard back from him or his security person, Clint. We called the Seattle FBI office and they were less than enthusiastic about doing anything. They gave us another number to call, which referred us to an internet fraud reporting site. If we waited for these people, this guy would be long gone and we would have no idea who he is!

So we took matters in our own hands. We sent over a direct deposit form to “Mr. Franklin” attached to a spy software bug we bought on the internet. He opened the email and we were able to track his every online move this past weekend and obtain his name and all his email passwords. That’s how we are able to send this email to you through the davidyfranklin@yahoo.com account. He has personal information and bank accounts for many of you on his computer. There were more than a hundred of us who he told were hired for the Magazine Article Evaluator job. He was planning to use the bank account information and your social security numbers for not so honest purposes. This guy is BAD news – he has several internet scams in the works and uses different identities for them. He moved to Las Vegas to be a “professional” poker player and he needs money to fund his “career.”

My question is: should I contact the cops? This guy had no financial information on me BUT he does have my name, address, phone number and (gulp, yeah, I know I'm a complete and utter idiot) social security number. Of course, my credit rating is so abysmal that he's unlikely to be able to do anything with that information - god knows I can't - but on the other hand should I go to the local cops just in case? Dag.

Holy cow, mygothlaundry. Better safe than sorry- go to the cops.

scary.
most of the "is it a scam" threads have the same answer: yes.
damn.

He opened the email and we were able to track his every online move this past weekend and obtain his name and all his email passwords.

This part of the email sounds like a fat load of bullshit, but going to the cops wouldn't hurt. At least filing a police report will make it easier to clean up the damage if he does do something horrible with your SSN.

Whoa. And yes, call your local police. Good thing you didn't get any further into it!

Also? Run a virus-scan ASAFNOW on your own computer. If these people are willing to hack someone else's system..even for reasons that seem on the up-and-up..then they're a threat to you as well.

Also, verify that the number they sent is in fact the LV police. I figure it pays to be a little overly suspicious in this case, since they claim to have cracked the scammer's email address. Just because they claim to be outing a scammer doesn't mean they're not scammers themselves.

Yeah, definitely call (702) 229-3111 and ask to talk to that detective, just in case.

Also? Run a virus-scan ASAFNOW on your own computer.

Yeah, *they* could be the scammers.

No viruses found (except for AVG's usual weird insistence that Java is in fact a virus.) I called a friend of mine who's a retired Baltimore police officer and he's all excited and checking into the whole thing for me - more details when I get them.

FWIW: if you ever think you need to talk to the police, talk to the police. If you ask someone else if you should talk to the police, you should probably talk to the police.

Y'know, mygoth...by mentioning this online, and reproducing the contents of the warning letter, it's possible the individual(s) involved may have already fled the scene. By going to the authorities first, rather than posting to a forum, chat room or homepage, you're less likely to interfere with any investigation attempting to catch the culprit(s).

Say MGL: aren't you the Sheriff in those parts? Get a posse together and string up those rustlers!

MGL, is your Balmer friend a fan of The Wire, and/or Homicide: Life on the Street?

Well, my friend the ex cop called the Las Vegas police department and the cop listed does exist and isn't answering his phone today, which leads me to deduct that of the roughly 100 people who got the email, 90 of them called him. My friend says, they have more than enough information if anyone is going to do anything, you don't need to go to the local cops, and probably nothing will happen anyway. He also said, damn, the people who sent you that email sound scarier than the original scammer.

Smart Dalek, you're right, and I didn't think of that, but on the other hand I'm sure the guy already knows that he's been found out, given everything that's happened.

On preview: MB, I think he was one of the cops interviewed when they were writing that book The Corner - he was Western District - but he's ambivalent about Homicide IIRC.

damn, the people who sent you that email sound scarier than the original scammer.

yes.

Whoa, MGL, that's effed up. Hope all your info is okay... it sounds like you're handling things as they should be. Also, sorry that's one job prospect out the window! >:(

Well, I got ANOTHER email from someone who hit reply to all on the original email and he said to call Equifax & put in a fraud alert, which seemed logical and sane, so I did that. For once, though, it seems that my incredibly terrible credit history is working for me, since there is no earthly way anyone is going to give out any money or credit to me or anyone posing as me. It's a strategy & a tagline - Bad credit: keeping Americans safe from fraud since 2000.

Make sure that the Police know everything. That second email also sounds dodgy to me, and the Police definitely need to know about it.

e.g. If they have access to his comp[uter. the second person could easily have been using the David Franklin PC to run this scam. It could be some convoluted secondary scam. It could be a complicated joe-job.

Trust nobody, tell the police everything.

Wow.

"The Wire"

That show is the bee's knees.

Second what seanyboy said; there does seem like there's something not-quite-right about that email. Maybe it's just because they're the kind of people to trojan someone's computer.

"Bad credit: keeping Americans safe from fraud since 2000."

Heh. Sounds familiar.