You are looking for a job and post your resume online. A few days later, you get an e-mail from an established organization.

“Hello”, the message says, “we found your resume online and we understand you are looking for a job. We are a TV station (or a humanitarian society with a fancy name) that is producing a show in Rwanda (or any other poor country). Our mandate is to raise funds for the unfortunate kids here and so far we’ve been lucky – our show has attracted several sponsors and donors."

The message continues: "The only problem is that our organization cannot cash the checks received from all over the world, here in Rwanda. This is why we offer this opportunity as a job to those interested. If you would like to join our team and support these kids, while also making money, this is the job for you. Our offer is: you will be paid 5% from every check you cash. We will send you the checks and all you have to do is deposit them into your account, keep 5% as your commission, and wire us the rest”.

As tempting as this sounds, stay away from the offer. What happens is that once you deposit the first check and wire them the cash, everything will be lost. The check will bounce.