I don’t think I would have fallen for it, but initially when this email arrived, I wanted to find out what drivers got paid for letting companies wrap their vehicles. Remember back in the day when college towns were run amok with VW bugs covered in attention grabbing logos? Like most scam emails, this one had a spelling error and forged headers.

Return-path: <lipmanrecruit@budweiser.com> – Seriously?!

View the Email

Dear Applicant,

Wrap your car with Budweiser Select® Beer Advertisement Wrap and Get Paid… It is Very Easy and Simple with No Application fees required

Here’s how It works – The basic premise of the “paid to drive” concept Budweiser Select® Advertising seeks people — regular citizens, not professional drivers — to go about their normal routine as they usually do, only with a big advert of “Budweiser Select® Beer “plastered on your car/truck.The adverts are typically vinyl decals,also known as “auto wraps,” that almost seem to be painted on the vehicle, and which will cover any portion of your car’s exterior surface.

What does the company get out of this type of ad strategy? Lots of exposure and awareness.The auto wraps tend to be colorful and eye-catching and attract lots of attention. Plus, it’s a form of advertising with a captive audience,meaning people who are stuck in traffic and can’t avoid seeing the wrapped car alongside them.This program will last for 3 months and the minimum period you can participate is 1 month.

You will be compensated with $400 (Four hundered dollars per week),which is essentially a “rental” payment for letting our company use the space and we shall provide Experts that would handle the advert placing on your car.

Interested person should please feel Free to fill out the information below and send it back to us today and we will get back to you with details.

Full Names: Address Line 1: Address Line 2: City: State: Zip Code : Age: Home Phone Number: Cell / Mobile Phone Number

Best Regards,

Paul Lipman

Hiring Manager,

Budweiser Select® Beer

Replay to: lipmanrecruit1@yahoo.com

The scammers who send this message also post the same offer on sites like Craigslist, Oodle, or Gumtree, create well-designed advertisments, and even contact people who submit their resumes online hunting for jobs.

The offer sounds good, especially since you have the option of removing the wrapped sticker after the number of months you select. If you accept the offer, the scammers will then send a check for a large amount of money, according to the length of time you want to be the mobile advertiser.

The instructions for cashing the check indicate that a certain portion of the money is to be kept as your payment and the rest is to be sent via wire transfer to the company who will supposedly wrap your vehicle. After wiring the money, you’ll find out that the original check was a fake and the transaction bounced. Now your bank is after you for thousands of dollars.

Avoiding Email Scams

No major brand would hire just anybody to wrap their cars with advertising. Corporations are very careful about their image and typically have huge marketing departments within. Be very careful when you receive this email, as the message might be presented in a very professional manner. The scammer steals images from websites belonging to reputable companies that do professional car wrapping and make you believe it’s their business. Delete the email, not every online job opportunity that comes your way is real.

Always do your research and work only for legitimate employers.

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2 Comments

Maureen on October 12, 2017 at 12:33 pm
I participated in this scam. but thank God my bank didn’t cash the check after I deposited it. They research it and reverse the funds. I’m telling everyone I know not to do this.
Dale on March 5, 2020 at 12:59 pm
Dale. I took part in the idea of getting my car wrapped and after going to the bank I was advised that this is a scam and the cheque is a FAKE. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM.