[Tags: scam, links, internet]
I just received an email offering a career with PHC Consulting and confirmed that this is a scam. Despite it's elaborate looking website I'm 99.99% positive this website is a scam.
How do I know this is a scam?
It's registry data says the website was registered/create September 21 2008. No legitimate business can be created in 2 days.
Why am I writing about this?
Hopefully I this blog will show up in search results and prevent potential victims. Since this is a new scam there were no search results for this company so I thought I should make some.
How does a scam have such a sophisticated website?
Anybody can create a professional looking website in a matter of minutes by copying an existing website. You can do this is Firefox by selecting File->Save as File->Webpage Complete. A scammer would then change the logo and text to coincide with the name of their fictional company.
What's the purpose of this scam
They want to get information from you... SS#(from application), bank account number (from direct deposit info), email address (for spamming), or they are going try get you to send them money somehow or another.
Here's a copy of the email I received:
PHC Consulting has an opening for a TRANSACTIONS SPECIALIST position. We do our best to fit all our customers' needs as soon as possible. That's why all are staff is a professionally trained and can solve any problem that occurs on their way. We are not just a set of people, we are a family. We offer you, our potential colleague, to join us. See below, what we offer you.
General Requirements:
- Be at least 21 years old.
- Not special Qualifications Needed.
- Have a minimal experience and knowledge of basic bank operations.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality of all information.
- Willingness to work from home, take responsibility, set up and achieve goals.
- The Ability to create good administrative reporting.
- Honesty, responsibility and promptness in operations.
- The ability to operate with more than one task effectively, and have an adaptable, flexible, professional attitude.
- The ability of stable communication with our company and on
-time and detailed reporting.
- Familiar to working online, Internet and e-mail skills.
What we offer:
- Generous salary (over 3,000.00 USD monthly).
- Social benefits and medical insurance. - Free training and seminars.
- Paid Holidays plus 2 weeks of Paid Time Off (PTO).
This is easy job, but your help is very important for us and our clients. This job does not require any special education. You wouldn't have to pay us for taking you on our list. However we guarantee stable income.
Please send your answer letter or resume to our e-mail: makovski@phcconsulting-inc.com
(!) Add ours e-mail in your Address Book!!!
Best regards,
Linda Makovski.
phcconsulting-inc.com
What should I do if I provided my information to scammers?
- Do not respond to further communications.
- If you sent bank Information: Call your bank immediately and tell them what happened. They should be able to change your account number or cancel your account.
- If you are still concerned you might want to enroll in credit monitoring such as LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention
- You can also file a claim with The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). They are probably overloaded with these types of claim though, so I would not expect an individual response.
- Related Articles:
- You're doing a phenomenal job
- The Acccounting FAQ's
- Finally I am getting the respect I deserve
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tuesday September 30, 2008 @ 07:43 PM
Thanks for this. I got this same email. I was skeptical so I did a search and found your blog. Your idea of posting this blog in hopes of someone searching out this scam company and reading your blog worked. It sucks for people truely searching for work and getting taken advantage of. Just goes to show you have to do a little digging before responding to anything in your email. Thanks again!
Wednesday October 8, 2008 @ 11:27 AM
I too got this e-mail. I did reply and received a "PHC Contract" from them. The contract looks official and legit, but it is filled with language that the common person would not understand. There are numerous mispellings, and of course, they ask for all of your banking information. Any real company that wanted you to take payments from its clients would also have a bank account for you to work with and not ask you to use your own. In fact, any real company would cut out the middle person and take payments from their own clients themselves. Thanks for the blog, it confirms my suspicion.
Monday October 13, 2008 @ 03:44 PM
Diddo. I also replied and received a contract from them. I knew something was wrong when they wanted "me" to take payments from their clients and wanted "my" bank account info. Thanks for the blog. I hope everyone that gets this e-mail does research and reads these blogs.
Monday October 20, 2008 @ 09:54 AM
Thanks for posting this, i just got the same email
Monday October 20, 2008 @ 06:54 PM
I did not solicite a work from home job and received this email. I too was thinking this was a scam so I just typed in the company name on a search engine and among the company websites was this blog.
THANKS FOR THE WARNING !!!!!
Saturday October 25, 2008 @ 02:42 AM
Thank you so much for the warning I received this as well
Tuesday October 28, 2008 @ 07:13 PM
Thanks for this blog I was suspicious as well and you confirmed for me that they are a fake.
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 09:03 AM
Thank you! I had my suspicions, but this just solidifies it.
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 11:06 AM
I recieved the same mailing...figured it was a scam, considering the grammatical errors...etc
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 04:18 PM
I just received the same email except the the name on the bottom was signed German Makovski. It's definitely not legit.
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 04:29 PM
Got this email as well. How did the whole world get it? LOL. They must of hacked the google email data base. Yes, the grammar is deplorable. If you are going to try to screw a bunch of people, you would think they would proof read. But then again criminals are not that smart for the most part. Stupid Spammers
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 06:23 PM
I received this as well. I responded and got the application and contract. What tipped me off was the application asked for my birthdate (illegal) and all my bank info (suspious). When I emailed back to "German" that I was uncomfortable supplying that info, his reply was written like someone just learning English. I got the jist of it but obviously this person is not on the up and up. Thanks for starting this.
Wednesday October 29, 2008 @ 11:20 PM
Hi. I am the real company www.phcconsulting.com. The scam email is a little different (.biz)...they are phishing for $$. If you apply, they send questionaire with $$ questions. I have had several people call and email me. I tell them to report it as spam to their internet provider. I am the real "phcconsulting.com". Please note the difference. Isn't it a shame that someone is so motivated to scam another person?
Peggy McKee
Thursday October 30, 2008 @ 07:30 AM
Me too, I replied telling them I'm reporting them!
Thursday October 30, 2008 @ 10:26 AM
Thank you for posting this info confirming my suspicions - the power of the internet at work for good!
Friday October 31, 2008 @ 10:37 AM
Thank you so much for the heads up!
Thursday November 6, 2008 @ 10:40 PM
I have done this and stopped doing it because is not legit but danger, how do we stop them?
Friday November 7, 2008 @ 03:06 AM
The only we stop them is by informing people of these scams so they no longer fall for them so it's no longer worth for these people to send these emails.
Friday November 7, 2008 @ 11:17 PM
I have the money now and I closed my account, by calling my bank and told them, what do i do now?
Sunday September 28, 2008 @ 01:09 PM
I got this too. And you're right, no one could possibly write an email in such appalling English and expect people to take it seriously. I shall reply, though...