Cable & Wireless Communications Scam

I ran a search for Cable & Wireless Communications on this forum and could not locate it. If this scam has already been discussed then I apologize for repeating information.

Like so many others in this economic "paradise" (sarcasm), I replied to an employment opportunity ad on Craigslist. This opportunity was for a Data Entry/Account Clerk position. I replied via e-mail, the only way I could, and attached my resume. Thankfully, while my resume is your typical type detailing education, skills, employment history, etc. it does not list my physical address or references, only phone number and e-mail.

Within the hour I received a reply:

" Dear Appilcant,

Your resume was received and review by our recruiting team base on the job ad for Data Entry/Account Clerk Position published on CRAIGSLIST and we believe you are capable of handling this position based on your qualification on your resume. Your details has been forwarded to the Chief Account Officer Mr. Tim Pennington, for he would be conducting an online interview with you to discuss the Job Details, Pay Scale and Benefits. You are required to set up a screen name with yahoo instant messenger at (http://www.messenger.yahoo.com) and add up the company screen name below. Contact Mr. Tim Pennington via the email below to let him know if the time scheduled for the interview works for you. The screen name is [email protected]

Interview date ASAP, you can make yourself available within this time for the interview and your swift and timely response matters a lot in this position. You must be of high conduct during the course of this interview. If you have any problems feel free to email the Chief Account Officer Mr. Tim Pennington.

Regards
HR Department,
Cable & Wireless Comm."

I immediately noticed the e-mail domain of "Lindsey Johnson" as well as Tim Pennington's (live.com and yahoo.com respectively). I then asked myself "why would a Chief Financial Officer hold online interviews through Messenger?! I looked up "Cable & Wireless Communications" (CWC) and discovered quite a reputable company...based in the Caribbean, Macao, Monaco, and especially London, England. I contacted CWC's Company Secretary but have yet to hear back. My wife discovered multiple scam complaints regarding this as well as a statement issued by the legit company, CWC:

4 June, 2010

Cable & Wireless Communications Plc has been made aware of bogus job adverts being placed on job search websites purporting to be recruiting for roles within our company.These communications are completely fraudulent and do not in any way have a connection with us.

Thankfully, these scammers only got my resume. I was concerned at first but have read at multiple locations that nothing harmful can be enacted based off of basic resume information. By that I mean, there is no social security number, address, or birth date detailed. Worse case scenario, as I read, my name may be used such as "Lindsey Johnson" was used in the e-mail to me.

I wanted to post this experience in case it hasn't been before. I hope it helps.

E-Mails Used by Scammer
"Lindsey Johnson" - [email protected]
"Tim Pennington" (CFO of the Legit CWC) - [email protected]

Craigslist Ad - http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/ofc/2050354310.html
Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) - http://www.cwc.com/
CWC Fraud Statement - http://www.cwc.com/news-and-media/press-releases/recruitment-fraud.html

I hope all this helps everyone!

I received similar to this today, but decided to play through a bit and see how far down the rabbit hole I'd actually manage to get. I received an email from the apparent CFO explaining my job duties and whatnot, in plain email format. No company letter head no nothing.

CABLE & WIRELESS WORLD WIDE.
(WWW.CW.COM)


JOB DESCRIPTION:
• Responsible for Order Entry and Control of information related to job files and internal systems up to invoicing.

• Organize orders received either through inside sales or direct from customers to ensure all requirements are met for order entry (set by Management). Issue purchase orders and order forms to vendors & factories. Prepare returns for those that do not meet requirements to respective sales team.. Enter information into Business Finance System (BAS). Assist sales with managing SAF accuracy after the Blue Sky entry has generated an order. Work closely with management as requested to ensure accuracy in forecast numbers.

• Work with Customer and/or Inside Sales reps to ensure all specifications related to the order (equipment, delivery requirements, etc) are correct and delivered to required vendors in order to achieve customer satisfaction.

• Manage order files from time of order creation to the hand off to Finance for invoicing. Ensure that figures and quantities in business systems match (BAS, BSS (purchasing) and SAF).

• Work with all departments to ensure documentation is kept complete and current on changes to orders during the time order is placed until shipped. Assist the Finance team with the resolution of discrepancies found after hand off.

• Track jobs through life cycle of project using various software to provide reporting on individual activity as well as customer related activity.

• Review and make suggestions to improve processes, further develop order processing steps throughout the different sub branches. Highlight issues of concern and raise them with suggestions on how they can be improved.

• Assist sales team and customers resolving issues related to extra costs, additional add-ons to projects, credits, etc. through set procedures (PO requests,Credit Note steps, etc)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Ideal candidate should have a High School diploma with a minimum of one (1) year experience performing data entry related tasks.

Excellent verbal and written communications skills, organizational skills, data entry skills 50wpm, mathematical skills, detail oriented and highly motivated,Lotus Notes, Microsoft Suite experienced desired.

==================================================================

You will be enlisted for a 2 weeks training program.

You will have to be online from 9am to 12noon daily as you will be given series of tasks.

Training Hours: 9am - 12noon

Working Hours: 9am - 4pm.

Pay is $20/hr and for 6hrs a day as long as you are online during the stated hours.

You have to keep strict record of time and activities. A time sheet should be sent in every Friday's days for monitoring (In your own format).

In carrying out any assignment or task a progress report has to be emailed every Friday to me.

This is an online Position.

You will be paid bi weekly.

The training would be administered online and the pay for the training is $10hr.

Benefits include: 401k, health and dental, paid vacation and 2 weeks sick leave you will be enrolled for this benefits after 2 months after which you would become a regular employee of our company.

You would also receive a payment from our company which you will use to purchase the listed materials below: 4 in one (fax, scanner,copier and printer), Zebra ZM400 Bar-code printer and cards, 4 drawer cabinet and office desk,HP Pavilion HDX18-1180US 18.4-Inch Laptop (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium). You are required to contact our designated vendor for the purchase of the materials as soon as funds gets to you.

You would also be visited by 2 of our Representatives and they will be coming along with the company's Attorney who will provide you all necessary paper works and this will be done after you have completed your 2 weeks training.

You would also be given the following to start work with after training: * Staff User Name and Password for Our Website Link (For easy access to company data and task for each day).

GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS DONE READING FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

While on the messenger chat I tried to further along the conversation and see to what end this all would be, and I believe they became suspicious and simply "logged off"

Welcome to ScamWarners severyn and rosamaria and thank you for posting this information. Figuring out how this was a scam was excellent deductive reasoning!

Thank you for making this available for other who may be trying to find work in this economy.