Maxwell Electronics, the scammer formerly known as Zend

I'm part way thru an ostensible selection and hiring process that doesn't look attractive any more. I was e-mailed a solicit'n for an appl'n for employment as a work-from-home supply chain mgr. for Maxwell Electronics (of which there are several firms worldwide these days, the better known trademark of old apparently no longer being active), which I filled out and returned electronically. It's a few days later and I received notice that I would be contacted to schedule a phone interview. The job description had been rather vague, and my suspicion was shipping mule (just based on the job title), but that may not be the case.

What is true is that the Web site they referenced, www.maxwell-electronics.com, has been active for about 2 months (domain name taken out by a guy in Las Vegas) and has the same wording (including the same typo, "brining" for "bringing") on its front page as that of Zend Electronics, an outfit similarly ostensibly based in Denmark that up to about 3 months ago had reports of being a bogus firm dealing in stolen identities and which similarly hired "supply chain managers". I wish I'd done this checking before I'd wasted my time filling the application and asking for an interview. Either that, or that I'd postponed it until after getting an ego boost from hearing I was hired following an interview.

Robert

Thank you for posting, Robert.

Could you post the emails from them, including the headers but removing your personal information? If there is a fake website involved, those emails could be important evidence needed to help get the site taken down.

Thank you for posting this job scam, you may have saved me alot of grief. I too was solicited and did a phone interview. The website looked legit except you can't log into anything. I should have listened to my gut instinct. I have filed a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Hopefully they didn;t get enough info to do anything. They didn;t get social or account info. EVERYONE BEWARE OF THIS "COMPANY".

I have been in an employment search for the past six months and the Maxwell Electronics just seemed to easy.
So, I pulled the web site and everything seemed legit but my gut told me to continue to search before I gave up any personal information. I typed in, What type of employment is Maxwell electronics supply chain? lo, this site came up, scam, scam, scam. Thanks a-lot you guys and gals... you all saved me a lotta grief!

Thank you for posting, Robert.

Could you post the emails from them, including the headers but removing your personal information? If there is a fake website involved, those emails could be important evidence needed to help get the site taken down.

It was a lot of work to delete all the address & path info to me. My e-mail address is plastered all over the Internet anyway, so I'm deleting it only because I guess it's a rule you have here. This is the most recent correspondence; the preceding material is on another computer that it'd be a little trouble to access right now:
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Return-Path: <[email protected]>
X-Original-To:
Delivered-To:
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1])
by (Postfix) with ESMTP id A8AD52B833C
for <>; Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:12:40 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from ([])
by localhost ([]) (amavisd-maia, port 10024)
with ESMTP id for <>;
Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:12:40 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from smtp-auth.no-ip.com (smtp-auth.no-ip.com [204.16.252.93])
by (Postfix) with ESMTP id
for <>; Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:12:40 -0400 (EDT)
X-No-IP: maxwell-electronics.com@noip-smtp
X-Report-Spam-To: [email protected]
Received: from [204.16.252.95] (host227.net252.dyn.houstonisd.org [166.127.252.227])
(Authenticated sender: maxwell-electronics.com@noip-smtp)
by smtp-auth.no-ip.com (Postfix) with ESMTPA id E2C4DB49325
for <>; Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:12:38 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:39:03 -0700
From: Camilla Mortensen <[email protected]>
Reply-To: Camilla Mortensen <[email protected]>
Organization: Maxwell Electronics
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
To: "" <>
Subject: Re: Supply Chain Mgr.
In-Reply-To: <>
References: <[email protected]> <> <[email protected]> <>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Virus-Scanned: Maia Mailguard 1.0.2a
X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.746 tagged_above=-999 required=5
tests=BAYES_00=-0.75, NO_DNS_FOR_FROM=1.496
X-Spam-Level:
RE: Your application

Dear Robert,

Thank you for your interest! We have received your application form for Supply
Chain Manager
position and will review it in the nearest time. We will get back to you within 2
business days
to schedule a telephone interview.

Sincerely yours,
Camilla Mortensen / HR department

Maxwell Electronics
Vibevej 16,
2400 Kobenhavn,
DENMARK

Tel: +4578775364 ext 115 /Fax: +4569802745
U.S. toll-free:
Tel: +1-888 666 9159/ext 115 / Fax: +1-888 222 9143
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.maxwell-electronics.com

This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee. If you are not the addressee
you must not
read, copy, use or disclose the e-mail nor the content; please notify us immediately
by clicking
'Reply' and delete this e-mail.

Saturday, April 9, 2011 you wrote:

> Dear Ms. Mortensen:

> Attached is my application for this position. Please schedule me for an
> interview.

> Sincerely,
> Robert []
************************************************************
As I wrote to somebody privately, the newness of the domain means nothing in isolation, but it fits very well with the recent disappearance of Zend Electronics.

Will be reported - Michael

It is interesting that the entry for Maxwell-electronics.com at domaintools.com includes the Las Vegas info but also mentions a russian city named Izjevzk.

Curious.

http://whois.domaintools.com/maxwell-electronics.com

Even though yesterday I e-mailed a "sorry, no longer interested", I still got a phone call from Ms. Mortensen today. And even though I'm convinced it's a fraud, I still found it hard to turn her down. It was like killing the child zombie in Night of the Living Dead. Part of the effect is curiosity, part politeness, and part the desire to gratify myself by thinking I was seriously up for a job. I didn't hang up as soon as I recognized her name -- the cx was a little muffled -- but I when I understood that she was making a pathetic attempt at an interview -- "Tell me about yourself" -- I asked if she'd gotten my e-mail the previous day explaining that I was no longer interested, and got her answer that she had, I told her that I meant it. It just wasn't worth practicing my job interview responses.

Thank you so much for this thread. I was on the verge of giving out my social security number and everything. I was suspicious when I got an email announcing that I had been hired (I never had a face-to-face interview), and it's also my policy now to research companies/people before I give them any sensitive information. Furthermore, the email stated that I would be working at "CITY, STATE," as if they forgot to fill out a template, and no address, telephone number, or contact person in my area was ever given.

When I found this thread, I decided to start digging, and here's what I found:

1) Both addresses Maxwell Electronics gives within their emails, on the PDF contract, and on their website are bogus. One address in Denmark points to a residential apartment building, and the other address in Geneva, Switzerland is the very address of the World Trade Center. It pays to be curious, eh?
2) The parts catalogues on Maxwell Electronics' website looked so convincingly real. There's no way someone wasted so much time making up this seemingly realistic information, is there? I Googled some part numbers and descriptions and found that the PDF catalogues have been stolen from Mouser Electronics (a real company), and all occurrences of "Mouser" in the files have been replaced with "Maxwell Electronics." They're identical PDF files otherwise.
3) There are jobs for "Supply Chain Manager" listed for a Maxwell Electronics in numerous cities throughout America on job boards. They must be an enormously huge company! Right...

Lastly, in retrospect, the woman I spoke to on the phone during the interview seemed to be talking over a cheap cell phone, as the quality was extremely staticky and choppy, and she seemed distracted and monotonal, almost unnaturally-voiced, as if reading off of a script. Altogether, an unprofessional demeanor.

This is all just more proof for anyone who comes across this scam and may, out of optimism or desperation, ignore the previous warnings in this thread and give out private information. Stay away!

I'm annoyed, but I would have been ruined had I bought into this scam. Thanks, guys.

Subtle points indicate that it was produced by a 419 scammer of African origin.

I won't explain or it might help him improve his next version.

However I will point out to him that they speak Danish in Denmark, as I'd love to see if he can do foreign language ones any better - a rhetorical question.

I HAVE just been scammed by maxwell electronics they just put 3900 into my account and was asked to send it yo someone via western union and i did....am i in trouble, what do i do??????

Hello jterry414.

First thing you have to do is to stop all contact with the criminal.
Keep cool and then you will be able to sort this out.
Can you stop the Western Union transfer?
Call 1-800-448-1492 if it was not collected yet!

Thomas Berg

I Made the payment western union last week wednesday, today was suppose to be my "so called" pay day and when i looked in my account i was not paid. then i google maxwell electronics fraud and thats when i found out this was a scam, i should have googled this before hand but i didnt. i called them and once i told them my name he hung up the phone i atempted to call again and didnt answer. i read that this transaction can be counted as money laundering

I HAVE just been scammed by maxwell electronics they just put 3900 into my account and was asked to send it yo someone via western union and i did....am i in trouble, what do i do??????

You later mention that you haven't been paid, so did they put money on your account that was subsequntly 'reversed' ?

The standard method is for the scammer to pay you by counterfeit cheque which your bank would charge back to your account when it was noticed. The scammer could have done this direct to your account themselves or possibly they may have performed an electronic transaction and immediately reversed it.

Your major problem is that you've lost $3,900 and, unless you had funds on your account to cover it, the bank will want you to repay the overdraft.

Until you know how the scammer got money on to your account you won't know what the potential risks are ?

GomerPyle

they wired 3900 into my account and i sent it somewhere via western union