Fake company: Art Formula Ltd

The website http://www.uk-art-formula.com/ is fraudulent and actively being used in employment scams. Apparently they scammers are looking for people to help them launder money from hacked bank accounts.

Signs it's fraudulent:

• Content has been lifted from http://www.originalartmole.com/ and other legit sites.
• No such company is registered with UK Companies House.
• The domain name has been registered on 2011-09-07 for one year, to a private individual, with a bogus address in the USA (while the company claims to be UK-based).
• The website employs the services of a "bullet-proof" ISP in Russia, i.e. an ISP that specifically vows to ignore complaints and abuse reports.

I'll post more info as it becomes available.

Sample scam letter:

Hello,

You were interested in the Financial Forwarding Coordinator position with Art Formula Ltd, but unfortunately I haven't heard from you for a while.

You are one of two candidates who is eligible for the remaining two positions. We have reviewed your resume and if you are interested we would like to extend this vacancy to you.

Just to refresh your memory here is the full job description:

For the most part what the job requires is for someone to be available Monday through Friday, 9 to 11 am. Your main job would be monitoring your on-line Task Manager, which you’ll create on our site once you’re employed. Once the funds enter your account (you accept wire transfers into your personal bank account), your supervisor will notify you and assign you your tasks for the day. At this point you would go to your bank, withdraw the funds and transfer them using Western Union or Money Gram (you withdraw the money and forward it to the scammers in the form uf untraceable cash), as instructed by your supervisor. We provide quick, easy, efficient and secure ways for businesses to outsource services locally, nationally and globally to maximize their competitive advantage and cost effectiveness.

You would always be aware of where the funds are coming from and where they are going, for additional security we provide Invoices for all transactions completed. In today’s world of commerce, especially with our international clients, making regular wire transfers using international banks could take up to 15 days, which is not an acceptable form of payment to our clients. (A legit company would simply open their own bank account in your country.)

Base salary £1,500 is paid at the end of probationary period (Once employed on the regular basis, base salary £1,800 is paid on the last business day of the month) via wire transfer to your bank account. Commission 8 should be deducted from money received. Your commission will be deposited along with every transfer. We will let you know how much of the amount deposited is your commission and how much needs to be transferred, all fees are paid from money received. Health & Dental Insurance will be available to you after your probationary period, which is 30 days.

Please follow the links to read our FAQ and job description, where you'll find the answers to most commonly asked questions:

http://www.uk-art-formula.com/job/finance
http://www.uk-art-formula.com/job/finance/faq

Please notify me by e-mail with your decision within 2 business days for me to send you the required application forms for this position.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

What they're actually asking you to do is launder money from hacked bank accounts or other scam victims. Once the fraud is discovered, all the evidence points at you. By that time, the scammers have long disappeared with the cash you forwarded to them. Once a Western Union or Moneygram transfer has been picked up, there is no way to get the money back or find the recipient.

(Note that no legit company will ever ask you to use your personal bank account for business purposes, or use Western Union / Moneygram. Anybody asking you to do this is virtually guaranteed to be a scammer.)