Scam Type
Employment Scam
Date Reported
2023-01-13 00:00:00
Victim Postal Code
66061
Total Dollars Lost
0
Scam Description
A man posing as an Araris Biotech “recruiter” named Anthony Gibson contacted my job-seeking relative about a position at $40/hr doing what amounted to data entry. They conversed for quite some time, he relayed “information” about the job, and she was even sent onboarding documentation from one “romainbertrand@ararisbiotech.CO” email address. They also physically sent her a check for nearly $5,000 for “remote work equipment,” with the instructions to deposit the check in her personal banking account no later than a certain time (3PM, in this case). They were very concerned about the check getting deposited as quickly as possible.
However, upon hearing all of this, seeing the fishy domain, the poorly written and often grammatically incorrect messages from “Anthony,” the weird nowhere-to-be-found LLC out of Colorado who sent the check, and the metalworking company out of Ohio who “supplied” the $5,000 check, I called foul, took over, and attempted to get some sort of legitimacy verification from “Anthony.” He quickly became frustrated with my questions and requests, dodging answering simple queries or insulting my integrity or questioning my desire for employment, going so far as to say, “You want a ajob, you let’s know” (verbatim) instead of providing any sort of proof, and has not responded to messages since then.
I do not 100% know that this is a scam yet (I’ve reached out to Araris Biotech and the real Bertrand on LinkedIn but have yet to hear back), but given the similarities between our experience and the other lady who a nearly identical experience, I’m comfortable in calling this fraudulent.
