Pages

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Got A Suspicious Job Announcement From World Economic Forum? Forward It To itsecurity@weforum.org

I got a suspect email this morning.  It began:
"Hello Dear Sir/Madam,Good day to you.
The World Economic Forum ® (WEF®)  is looking for competent and motivated
persons with a strong belief in its purpose and mandates, who are willing
to dedicate themselves to a rewarding international career in different
locations around the world.  The World Economic Forum ® (WEF®) provides
an opportunity to serve in a dynamic, multicultural environment in a
variety of jobs in the support of global causes.
World Economic Forum ® (WEF®) staff uphold the principles and core values
of the Organization, including integrity, professionalism, efficiency and
respect for diversity.  The World Economic Forum ® (WEF®) welcomes
applications from nationals of all Member States and strongly encourages
women to apply. Applicants with disabilities are considered by the World
Economic Forum ® (WEF®) for employment under all types of contracts in
full compliance with the World Economic Forum ® (WEF®) Charter. World
Economic Forum ® (WEF®) offers a variety of ways to join its workforce.
It also offers university students opportunities to serve as interns.
 
A.Position: Environmental Officer
Location:Belgium/USA
Salary: $180,600.00 USD.
Contract: Full time . . ."

It goes on to offer 15 more well paid positions in great locations, mostly in Europe.

The Signs of Fraud:
  1. Not addressed to me by name.  Why me?  Why would I get an email out of the blue from this organization that I don't know anything about?
  2. Too good to be true.  Why do they need to email these job announcements?  At these salaries and in these locations, there'd be no shortage of well qualified applicants without a mass email.
  3. Format is tacky.  I didn't spot any obvious English errors as I scanned it, but it looks 'wrong' on the page.  I could explain that, but I just as well not spell it out tol other potential scammers.

What's in it for them?  Step 2, if you responded, would likely ask you to fill out and send in a job application that would require all sorts of personal data they could then use to do any number of things.

This was enough for me to google World Economic Forum, which does exist.  Down on the bottom of the page where there are lots of links I found, under MEDIA, "fictitious email warning."

"Alert on Fictitious 'Forum' E-mails

It has been brought to our attention that fraudulent e-mail messages are being sent by individuals purporting to be representatives of the World Economic Forum.
These messages have in the past used the names of the Forum’s management team, with "Reply To" addresses that do not end in "@weforum.org". They may use Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail accounts, and occasionally addresses which are similar to Forum ones (e.g. @weforum-jobs.org).
Typically, though not exhaustively, the messages take the form of invitations offering membership, the possibility to participate in Forum events (e.g. “Davos 13”) as an individual or as part of a ‘delegation’, or offers of employment. They often ask the potential ‘victim’ to respond for further information.
Ultimately the recipient will be asked to provide passport, bank and other personal details, and finally payment (usually via Western Union or MoneyGram) to the fictitious Forum representative.
These e-mails are not legitimate World Economic Forum communications, and are in most cases a form of advance fee fraud. Their objective is to mislead victims into paying for a fictitious membership, event registration or "training course" prior to an offer of employment. 
Please note:
  • E-mails from the World Economic Forum are only sent from addresses ending in: @weforum.org. 
  • To assist "webmail" providers and your IT team in the identification and filtering of fraudulent messages, the World Economic Forum maintains an up-to-date SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record. 
  • Participation in the Annual Meeting is by invitation only and is reserved exclusively for Members of the World Economic Forum and invited guests. 
  • Employment opportunities are published on the website of the World Economic Forum and are never advertised via unsolicited email communications. 
  • The World Economic Forum does not use Western Union or MoneyGram to receive payments. 
If you have received one of these e-mails or have any doubts about the authenticity of a message you have received from the Forum please forward the message to itsecurity@weforum.org for verification.
The World Economic Forum disclaims all responsibility with respect to any expense, loss, and/or damage of any kind, which might have occurred in connection with any fraudulent membership or event registration invitation."

And there it is.  Pretty easy to check out.  But I suspect the people who fall for this stuff overlap with people who think that Ted Cruz is a hero.   And buy lottery tickets every week. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments will be reviewed, not for content (except ads), but for style. Comments with personal insults, rambling tirades, and significant repetition will be deleted. Ads disguised as comments, unless closely related to the post and of value to readers (my call) will be deleted. Click here to learn to put links in your comment.