Did you receive a text from Alyssa from Express Star Restaurants offering you a remote online part-time/full-time job helping merchants update their data ? Beware! It’s scam. Presently, more than hundred people have received similar texts and are wondering if it’s legit. Well, the short answer is NO. The content of the text message and the recruitment process has all the red flags of an employment scam;
- Non existent company – Express Star Restaurants doesn’t really exist. There’s no information online about the company neither is it a reputable brand.
- Too good to be pay – The text message mentions earning at least $230 to $860 per day which is quite unrealistic for a simple remote work.
- Scripted Lies – The texts mention that recipients background and resume have been recommended by lots of recruitment agencies but majority of recipients have never sent out their resumes before.
- Shallow interview via LinkedIN and WhatsApp
- Communicates via texts only
- Lacks formal onboarding process
How The Express Star Restaurants Scam Works
The Express Star Restaurants scam is an employment scam that uses claims of high pay and benefits to lure people into a sketchy task portal. The job to be done on the portal includes helping merchants update their data, increase visibility, bookings, etc. But in reality it’s a sham task portal hosted on a recently created website that has a .shop or .vip extension.
Once you indicate interest and start working, the fraudsters would display fake earnings on your dashboard. When it’s time to withdraw your earnings, you’d be told to upgrade your account by paying a certain fee. But when you do so, the scammers would disappear and cease all communication with you.
All these are examples of advance fee scam and are quite common with fake employment. Once you make the payment, the scammers would disappear and cease all communication with you.
Yearly, thousands of job seekers fall prey to job scams, especially remote job offers. So how do you stay protected? what are the red flags of job scams?
Warning Signs of Job Scams
1 – Unsolicited Recruitment Text
Received an unsolicited job offer via WhatsApp, text message or email? There’s a likelihood that it’s a scam, especially if it came from a company you’ve never applied to. Legit companies wouldn’t send you job texts out of the blues. There’s always a due process for hiring.
2- Too Good To Be True Pay
This is one of the very first red flags. It’s true we all like the idea of being paid high, but when the quoted pay is far above what the industry normally pays, you need to pause. If they’re promising to pay higher than the market rate, tread with caution. Sometimes they might promise unrealistic work hours with no specific skill for huge pay, making the job look irresistible. That’s just a bait with which to entice their victims.
3 – Conducts a Shallow Interview
The interview process is always a dead giveaway. It’s always quick and short, without any depth. Then you’re told you’ve been hired. Most times, the interview is hosted on Signal App or Telegram, via text messages with just an acting HR.
No legitimate business or company would hire an employee without a thorough interview to ascertain if they indeed meet the criteria.
4 – Requests for a Fee
If after the interview and onboarding, you’re asked to pay an amount of money, then it’s a scam. This fee could either be labelled ‘Application fee’ or ‘Upgrade fee’. Whatever name it’s called, legit companies don’t collect money from employees.
What to Do If you fell for this Fake Job Offer
If you’ve already submitted your personal details and CV to the crooks behind this fake employment offer. You should do the following;
Enroll in identity theft monitoring services
Identity protection services like Experian or Aura monitor databases that collect different types of information. When you enroll with them, you’d receive an alert notifying you of suspicious activities like –
- a change of address request
- court or arrest records
- orders for new utility, cable, or wireless services
- an application for a payday loan, etc.
Experian.com for example, has a basic Identity Theft monitoring plan which is free. I advise that you sign up for it, if you can’t afford the premium plan which is $24.99 monthly.
Alert your Bank of the Fraudulent Transaction
If you fell for the equipment vendor plot and made the payment using your account, immediately notify your bank. Send screenshots of the conversations between you and the criminal, payment receipt, etc.
You should also request for a chargeback if it’s possible to recover your money.
Spread Awareness of the Ongoing Scam
It’s very important that you inform people of your experience with the crooks impersonating Conformal Medical. You could do this on Forums, or even Threads like Reddit. This would help prevent others from being victims of the scam.
You can also go a step further by reporting the scam to government authorities like – FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov). This would make them put up a notice warning the public of the scam.
Conclusion
Unsolicited job texts from Express Star Restaurants should be treated as a scam and deleted immediately. When approached by a job recruiter either online or offline, the first thing to do is research the company and the job opportunity. Find the company on the internet and review their online presence, including their social media. Enter the company’s name and the word “scam” on search engine, paste the email address too to find out if it has been flagged as scam.
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