“QUALITY CONTROL INSPECTOR” or
“WAREHOUSE COORDINATOR”
IT IS PACKAGE RESHIPPING SCAMS AGAIN!
(Published 2/19/21) This is the fifth article in a series of articles exposing “work at home” package reshipping scams that have tricked Americans into serving as “mules” to move stolen merchandise for the last two-plus years. The majority of these scams appear to be perpetrated by a single cybercriminal gang very likely based in a Russian speaking country. Previous articles can be found at:
https://www.thedailyscam.com/package-reshipping-scams-are-like-whac-a-mole/
https://www.thedailyscam.com/qyshippers-package-reshipping-scam/
https://www.thedailyscam.com/package-reshipping-scams/
https://www.thedailyscam.com/package-reshipping-scams-again/
The fraudulent “shipping companies” exposed in this article are numbers 56-58 in the long line of fake companies:
- BSSPostus.com (Also called BSS Post and Best Shopping Solutions, LLC) (Posted 2/19/21)
- Sendpack.us (Also called Sendpack Parcel) (Posted 2/19/21)
- 1258Partners.com (Posted 2/22/21; not to be confused with the legitimate business called “1258 Partners LLC”)
- RDP Post or RDPPost.com (Soon to be published, including new information!)
Below you’ll find details why we believe that each of these companies are fake businesses.
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These are the biggest RED FLAG WARNING SIGNS THAT THE SHIPPING COMPANY THAT HAS CONTACTED YOU FOR HIRE IS A SCAM:
- The company’s interview process is only via the phone or text. They refuse to interview you via a video chat or in person. Don’t be fooled by long, legal “employment agreements” or fancy animated videos explaining what your job will be! These criminals often use both.
- The job is ONLY “work from home” or work from home while the new offices are being built.
- You are sent packages to inspect but all you do is receive them from one location/source, repackage and reship them to another location. And you report your work through a web portal, never by video chat.
- You are told that your first paycheck will arrive after 2 – 4 weeks of work. It doesn’t!
- Visit the company’s website. Can you find it or the business name listed on the Better Business Bureau as an official company RECOGNIZED by the BBB?
- Do you see it listed on TrustPilot.com or other TRUSTED websites with positive reviews? Are other people writing positive reviews about this company? (Not just a few people, MANY people!)
- How long does the company say they have been in business? Compare this number with the date on which they registered their domain name using a WHOIS tool such as: Whois.sc, DomainBigData.com or Whois.net. For example, a company says they’ve been doing business for 11 years but their domain was registered 2 months ago? They are a scam!
TITLES USED BY THESE SCAMMERS WHEN THEY ADVERTISE A POSITION:
Warehouse Coordinator
Quality Control Inspector
Packing Specialists
Quality Inspector
Logistics Manager
Materials Manager
Customer Service Manager
Package Manager
Package Reshipper
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BSSPostus.com (Also called BSS Post & Best Shopping Solutions, LLC)
Like every other fake website supporting this scam, the website is robust with lots of information filled with stock photos purchased from a variety of sources, but especially Shutterstock.com, making it difficult to see that everything on the website is meant to trick you into believing this is a real company.
BSSPostus.com (Also called BSS Post and Best Shopping Solutions, LLC) gives their address as 6250 Chillum Pl NW, Suite C485, Washington, DC 20011. They even try to legitimize themselves by posting a phony Employer Identification Number (Federal ID) as 86-1658138. We’ve tried to search databases for both this Federal ID and business address but get nothing, besides this website.
1. Let’s begin with the fact that Best Shopping Solutions, LLC claims they have been in business since 2010 (see screenshot below.) And yet, they registered their domain names, BSSPostus.com and BSSMailus.com, anonymously in the Netherlands on February 3, 2021, just 12 days before we found their website.
2. Their website claims to have a “Professional Team” consisting of the following members:
Robert Stephens – Logistics Manager
Sophia Murphy – Warehouse Supervisor
Harry Norton – Warehouse Worker
All of these photos are stock images purchased from Shutterstock or other image sites and are not the people BSS Post says they are. We found them on websites all over the Internet. For example, “Robert Stephens” was on a website called JustDial.com. Both “Sophia Murphy” and “Harry Norton” were purchased directly from Shutterstock.
3. Just like all the other scam websites, Best Shopping Solutions, LLC has several “Happy Customers” posted with photos and quotes. And like all the other bogus websites, these people never existed and the photos used to represent them were taken from other websites or purchased from a stock image site. BSS POST lists the following four people as “Happy Customers” in a sideways scrolling window on their website. They list these people as…
- Harry York
- Anthony Clarke
- Ella Hofer
- Lawrence Coburn
“Harry York” is really a man named Avram Joel Spolsky, software engineer and writer.
“Anthony Clarke” is really a man named Ryan John King, CEO & Co-Founder of a company called FOAM. (Also listed here on CypherHunter.com.)
There are two other “Happy Customers” listed on the Best Shopping Solutions, LLC website and we’ve revealed them below in the next fake business called SendPack.us. They are….
“Ella Hofer” is a stock image of a woman listed on CrystalGraphics.com.
“Robert Bridges” is actually Lawrence Coburn, the CEO of a company called DoubleDutch.
4. Once again, we used the name and address of Best Shopping Solutions, LLC., as well as their “Employer Identification Number” on Experian’s website to try to identify this business. Remember, EVERY legitimate registered business has a credit rating and report. As expected, Experian had no idea who this business was. No record at all! And we tried our search several different ways.
Finally, here is an email sent by the scammers who hired us to work for them! This is another “poker tell” from this group of cybercriminals! They put out nearly identical “training videos” for new hires to watch.
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SENDPACK.US (Also called SENDPACK PARCEL)
Sendpack.us uses the exact same website design and language as BSS Post. They even have the same “Professional Team” and “Happy Customers!”
1. Like Best Shopping Solutions, SendPack.us claims they have been in business since 2010 (Look at the text in their “About” screenshot above.) But DomainBigData.com informs us that this domain was registered in November, 2017 by someone identified as “Ronald Hanley.” Ronald Hanley owns one other domain called HanleyMarketing.com. A visit to this “marketing company” website is enough to tell you it is a lame wordpress website with very little data, no customers and extremely poorly done. No REAL marketing service would produce such an awful website!
Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Sendpack.us website has been around for more than 3 years! It is as fraudulent as Best Shopping Solutions, LLC! Here’s why….
- Take a look at their “Professional Team” They will look familiar! “Robert Stephens,” “Sophia Murphy,” and “Harry Norton.”
2. By now you can guess who are their “Happy Customers!” Yes, that’s right… Harry York, Anthony Clarke, Ella Hofer, and Robert Bridges. Here’s a screenshot showing Robert Bridges and Ella Hofer. Like BSS Post, these happy customers scroll left to right to reveal their quotes. And as we said earlier, 3 out of these 4 images were stolen from real people, and “Ella Hofer” is a stock image from CrystalGraphics.com.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE SCAMS TARGETING AMERICANS?
In several previous articles, we’ve identified numerous breadcrumbs to suggest that the cybercriminals responsible for these scams very likely speak Russian. We continue to find these bread crumbs, including in this “Employment Agreement” that a victim sent us who had been “hired” by Best Shopping Solutions, LLC. Many of these scam companies in the last year try to legitimize themselves by sending a long document called the “EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT.” It is written so well that it looks like a real lawyer may have been hired to write the initial contract. But buried in the metadata of this contract we always find words in Russian.
1258PARTNERS.com
We stumbled upon 1258Partners.com while conducting a search for package shipping companies. Initially we thought that this company was legitimate because it was a registered LLC in Pennsylvania and identified by the Better Business Bureau as a recognized business. But as we reviewed the website at 1258partners.com, our spidey-senses started to tingle because of several things we found on their website, and so we investigated. We believe we have enough evidence to say with confidence that the website at 1258Partners.com is a scam site for a fake business.
Let’s start with the fact that this business lists their physical address as 1258 Penn Avenue, Wyomissing, PA 19610. (By the way, we’ve seen that exact same stock photo of the 3 women with headsets on several of these scam websites. What an interesting coincidence, don’t you think?) And keep in mind that, according to their own website at 1258partners.com, over 45,000 international customers trust them! Wow! They must do a lot of business and have a big warehouse! (By the way, none of the 3 links listed underneath this statistic worked at all… There was no link to a Facebook page. No one on Trustpilot.com had ever heard of this business (as of 2/22/21) and there were no reviews or Testimonials on their own website if you clicked that button.
With so many international customers, why did Google Streetview show us a small house at the address on 1258 Penn Avenue in Wyomissing, PA? Not only that, but the house had a business sign on the side of it and it didn’t say 1258 Partners LLC! It said C. Malcolm Smith & Company, C.P.A. and The Computer Wave, Inc. We called the Certified Public Accountant’s office to ask them if they had ever heard of a package shipping company called 1258 Partners LLC and what they told us confirmed that the website 1258partners.com is a scam site!
On February 19, 2020 Doug spoke to a woman named Michele from the accounting firm C. Malcolm Smith & Company. This firm is located at the address listed on the website of the fake business identified at 1258Partners.com. Michele informed us that they became aware of this scam company in the last quarter of 2020, soon after Mr. Smith registered the legitimate business name “1258 Partners, LLC” for use internally by his accounting firm. Apparently, cybercriminals noted that his firm registered this name and put up a website using this name and listed it at the address occupied by C. Malcolm Smith & Company, P.C. in Wyomissing, PA. (Visit this Pennsylvania Department of State website to look up Mr. Smith’s registration of this business. Enter “1258 Partners LLC.” You’ll see that this LLC was registered on June 26, 2020, just a few months before fraudsters misused his business name.)
Michelle tells us that their CPA firm has even had calls from several people who were “hired” by the bogus company 1258Partners.com and unable to reach that company! Mr. Smith’s business has reported this fraud to the Pennsylvania Attorney General and other agencies. This also explains WHY the Better Business Bureau lists the Pennsylvania business “1258 Partners LLC” on their website. It’s the legitimate business registered by Mr. Smith, but the information about it was stolen and used to create the bogus website at 1258Partners.com!
We used the whois tool at DomainBigData.com to look up 1258partners.com. We learned that this domain was registered anonymously on September 25, 2020 in Panama. And yet, according to their own website at 1258Partners.com, they’ve been in business since 2012!
Clearly the website at 1258Partners.com is a fraud and does not represent Mr. Smith’s business registered as “1258 Partners LLC” in the State of Pennsylvania. As to what type of fraud, we can’t be 100% certain. However, given that they claim to ship packages overseas we can only assume they are linked to the dozens of other fraudulent companies we’ve found that trick Americans into becoming “mules” to move stolen merchandise.
FOOTNOTE: We believe that the cybercriminals who created 1258Partners.com copied the real and legitimate business website of a company in New Hampshire called Stackry.com.
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These are the biggest RED FLAG WARNING SIGNS THAT THE SHIPPING COMPANY THAT HAS CONTACTED YOU FOR HIRE IS A SCAM:
- The company’s interview process is only via the phone or text. They refuse to interview you via a video chat or in person. Don’t be fooled by long, legal “employment agreements” or fancy animated videos explaining what your job will be! These criminals often use both.
- The job is ONLY “work from home” or work from home while the new offices are being built.
- You are sent packages to inspect but all you do is receive them from one location/source, repackage and reship them to another location. And you report your work through a web portal, never by video chat.
- You are told that your first paycheck will arrive after 2 – 4 weeks of work. It doesn’t!
- Visit the company’s website. Can you find it or the business name listed on the Better Business Bureau as an official company RECOGNIZED by the BBB?
- Do you see it listed on TrustPilot.com or other TRUSTED websites with positive reviews? Are other people writing positive reviews about this company? (Not just a few people, MANY people!)
- How long does the company say they have been in business? Compare this number with the date on which they registered their domain name using a WHOIS tool such as: Whois.sc, DomainBigData.com or Whois.net. For example, a company says they’ve been doing business for 11 years but their domain was registered 2 months ago? They are a scam!
TITLES USED BY THESE SCAMMERS WHEN THEY ADVERTISE A POSITION:
Warehouse Coordinator
Quality Control Inspector
Packing Specialists
Quality Inspector
Logistics Manager
Materials Manager
Customer Service Manager
Package Manager
Package Reshipper
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