MOUNT VERNON — Under COVID-19 restrictions, many people have increasingly relied on the internet when looking for employment opportunities. Unfortunately, this also increases their chance of being exposed to online scams.
On June 24, Mount Vernon graphic designer Daniel Beeson, 47, found himself subject to one of those scams when he responded to a job advertisement on LinkedIn — an online platform for professional networking.
The job advertisement, supposedly posted by Macy’s, turned out to be fraudulent.
Beeson has been a graphic designer for 29 years and is familiar with trademark and branding standards. He started to notice red flags when the emails he received from a supposed recruiter did not contain Macy’s company logo. But otherwise, it looked legitimate.
The scammer impersonated Cheryl Heinonen, an actual Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Macy’s, via a Gmail account at recruiter.macysinc@gmail.
One of the first emails began with “Hello Gabriel.” When Beeson pointed out the wrong name, the scammer played it off as a mistake due to high demand.
“Thanks for the head up Danny. We are sorry about the misspell as we have a lot of applicant interested in the job position,” the email read.
“Heinonen” then asked him to fill out a questionnaire instead of attending an in-person or virtual interview. After Beeson submitted the questionnaire, he was immediately “hired” 15 minutes later.
The scammer then sent him a PDF “employment offer letter” with the company logo. The three-page letter detailed the supposed job position, wages, benefits, contract agreement and even stock options. In the end, the letter asked Beeson to sign the letter and return it with a copy of his identification document (i.e. driver’s license).
The letter contained a Macy’s logo this time. However, the aspect ratio was incorrect, flattening and stretching the image. Beeson, who has been a consultant on branding standards, said that this would not happen with a legitimate corporation in which employees have to follow guidelines to keep the brand logo and style consistent.
Suspicious, Beeson ended the correspondence and decided to investigate.
Through a friend at Macy’s, Beeson discovered that the company was not hiring for the position and the job posting was a scam.
The two email addresses that Beeson corresponded with had the seemingly legitimate title “macysinc” in its address. However, Beeson’s friend alerted him that true Macy’s company emails should end in @macys.com, not macysinc or gmail.com.
Beeson said his friend also found out that one of the fraudulent emails was created only three days before the scam.
The job posting on LinkedIn has since been taken down, but Beeson said he fears that others may have already fallen for the scam — some could have gone through the process of disclosing their personal and financial information such as social security numbers and bank accounts.
Beeson expressed frustration that when he alerted Macy’s security team and LinkedIn of this issue, nothing seemed to be done in response to it.
“The two big companies dropped the ball,” Beeson said.
Beeson also reported the scam to the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Weeks passed and Beeson said he has not heard back from the companies or the OAG’s office regarding his complaint.
Knox County Sheriff David Shaffer said he has not heard of this specific type of scam before. While there are typical employment scams solicited via email, they tend to target the victims’ wallet, asking them to pay an up-front fee in order to start the “job,” according to Shaffer.
The scam Beeson came across, on the other hand, appeared to be targeted at personal information and is more involved.
