Description

I applied for a remote Customer Service Specialist job with a company called Forefront on a website called EdSurge. Forefront says they are based in Denver. I have applied to many, many jobs recently so when I was contacted by someone identifying herself as Katie Mulligan from a company called Blackhorn Ventures based in Denver, I got confused and thought it was a reply to my Forefront application through EdSurge. I was asked to download Signal Messenger and use it to interview with someone identifying themselves as Thomas Bianchi, 940-277-7497. The messages from both Mulligan and Bianchi seemed very cut-and-paste. I was offered a position without a video conference or any other verifiably live interaction. When I did not immediately accept, but began asking specific questions about benefits, pay schedule, how to log hours, daily work schedule, and requested a live video conversation, the Signal messages stopped. I realized it must be a scam so now I am reporting the issue. During the message exchanges, I searched online for Blackhorn, which does have some online presence. It appears as though the Gates Foundation even invested in them, but I do not know how to verify if that is true. I gave no personal information such as SSN or bank account numbers, and noticed no unusual bank activity. I can provide screenshots of all texts and Signal messages. I do not know if Forefront is connected with this, but my most recent email to the person from Forefront who emailed me after my application through EdSurge was replied to with an Out of Office message. That person identified himself as David Woodward, [email protected]. It could be coincidence that another company claiming to be based in Denver tried to scam me?