(BBB Serving Connecticut)
Seven months after BBB of Connecticut warned consumers about a company called Ship Adventure Post using a fake New Britain address to convince potential employees of its legitimacy, it appears the company is once again pretending to be located in the Nutmeg State, deceiving more people across the country.
From September 28th to October 17th, BBB of Connecticut received 10 reports to BBB’s Scam Tracker from consumers claiming they had been contacted by Delta Vision (also goes by DVS Logistics US LLC) about a position called, “shipping and packaging specialist,” or “picker packer specialist.” The company allegedly offered to pay employees $2,400 per month. The picture above is an example of an item that one of the company's employees says was in a package they were asked to inspect and reship.
The job description of inspecting and reshipping packages not only mimics that of Ship Adventure Post, with an online dashboard and website that disappears when the time comes to pay employees but at least one of the principal executives has the same name. Delta Vision is registered with the Secretary of the State’s Office as DVS Logistics US LLC.
The company’s website initially listed a Glastonbury virtual address in its contact information. Recently, the address on the website was changed to a location in Norwalk. Our investigator reached out to the property’s realtor to verify the location and learned that the property is in disrepair and unoccupied. Furthermore, the real estate company has received numerous inquiries from around the country about DVS Logistics.
One victim reported working for Delta Vision for a month before finding out that it was all a ruse. Others stated that they filled out a W-2 and other forms with banking and personal information as well as pictures of their driver’s licenses.
“I have cut off all communication with them, but I am worried about my identity being in jeopardy,” reported one consumer who filed a complaint with BBB Serving Connecticut.
“… seemed too good to be true but I was desperate! I lost my job didn’t have no source of income so I decided to take it not doing research about it .. I got 2 packages 3 days later and it seemed legit they even asked for a w2 form and for my bank account but I have trust issues so I did some research, the address that they had was a lot for sale,” said another consumer who filed a scam tracker report with BBB.
Due to past warnings, some of the candidates for this position were able to see through the scam and filed reports on BBB’s Scam Tracker to warn others.
BBB of Connecticut has reached out to the company but has never received a response.
Protecting yourself
Work-from-home jobs that involve receiving and reshipping packages are likely scams. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service states that “there are no legitimate jobs sending or receiving packages.”
Research the job offer. Call or go directly to the actual company's website for contact information to verify the job posting. Realize that just because the website looks legitimate doesn’t mean it is. Con artists often copy real websites, stealing pictures from reputable companies, to seem legit. Look up the address listed and google the name of the company with the word, ‘scam.’
Check on businesses at BBB.org if they claim to be offering jobs.
Examine the email address of those offering jobs to see if it matches the protocols used by an actual company. Be alert to Gmail and Yahoo business email addresses.
Create a separate email address when posting a resume on job boards or applying for jobs. This can help detect “offers” from scam employers you did not contact.
Set up a second bank account to handle pay for jobs where you have never met the employer in person.
Be cautious in providing personal information such as your full address, birth date, and financial information in your resume or to unverified recruiters and online applications.
Even if you do the work, it still may be a scam!
It is important that victims of job scams report them to:
Better Business Bureau - BBB.org or BBB.org/scamtracker.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - reportfraud.ftc.gov or call 877-FTC-Help.
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) - ic3.gov/complaint.