Business ProfileforSinoway Operations USA LLC

In January and February 2021, BBB received several Scam Tracker reports on Sinoway Operations USA LLC. One complainant stated he had posted his resume online, but did not apply directly with Sinoway Operations. The consumers stated the company contacted them by email with a work-from-home job opportunity. After a quick phone interview and job offer, they were asked to supply their banking information, including a w-4, to set up direct deposit. The job would pay $2000.00 plus $40.00 for each mailed package, on the 30th day of employment.

The complainants alleged the company shipped boxes to their home asking them to “repackage and reship packages using their provided labels”. They stated they were to take off the shipping label, inspect the package, upload pictures online of the product, login to a website to print out a new shipping label and then take the package to FedEx or UPS to ship to the new destination. One consumer stated the item he received was an ancient coin from another consumer across the country, while another received Dell computers.

Complainants also alleged the company did not pay them for completed work at the end of their first month of employment. One consumer stated her unpaid work totaled $2,560.00. Instead, complainants alleged the company stopped returning calls and emails and locked them out of the dashboard for shipping labels.

Upon BBB investigation, the address given for the company, 945 King St section B416, Fairmont WV 26554, was verified to exist, however section B of the warehouse was empty.

The company website, which BBB could not find during an internet search, was given to one of the complainants once he decided to stop repackaging the boxes, as proof the company was not a scam. BBB’s review of the website, www.sinowayusa.com, found the “Consulting Team” photos were borrowed from the internet from actual people, but not whom the website purported. BBB also found the customer review photos to be stock photos from the internet and the verbiage from the reviews were borrowed from another shipping website. According to whois.com, the website was registered in January 2021.

BBB tips for consumers looking for work from home opportunities:

• Pay attention to unusual procedures. Job offers without interviews are a red flag of employment scams. Be very suspicious if an unfamiliar “employer” or recruiter asks for your Social Security number, birth date, bank account number, or other private information that could be used to steal your identity. Always be wary of work-from-home, package reshipment, and secret shopper positions. A company sending you items in somebody else's name, then asking you to reship them, ask yourself - why aren’t they just doing it themselves?
  
• Ask questions. If you want to take advantage of a work-from-home opportunity, you’ll need to do your research. The FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule has safeguards in place to make sure you have the information you need to tell whether a work-at-home opportunity is a risky business. Under the Rule, sellers have to give you a one-page disclosure document that offers key pieces of information about the opportunity. Use the information in the disclosure document to fact-check what the seller tells you. Get as much information as you can about the job before accepting the offer.
  
• Report the bad actors. You can report employment, reshipping and work-at-home scams to BBB ScamTracker, the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and your state’s Attorney General.