Scam?

1ManArmy

I applied for a Job that was advertised on Gumtree on the 13th of August, the add has now been removed. The Job was for a customer service rep for payment protection complaints. I got a reply by the name of Paul Simon as follows:

[FONT=&quot]Dear Applicant,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I’m glad to inform you that you have made my shortlist. We will be interviewing candidates in the next few weeks.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My name is Paul Simon and I am the HR Manager for Blue Arrow. Our company is a well-known one. It was founded in the UK and deals mainly with recruitment for big companies in the UK.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I have attached the application form which can be found here [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Please unzip or extract the application form folder to be able to open it and fill out the application form and send it back to me.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The job we offer is a full time position with a flexible schedule. On average, the working hours will be 40hours (Monday to Friday).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]If you are having problem with the link above, you can download the application form from the download link below[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Download Link: [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sincerely,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Paul Simon[/FONT]

Now when i extract the folder the application form is a exe. which is unusual. i disconnected my net and ran the the exe. and it never opened just stayed in the background running. So i deleted it and downloaded it again but this time I scanned the folder using AVG but it found nothing. I honestly dont know if its a scam or not it seems soo legit. Can anyone help please!!

Emmzi

Phone or email him and say you are having problems withthe attachment, can he resend as plain text. Usually you get scammed when you haven't applied for the job but you remember applying for this one.

SarEl

Ermm - you extracted an exe file which stayed running in the background and didn't do what you expected - and you want us to do the same??? So you have helpfully posted the links so that we can??? Even running the professional version of AVG, I respect my computer too much! The second rule of responsible computer ownership is to have a good and up to date virus checker. The first one is never download anything dodgy even if the have a good and up to date virus checker!

1ManArmy

SarEl wrote: »

Ermm - you extracted an exe file which stayed running in the background and didn't do what you expected - and you want us to do the same??? So you have helpfully posted the links so that we can???

I clearly did not ask users to download the form, i just asked for help and opinion on the situation. I simply copy and pasted the text with the links so other users can comment if i missed something or if its like a "classic scam" sort of layout if you know what i mean?
I scanned the folder using AVG, NOD32 and Spybot but found nothing.
Its a job opportunity i wanted second opinions without shrugging it off straight away.
As Emmzi said usually you should get scammed when you just get something out of the blue but i applied for this job. Its all strange.

I despise the people like you in society who always want to point out the negative straight away without even understanding the situation.

shanejones

Sounds like something dodgy to me. A big company like that would host files on their own servers too and not a file sharing site (http://mediafire.com/)

Did you check the person / company out on linkedin at all?

maninthestreet

Paul Simon??? Does he have mate called Art? If this isn't a scam, I'm a banana.

1ManArmy

maninthestreet wrote: »

Paul Simon??? Does he have mate called Art? If this isn't a scam, I'm a banana.

Exactly what i thought! i ignored it for a day but couldnt stop thinking about it so i came here

shanejones wrote: »

Did you check the person / company out on linkedin at all?

Never heard of Linkedin before, just did some research looks intresting. Ill sign up and see. Thaaankss
Finally people who help

relic

Really? I'm surprised people still fall for these sort of things, it's almost as bad as those Nigerians who died in a plane crash.

The fact that he has to provide a description for Blue Arrow is dodgy enough, then sending you an application form through mediafire which ends up being a .exe? Come on, you can't be so naive!

rhcp

Blue Arrow are an employment agency. Maybe you should get in touch with them and ask them about it.

maninthestreet

http://forums.gumtree.com/viewtopic_f_5_t_395961_retail_assistant_Job_Ad_is_a_scam

1ManArmy

relic wrote: »

Really? I'm surprised people still fall for these sort of things, it's almost as bad as those Nigerians who died in a plane crash.

The fact that he has to provide a description for Blue Arrow is dodgy enough, then sending you an application form through mediafire which ends up being a .exe? Come on, you can't be so naive!

This is exactly what i was wondering. Told my self its a scam but wanted second opinion. Thanks for all your help guys. Seems to confirm it is a scam.

In future im sure someone will come across the same person and will do some research which will hopefull lead to this thread. Thanks again.