Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

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EChadw
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Joined: 20 Aug 2021, 02:26
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Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by EChadw »

Hello,
I recently received an email on Dave’s ESL Cafe and the prospect of the job seemed legitimate at first.
The company is asking for English Speaking Teachers to teach their employees Business English. It’s all very well and said, nothing suspicious at first but the process was very fast. I did all of the emails between then and the interview and getting the job all within 24hours.
Please keep an eye out for this!!!
The email is employment@kpbchemicals.com and info@koreaemploymenthq.com
The scanner poses as a company, that is a real company in South Korea!
At first nothing is suspicious even in the contract but then they ask for money for a work permit for employment. It costs over $1000!!!
They pose as a company called Kumho P&B Chemicals. The reason I thought it was legit was because it was different at first and they just wanted people to teach their employees English.
The interview was strange too, because he had connection problems and couldn’t see or hear me and just asked me to send answers to the questions in video format.
They also will send emails from this Korean Employment Headquarters which is separate from the company, asking for money. They will send 2 emails one from Korea and one from your country.

Please be cautious everyone!!!
Hope this helps fellow teachers looking for work, to be careful of what you come across.
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ZOMP
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Joined: 21 Aug 2021, 17:04
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by ZOMP »

I received the same process you did.
The interview was on Skype and the scammer posed as 'the manager of Kumho PB Chemicals.
The Skype name was Kumho PB Chemicals Inc.
Yes you pass the interview then they send a contract with malware in it. Then you are told you have completed 90% of the hiring process but must send approximately $1000 American via Moneygram to a guy in Turkey. Fortunately recognized it as a scam. I have alerted Microsoft, Skype, the Turkish and Slovak police--and will be in touch with Kumho PB Chemicals to alert them. It's somewhat sophisticated as the Korean 'verification' service that is charging you seems legit. They also send you an email from a governmental organization. Like I said I didn't get scammed but we should put the word out on social media. Police said they would send it to their IT division to look into it.
Beware!!! Kumhpo PB Chemicals is NOT hiring and not offering $55 an hour. Thanks for posting it--no doubt these vultures prey on people's hopes.
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TeacherDee
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Joined: 18 Dec 2021, 10:05
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by TeacherDee »

Hi,

I had the same thing from LG Innotek. The person contacting me said his name was Roman Gren [HR Manager]. He offered exactly the same amount $55/hr with a minimum of 10 hours and a maximum of 20 hours. I have been researching for a few days now and there seemed to be nothing about such a person nor an ad. posting about such a position.

He used this email address when he reached out to me after I posted my CV on Dave's ESL Cafe careers@lginnotekcorp.com and asked me to add him on Skype using this email interviewlginnotek@gmail.com. He referred to their website as www.lginnotek.com and it looked legit to me.

I explained to him earlier that where I am currently residing, Skype audio/ video feature was banned and he requested me to add a VPN. Such a request from an elite company like this felt fishy. Anyway, I asked for the interview to be conducted on Zoom instead yet he insisted that we'd try Skype as they don't use any other conferencing softwares. That again sounded weird.

He missed the first interview, sent me apologizing saying that they had a technical issue and requesting another one. LG Innotek and technical issue?!!!!! That was funny and stupid. Today, again he missed the interview. This time I didn't contact him back and that was it. I had a gut feeling this whole thing was off.

Glad I found out this here before having to speak to a scammer, having a malware on my PC or going into paperwork stage.

Thank you guys for making it easier.
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IlanaVentura
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Joined: 12 Jan 2022, 03:07
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by IlanaVentura »

Hello everybody, yes I've had the same exact experience. A man under the name of "Philip Marcus" sent me an email on behalf of a very popular South Korean company, Bullsone.com. They are a serious and legitimate company and this guy used their name to scam me into teaching English to their employees. At first, it all seemed legit, but everything was so fast that then I started getting suspicious. He offered an interview for the next day (on a Sunday) and told me to answer the questions by sending videos of the answers via Skype because he said he couldn't see or hear me. It was when I saw the contract that I realised I needed to look into the validity of the company. The contract is like a dream contract, 50USD per hour, 10 hours a week minimum.. paid housing, bonuses..you name it! I finally called the real company and they never heard of this man before. Now the lawyers of the company are looking into this.
I recommend David from Dave's ESL Café and other job teaching websites to increase the safety policies of their webs. Nowadays, knowing that a lot of people want to work online, these scammers are taking a lot of advantage.
Be careful! Make sure the person emailing you exists and call the companies before you do anything. If they say that you need to reply within 24 hours or otherwise they give the job to another candidate, you can be sure it's a scam.
hcb2022
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Joined: 12 Jan 2022, 14:02
Status: Prospective Teacher

Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by hcb2022 »

I am new to Teflnet and have just started working on an online TEFL certification course in the US, where I live. I cannot thank you enough for your post about a scam company in South Korea. In my utter naivete, I had not known that such scammers exist. Heaven knows, telephone and email scams are beyond abundant. But you have now alerted me to scams in the EFL community. How sad that is. And it's so easy to be duped. Again, thank you immensely for alerting all of us to this threat.
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linda7799
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by linda7799 »

I am new to the TEFL world and looking for work. I had a similar experience; A man calling himself Roman Gren from LG Innotek contacted me (must have found my CV through Daves ESL Cafe). I looked at the company and it looked genuine, emails from this man looked quite professional (same email and Skype links as the other person above). I had received several dodgy-looking offers of work from Daves ESL Cafe and the ones from this man looked OK. He sent me an email offering me an interview, very quickly. He said there were connection problems and he sent a list of questions to answer by video through Skype. He said he would get back to me as soon as possible and I didn't hear anything back from him (thank goodness).

It has left me wondering if any malware or anything has been loaded onto my computer and I worry about entering passwords etc. I do feel that when I sent my CV and covering letter to him, I may have given him too much detail, which worries me. I am a bit inexperienced about these things, so any advice would be gratefully received.

If I hadn't seen similar warning posts on here, I would be none the wiser, so thank you.
didofoc
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Joined: 08 Feb 2022, 08:35
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by didofoc »

Thank you for sharing the information about unreliable employers, it'll save many people's time.
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FrustA
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Joined: 07 Mar 2022, 04:08
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by FrustA »

This is scary. I worked at a company, Don Lee and Company who are based in Korea. They looked so legitimate. Here is their website: https://www.donleecompany.com/home. I worked a few months, my first pay came but then I was paid really late and now they are months behind. I found other teachers complaining online too - https://www.reddit.com/r/OnlineESLTeach ... /?sort=new

I cannot believe this. I am broken. I worked so many hours for this guy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachdonlee/
cat
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Joined: 16 Apr 2022, 17:08
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by cat »

Ah! Just a few days ago I got an email purportedly from a Korean company called KEPKO NF. It was totally out of the blue, offering employment as a proofreader, writer, transcriber. The fella who sent the message was 'Samuel Gren'. I should have smelt a rat. Anyway, Mr. 'Gren' arranged a Skype interview with me for today. Bad connection. I actually saw Mr. 'Gren', but there was no sound and his image was almost totally frozen. The solution proposed by Mr. 'Gren' was I video myself answering a fairly long list of questions. I actually proposed a WhatsApp or Zoom call and even tried to ring him back a few times. Then it dawned on me that I had obviously been targeted by scammers. I'm ashamed of my naivety. I'm no spring chicken and should have known better from the outset.
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wrankin1101
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Joined: 30 Jun 2022, 11:50
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Re: Found Scam!!! Posing as a Company in South Korea!!

Unread post by wrankin1101 »

Just a heads up to fellow job seekers, this scam is still alive and running. Had an almost word for word same interaction with an 'Anders Fredrik' from Tokuyama Corporation in Japan who said they are hiring online English Teachers fo 50USD/hr. Same interview process on Skype, where I saw the guy, but he claimed he was frozen so he sent me a list of interview questions to record videos answers for. Later that day, I got a message that I was hired (wow!) and I had one day to accept, or they would offer the position to the next candidate, big red flag.

Reading the contract itself is when I started to get suspicious, as it had a lot of typos (which I thought would might be OK for a Japanese company) as it was too good to be true as they say. Here are some excerpts, keep in mind this is supposed to be a 10hr/week remote job:

4 weeks vacation at full pay with flight reimbursements? Sign me up!
7.0 VACATION
The employee shall be entitled to four (4) week's vacation at full pay, in accordance with the Company Policies. The employees vacations will be scheduled at such times as will least interfere with the business of the Company. Employee may decide to spend the vacation period in any country of his/her choice, or his/her country home. Employee vacation in his or her country home, “to & fro” flight tickets, shall be covered by the Company.
Literally found this passage in a Sample Contract online. Just gibberish.
The Company desires to employ Expatriate and the Expatriate desires to become employed by the Company. The Company and the Expatriate desire to enter into Employment Agreement, which shall govern the terms of the Expatriate's employment. The Company and Employee desire to regularize their relationship and, in that context, the Company desires to continue to engage the Employee and the Employee desires to continue to serve the Company in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.
They pay for my food and rent? For an online job? Like what:
5.0 BENEFITS
- Tokuyama will provide a company Financial Support Fund to all Employees and these financial support fund covers the Employee’s accommodation for one year, feeding, contract sign on fee, Working Materials, Education Assistance and Travel.

So yea after receiving this 'contract' I started digging and voila, found another 'contract' with the exact same wording, just a different company and graphics. It seems like these scammers pick Japanese/Korean companies at random, and create 'contracts' using that companies branding to get prospective English Teachers to send them money. Then I found this forum post describing the exact same 'interview' process and knew it was a scam.

Hopefully this helps somebody, I figured it would be good to document the language used in the contract in case anyone else did what I did and googled excerpts from it. Stay safe out there y'all, and don't send anyone any money!
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