Yesterday I got an email with the content that sage.co.uk or staff from them is scamming center owners. As Sage is a big software company from UK I did not believe it. Why should a big company be in need to take a few thousands or Pounds from center owners?
The content of the email has been:
I got Cheated by person called Sameer Ahuja , Ranveer swamy and Leisa Dorcherty , In the name of Business they took $ 490 Fraudulently and Now they are not receiving call and not replying mail also I filed a complaint in Near by Police station ,
sameer Ahuja Skype id : sameer.sage-inc , Mobile Number (Office ) - 00447509754621 , (personnel) - 00447509756623
Ranveer Swamy skype id : ranveer.sage-inc
Leisa Dorcherty skype id : leisa.sage-inc
Account number which they have given
Bank Name : State Bank of India
Name: Ranveer Swami
Account no.- 20176913465
IFSC code: SBIN0001161
Branch- IIT Kanpur
Let us verify the data, which seem to be true of this scam.
If someone calls you and he is transmitting his caller id, then it is possible to call him back. If the same person picks up the call than you have at least a phone number, which can get verified. In our case it is a little bit difficult, because the UK data protection act don’t let you make a reverse phone lookup.
Under the UK's data protection act, reverse phone number lookups are against the law. There are however a couple of options, depending on your situation.
If you are receiving nuisance calls, then you should contact your phone provider and lodge a complaint. Should the problem persist, then contacting the police is an option.
Only the area can get located where the call comes from. In our case is it a mobile phone from the area of Jersey.
By having the phone number and the location we find the first reason why the scam is not from Sage. Jersey is in an Island in front of the coast of France. It belongs to the UK territory. Sage is located in Newcastle upon Tyne. If we use Google maps and let us calculate a route, than we see that the shortest route is 781 km and it takes around 11 hours to drive the route without respecting the possible traffic and resulting traffic jam. Nobody will drive to his workplace this distance. On the other side nobody will use a mobile phone from an area, which is around 800km away from his home or workplace and where he needs to use even a ferry going to the island.
The office and the private phone numbers are mobile phone numbers. A big company like Sage has a land line phone number for their office. They are not using mobile phones for their office. Manager from a company with the size of Sage will not give you their private phone number. Leisa Docherty is a manager from Sage.
Additional to the reason that you need not pay in Europe for getting some work you can easily verify such offers, which are coming from such companies. Sage has published some phone numbers at their website the offer can get easily verified if you are calling one of their phone numbers. If you have really a contact with one of the manager, then you will be able to pass the gatekeeper.
The next information which seems to be true is the bank account number, because the scammer likes to get the money. The name can be already a fake. It is the age of electronic transactions. For this the name will not get verified during a transaction from the bank as long as the account number is correct.
A company like Sage will every time use their real bank account and not a private account from someone in India. The reason for this is the strict tax law in Europe. Each company need to have a correct financial bookkeeping, which gets verified from time to time from tax officers of the government.
The only possible way to catch the scammer is over their phone number and their bank account. In our case it the scammer located in India, because the bank account is there. The phone number gets simple forwarded by Voice over IP to any place in the world. Don’t let yourself get fooled bank accounts are normally in the same area where the company is registered. With the usage of electronic banking you have access to your bank account all over the world. For this there is no reason to have a bank account abroad if you have not an affiliate in the country abroad.
All other information cannot get verified. The LinkedIn accounts could got hacked and everybody can chose his Skype ID how he likes to name it. There is no verification for company names by creating an account. Each free combination can get chosen.
Companies are using for their contracts their own registered domain names for sending and receiving emails. Only people, which have something to hide, are hiding themselves by using freemail accounts. Companies, which are using official such freemail accounts have listed them on their homepage too.
The only criticism that can be made sage.co.uk is that they do not respond to emails. Apparently they do not care that criminals are using the name of SAGE. A company that not even not care about the crime, where her name is used, will not take care of the interests of their clients. This is the sign of today's society. Everyone cares only about their personal profits and the profit of their shareholders.
The scammer are speculating with the greed of the people. So don't see the proposed winning - take a look if you are not pay for get nothing!!! A good name in the offer does not guarantee something. Use your brain and make in each case a background check!!!