Vicont Brewing Territory Manager Employment Scam

Beware Job seekers..another suspected employment scam is “Brewing” as we speak in cyberspace in the craft beer niche as Vicont Brewing Company! 2 more suspicious domains was just registered for one year only on 4/18/16 and the websites are located at bigbrownbottle.com and smallbrownbottle12.com.

Per the home page of the websites..”Vicont Brewing Company is a “web-based supplier” of ingredients, equipment and technical support for bars, pubs, home brewers and hobbyists” and the so called business location given on the sites is 97 Levy Rd Jacksonville, FL 32224 Tel: (904) 425-9531 = smallbrownbottle12.com and
(904) 425-9530 = bigbrownbottle.com.

Below is a screenshot of the websites which are exactly the same at both web addresses:

..And here is a screenshot of 97  Levy Rd Jacksonville, FL 32224 location (although the city is actually Atlantic Beach, FL 32224, which is the address of a self storage company:

While there is nothing on the websites that poses any red flags such as employment or career opportunities, we know that in a previous craft beer scam we warned our readers about last month with the post on Home Brew Shop LLC, the scammers was sending out emails to job seekers recruiting for “Territory Managers” and then sending their new “employees” to a different website address to register for their “employee web panel” where they would receive their training and “Tasks” from their so called “supervisor”.

Below is a copy of one of the recruiting emails job seekers received in that scam:

Good Morning,

Thanks for accepting our job offer recently posted online! For over 5 years of hard work our company, Home Brew Shop LLC, has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of top quality organic ingredients, up-to-date home brewing equipment and amazing customer service in the South. We’re a company where people who put their efforts to work are rewarded and promoted. We’re currently expanding the list of clients along with our sales territory in the United States. That is why we need you!

As a Territory Manager you will represent the company to our existing clients, scout for business opportunities in your area, communicate both with our headquarters in Atlanta, GA, and with our suppliers and retailers from Europe. Also, this is a remote job, so you can work from home, stay with your family and manage your time by yourself!

Territory Managers are responsible for the following responsibilities:

– Establishing and maintaining accounts;
– Working on the list of prospective clients;
– Presenting products and services by the company to clients;
– Enhancing new business relationships.

There are 2 shifts to choose from: full-time (9am to 6pm), and part-time (9am to 4pm); both include an optional lunch break of 1 hour. Since this is a remote position, you will need a laptop/desktop/tablet/smartphone connected to the Internet. No special software is required to purchase or install, only standard office programs and any free PDF viewer. A working cell phone or landline is also necessary in order for your supervisor, team members and clients to contact you directly during your working hours. We also offer a short online training course with a lot of useful materials to study to all new Territory Managers for free.

Your typical day will start with logging into the corporate server and receiving a list of your assignments for the day from your supervisor. Typical tasks may include researching local business opportunities, arranging a phone conference with suppliers, confirming and processing a payment on an order, etc.

We offer permanent employment with the fixed starting salary is $4500 for employees working full-time and $3600 for employees working part-time. In addition to the guaranteed based pay all Territory Managers receive monthly performance bonuses up to 100 percent of their base pay and full coverage of all job-related expences, such as travel, cell phone/Internet, office supplies, etc. Also, full-time employees are eligible for a 3-week vacation, 401k and a corporate health insurance program after their first 2 months of work.

Please let me know if you would like to proceed with this job offer and receive our employment package with additional information on your pay, schedule and other job details for review. Please note that we never request any payments from applicants in order to secure the positions!

—
Best regards,

Then they followed up with these emails:

Hello!

Thanks, I received your documentation, everything looks fine. I’m sending you a W-4 form to fill out, it’s required for tax purposes: your income tax will be deducted from your salary. Please fill it out and send to me as well. If you have issues with opening/viewing the file, please use the following link to download it from the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

Now, in order to work with clients, you will need a checking bank account. There are 3 options for bank accounts we accept:

1) You can open a separate checking account for working with us. It could even be a business one: “Your name DBA Home Brew Shop.” Please open a new bank account in the bank you have an existing account of yours.

2) If it sounds too complicated, we can accept an existing personal/business checking account for the 1st month of work. However, as soon as you receive your first paycheck, we would still like you to open a business account to continue working with us.

3) We can also officially register a business name for you to operate under as our affiliate, supply your with the legal credentials and EIN, and under this business name you will open a business account which you will receive your salary into and handle clients payments through. it will take slightly more time, however, you will be able to work with corporate clients with larger bonuses.

If you’d prefer to open a bank account specifically for working with us or use an existing one, please fill out the Banking Form in the attachment and send it back to me the way you delivered your signed EA and Background Check paperwork. This account will be used for the financial transactions with our suppliers and clients; we can direct deposit your paycheck into it as well, if you choose to.

As soon as I receive this final piece of paperwork from you, I’ll send you a link to register in our web panel for you to start working and training.

—
Best Regards,

Hello!

Your information has successfully been verified and the decision made
to hire you for the Territory Manager position. Please, follow the
link https://capesevenbrownpanel.com/signup to register in our web panel.
Please, follow https://capesevenbrownpanel.com/login every working day to log in to the
panel after you register.

—

I have highlighted in red the words that are the telltale sign this was a money mule scam, and pretty much the same emails they send out on all their job scams, they just change the name of the company, location, website and recruiters name, to suit whatever scam they are currently operating which in this scam would be for Vicont Brewing Company in Jacksonville.

The “suppliers and retailers from Europe” I highlighted is the red flag because that is the country they will require the employee to “wire” the money to that they will deposit in the “Territory Managers” bank account saying it is payment from a customer for orders that the retailers in Europe will fill once you wire the payment to them! Don’t be a victim!

If you have received an email from someone claiming to represent Vicont Brewing Company with a offer of employment like those above, do not respond, It’s a scam!

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What To Do If You Are A Victim

If you have fell victim to an employment scam like this, you need to contact your bank immediately and close your account IF you have provided your account information to the scammers. Next file a police report with your local authorities and then file a complaint with the FBI’s internet crime center at http://www.ic3.gov/

If you provided your personal information like ss # birthdate etc , you need to contact the 3 credit bureaus- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian,  and place a fraud alert on your report. These criminals can steal your identity and may try and obtain credit in your name. Doing this will alert you for at least 90 days about any suspicious activity.

In the hands of a thief, just your name, address, Social Security number or date of birth, can be used over and over months- even years down the road to:

Open new lines of credit
Seek medical attention
Drain savings and retirement accounts
Provide an alias when arrested
Get a job or file false tax returns
Get Payday Loans in your name
Obtain service agreements for cellular service or utilities
Obtain Government Documents such as a drivers license or passport
And MORE!

That’s why I highly recommend you get some sort of ongoing identity theft protection such as the services offered through companies like LifeLock-Visit Their Website Here or Identity Force-visit their website here! LifeLock and Identity Force are both reputable companies that monitors your accounts and alerts and protects you from identity theft.

Have you received a suspicious email offering you a “job” with Vicont Brewing in Jacksonville Fla  or other work at home “Territory, client or account manager” or “operator” job that you never applied for? Feel free to copy and paste the email in the comments so we can help alert and prevent others from becoming victims.

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