An ongoing financial scam is being conducted that utilizes CodeStringers company name, brand and website design to lure people.
The scam is initiated by the bad actor(s) via WhatsApp. A person – often a woman claiming to be named “Miriam” – sends unsolicited messages to people offering a job opportunity. Although the bad actor(s) may use multiple WhatsApp phone numbers, one number known to have been used is (573) 423-0077. To build credibility, the bad actor communicates via text about job requirements and the target’s qualifications for the job. In some/many cases, the bad actor also conducts a video call with the target.
Once the bad actor has someone convinced that the job opportunity is genuine, the target is sent to a website at https://www.codestringers-system.cc. That website has a similar design to the real CodeStringers website. The target is told to create an account, which requires a unique code that the bad actor provides in a text message. Once logged in, the target is instructed to complete training, but that doing so requires a balance in their account. Once money is deposited electronically, the scam is complete.
CodeStringers is in NO WAY involved in this scam. Our company is a legitimate software development firm located in Santa Cruz, California. The “certificate” located on the www.codestringers-system.cc website illustrating a business registration with the United States Department of State is fake. The U.S. DOS has no such registry because businesses in the United States are registered at a state level. Additionally, the fake certificate shows a registration number with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). You can complete a search for “CodeStringers” or the number you see on the certificate at the FDA’s registration listing site. The name of CodeStringers Chief Executive Officer, Michael Manzo, and his signature are forgeries. The address listed on the certificate in Wyoming is for another firm, Aetsoft, that was involved in a similar scam in the past.
CodeStringers ONLY conducts business from the codestringers.com domain and website and our personnel only use email addresses ending in @codestringers.com. Any communications you receive from or involving any other domain name are FAKE.
CodeStringers has reported this scam to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Crimes Department. If you have fallen victim to this scam, you should report it to the FBI at the link above and your the State Police in the state in which your reside. If you’d like to make the CodeStringers team aware of your situation, please email upsourcing@codestringers.com.
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As the release describes it, the scam starts with an unsolicited message on a messaging app offering a job. The sender discusses job requirements by text and sometimes by video call to build credibility, then directs the target to a look-alike website that copies the real site's design. The target is asked to create an account with a code supplied by the scammer, told that training requires a balance in the account, and asked to deposit money electronically. Once the deposit is made, the scam is complete.
The company states that it conducts business only from the codestringers.com domain and that its personnel use only email addresses ending in @codestringers.com. Any message from another domain, any website on another domain, and any recruitment approach through a messaging app that asks for a deposit are fake. The company also notes that the look-alike site displays a forged business registration certificate; United States businesses are registered at state level, so a federal registration of that kind does not exist.
The release advises reporting it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyber crime reporting channel and to the state police in your state of residence, and says the company has itself reported the scam to the FBI. If you deposited money, contact your bank or payment provider at once, since a fast report sometimes allows a transfer to be reversed. Keep the messages and screenshots as evidence. The company invites anyone affected to make its team aware by email through its own domain.
An approach that arrives unsolicited on a messaging app rather than through a job board or the company's own site. A hiring process that moves quickly to a video call and then to a website on an unfamiliar domain. Any request to pay for training, equipment, a background check or an account balance before starting work; legitimate employers do not charge candidates. Documents such as certificates or registrations that cannot be verified with the issuing authority. A real employer can be reached through the contact details on its own domain.
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