Veniceacquisitions.com Reports & Reviews (1)
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SCAMPULSE
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SCAMPULSE
If you know any contact information for Veniceacquisitions.com, help other victims by adding it!
Scammer's website veniceacquisitions.com
Scammer's address Venice, CA, USA
Scammer's email [email protected]
Country United States
Victim Location CA 90016, USA
Type of a scam Employment
"Hi [my name]! We have tried to reach you in order to schedule your interview with Venice Acquisitions. We currently have one availability left for Monday at 10:45am. Reply “YES” if this would work for you. You can also schedule your appointment directly using the following link: http://appriv.net/?i=G2wfTz31 Fabiola – veniceacquisitions.com"
I have no memory of and cannot find any record of ever applying for this company. This company has essentially zero digital footprint outside of their website. Their LinkedIn page is bare. I have never received interview offers over text, everything has always been handled over either email or the phone. I do not know how they received my phone number or knew I was searching for a job.
I agreed to the "interview" over text and received this:
"Hi, [my name]! Your Zoom interview with Venice Acquisitions is scheduled for Aug 12, 2024 at 10:45 AM PST. Please find the link to join the interview below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87832378619 Meeting ID: 87832378619
We are looking forward to connecting with you! Fabiola – veniceacquisitions.com"
The following Monday, August 12th, I received this: "Hi, [my name]! Quick Reminder* Your Zoom interview is scheduled for Aug 12, 2024 at 10:45 AM PST. The webinar link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87832378619 Meeting ID: 87832378619
Please reply C to confirm. Fabiola – veniceacquisitions.com"
I confirmed.
At 10:45AM, I joined the Zoom call for my "interview." This was not an interview, it was a Zoom "Webinar" with a man named Sebastian (maybe Sebastien) speaking for approximately 4 minutes. Sebastian's name was not visible during the Zoom call, he's digital nametag was just "hiring manager." I could not see any other participants in the call. Sebastian gave an incredibly brief overview of the "company" saying they do "face-to-face" marketing, and then asked us to fill out a SurveyMonkey form. The form had basic questions, but nothing outwardly scam-like (SSN, banking details, etc.) Sebastian also said they had thousands of applicants and currently on the call are the "top 20%" of applicants, and they're going to narrow it down to the "top 15" then "top 4".
I filled out the form, and then was asked ninety minutes later for a "second round interview," again over text. That text, from the same number: "Hi [my name] Your second round interview is confirmed for Aug 13, 2024 at 8:00 AM. We will send you the details by tomorrow at 7:00am. If you need any future details please feel free to reach out to me at: 7185149517"
At 5:57pm on August 12th, I received this text from 332-209-9931: "Good evening [my name], my name is Saba with Venice Acquisitions who will be conducting your second interview with us. As the hiring director explained on the previous call your interview is at 8.00 am tomorrow morning.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/5335110651?pwd=K2a04jgIRwRJwVafol10EICv05ZtSk.1&om...⇄ />
Meeting ID: 533 511 0651
Passcode: 6b9jbh
Other than that congratulations and I’m excited to speak with you this morning!
Best Regards,
Saba"
The part "as the hiring director explained on the previous call your interview is at 8.00 am tomorrow morning" is completely false. The hiring director, Sebastian, made no such comment, and again, I never even spoke during that first call or had any idea how many other applicants were present, or really what this job was.
At 8am on August 13, I joined the Zoom call for the "second round interview." There was one other applicant on the call, and we were speaking with Saba. Saba had us each give a little background on us for "60 seconds" (that's a direct quote, he wanted us to sum up our work experience in one minute), and then told us about Venice Acquisitions. They do "face to face" marketing for "huge companies." The huge companies were not named. I looked up the other applicant on LinkedIn, her work experience is in mechanical engineering, entirely unrelated to what Venice Acquisitions is supposedly looking for. It does say on her profile, as it does on mine, "open to work," so I'm starting to think that's how they found people.
He explained the company structure, which immediately began to sound like a pyramid scheme. Every single employee starts at the same position, there is "no seniority", and there's a defined promotion track. We were told about business trips to New York, San Francisco, Austin, and even international. Again, this was not an interview, this was Saba explaining the company to two people who spoke for maybe a total of 5% of this call. There is a "guaranteed base pay" of $600/week (which is below the minimum wage in LA County), and you earn "commission." I was told this was a "face-to-face" marketing job, but now quickly realizing it's just a sales role. Saba also mentioned how part of our job would be to "recruit" new people to the company and that would be apart of our performance evaluation (my pyramid scheme red flags are raised).
The call ended, we were asked to fill out another form over SurveyMonkey (again, not asking for personal/identifying information).
At 2:16pm that same day, August 13th, I receive another text from 332-209-9931 (Saba) that read:
"Hey [my name] ! Congrats on making it to the final round! The hiring manager will give you a call between *1-4.30pm today from his personal number 704*, best of luck!"
This was sent over iMessage, which now has an "edit" feature where a sender can edit their text after it was sent, but the recipient can still see the original message. This text was edited, the original included his full name and read: "Hey [my name] !
Congrats on making it to the final round! The hiring manager will give you a call between *1-4.30pm today from his personal number 704*, best of luck! @?Saba Siphrashvili?"
I looked up Saba on LinkedIn, it says he's a recent high school graduate (2024) from the "High School of Economics and Finance" in New York. He has no professional experience as far as I can tell, and is originally from Georgia (the country). I do not know why he removed his full name from the original text immediately after sending, but it seemed fishy, to say the least.
On August 13 at 2:23pm, just 7 minutes after hearing I've made it to the "final round," I get a call from 704-591-8937, which my phone identifies as "Guarionex Ferre" and from Charlotte, North Carolina. This is Sebastian, and he asks a few basic questions about my work experience and then tries to sell me on the company and their culture. He says the average employee age is 25, and that every day they're "going into the field" for "face-to-face" marketing (AKA selling some product). This call lasts 16 minutes, and hardly provides any opportunity to dig into my relevant work experience or what the job actually looks like day-to-day. I'm told they'll be making a decision that night and I'll hear back the following day.
The next day, August 14th, I get a call from the same number, my phone again identifies it as Guarionex Ferre, and it lasts 3 minutes. I'm told I've been hired, they'll be sending along all the paperwork over email that night, and that I'll start August 20th at 8:15am.
I do not receive an email that night, and as of this moment, August 15th at 2:07pm, still haven't.
I got a text shortly after the call from the original number that contacted me (424-281-7473) on August 14 at 5:18pm that reads: "Hello [my name], you are set to officially start on Aug 20, 2024 at 8:15 AM in person at our location: 2434 Lincoln Blvd, floor 2, Venice, CA 90291. On your start day, we will conduct a full orientation to be prepared please come dressed business professional.
Congratulations on being offered the position with us. Best regards, HR Team - Venice Acquisitions"
I look up the address on Apple Maps to see what the building looks like, and notice it's the same building from this TikTok video: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTNnCCu8L/
I then realize that Venice Acquisitions is most likely just a shell company for "Smart Circle" a known pyramid scheme.
Here's further information regarding Smart Circle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecwDEAk0qKc https://www.reddit.com/r/antiMLM/comments/csocbo/smart_circle_company_experience...⇄ />
I will not be accepting the position and companies like this should not be allowed to operate.