Aelian BioTechnology

Victim Location 77056

Total money lost $50

Type of a scam Employment

The company’s HR individual reached out to me regarding a job and then hosted the interview over google hangouts app. I immediately received acceptance of the job and offer letter within hours. Then they told me they would send a check for working materials and that check bounced. They also asked me to send $250 for a time tracker. When I asked them to take it out of my salary, they insisted on me sending that money through gift cards.

Victim Location 91006

Type of a scam Employment

I found a data entry position for this company on ZipRecruiter, offering $30/hr, and I jumped to apply. I got an email the following day from the "hiring team" asking to reply if I was still interested in the position. I replied and waited almost a week before I heard from them again. This time a Chimienti Sabrina was contacting me as the hiring manager. She listed all the things I needed to be qualified for as well as questions I needed to answer as that was the "interview." I was kind of weirded out by how she wanted to interview me through email so I started to dig a little and went to Aelian Biotechnology’s actual website. Aelian Biotechnology is a legit company in Vienna, but on their website they have a note saying that they are aware of people using their company name to scam others and they named a James Muller and Sabrina Chimienti(s) as names you should be on the lookout for. Their site made it very clear that they are NOT hiring in the US and that they DO NOT have any US representatives at this time.

Victim Location 83607

Type of a scam Employment

I was asked for an interview by Christina Ternes via text. I was told the interview was completed online through Skype or Telegram. I loaded Skype and was contacted by Karen Richard. I received a call request but was unable to answer because it cancelled too quickly. I placed a call to Karen and it was not answered. I installed Telegram on my computer and was contacted by "Aelian BioTechnology". We went through an interview process and I was offered a position as "Data Entry Clerk". I was told I would be sent a check which was to be used to purchase:

LIST OF SOFTWARE/EQUIPMENT:

(SOFTWARES)

1. Intuit QuickBooks Accounting Software

2. AccountEdge Accounting Software for Mac

3. Balance Sheet Basics software.

(OFFICE EQUIPMENTS)

1. Acroprint Electric Time Clock & Recorder (Mfg Part# 015000001)

2. Casio FX55PLUS-TP Engineering/Scientific Calculator Mfg Part# FX55PLUS-TP

3. Fellows 225Mi Paper Shredder (Mfg Part# 4620001) 4. Ricoh FAX3320L Facsimile – Laser – Monochrome Flatbed Digital Copier – 15 cpm Mono – 600 x 600 dpi – 350 Sheets Input – Plain (Mfg Part# FAX3320L).

I was told I would have to purchase this equipment for my "mini-office" through an online retailer and would be given that information later. I have a copy of the email with the offer letter and also a record of the chat history yesterday but once I asked for a face-to-face chat this morning, the chat history cleared and the user "Aelian BioTechnology" went offline and has not been seen since.

I will share the email and the chat log that I was able to keep.