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3PL-Service Peter Kowalski Shipping Job Scam Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I was contacted through either an advertisement on craigslist or another job website which I registered for, and read a lengthy job description about a management position for a Logistics Coordinator I position. I worked in the shipping department of an online postage stamp company for almost three years and submitted a resume and cover letter. A week or two later, some emails followed asking me whether in the first month of training, I would be comfortable working from home. This was followed by several emails, and then, I received a telephone call from a man who claimed to be from the company, Peter Kowalski. He asked me many questions about my shipping experience and management experience and was very upbeat and flattering. We ended the conversation on a high. Approximately one week later, I received in my inbox the following letter:
3pl Service is pleased to offer you position of Assistant logistics manager. This proposal is for one month probation
period (Stage I) , working 20 hours\week, with salary 1750$\month. Once you successfully complete the probation period we will sign the Permanent Employment Agreement. Please examine the job description once again as well as the employment and non disclosure agreements attached hereby. If you agree to the conditions set forth herein , please sign the documents and fax to (267) 247-3052 . As an alternative you can scan and send the documents along with the employee registration form to this email
This form is very important. Please don't forget to indicate your cell phone provider, it will allow us to send you automated
notifications and information about assignments directly to your phone via sms. Once you submit all the documents, I will contact you with further instructions. And once again, thank you for choosing 3PL Service
Peter Novak
HR and Training Manager
Being in need of a job, I did as I requested and completed the forms and faxed them and received this letter:
Dear ______
We are delighted to know that now you are a member of our team. I would like to tell you a bit more about our operation and your future role in our company.
Stage II will begin once we secure location for our warehouse and office in California. Meanwhile, during the Stage I you will
learn our basic operations as well as our software integrated with our warehouse automation system. You will pass training and OSHA certification. Also, during this time you will be acting as a correspondence agent for one of our clients in Europe. This is a simple task requiring however good attention to details. You will receive packages, check if the contents are according to the bill of lading or invoice, check the packages for damage and send it to the final recipient. You would have to maintain a log,keeping track of all parcels, recording all pertinent data. When you receive access to our system, you will have to input all the data in our database.
Right now, please open the employment registration form, fill it in on your computer then copy and paste the table into email
message body and send it to me. This way all your data will be processed correctly by our automated system and there will be no mistakes.
Best regards, Peter
Anyway, I did as I was told. Over a period of four weeks I received between 14 and 20 packages which I did open, check the contents, and ship abroad. I received shipping labels in PDF format from peter, which I printed and attached to the shipment. The addresses were in Russia, the Ukraine, and other exotic destinations. Each time I received a package, I sent a detailed delivery report. Each time I dispatched a package, I sent a detailed dispatch report.
When I finally inquired about payment and asked about my training, he sent this email:
Hello Ezekiel,
We are indeed slightly delayed. I am not in charge of checks but I am sure accounting sent it already.
During the next month we would be working with our software, no more packages, and would be learning how to manage traffic of our packages. I am preparing training materials now.
Best regards, Peter
That was the last contact I received from him. I got no further packages and my check never arrived. I sent many emails to him but all went unanswered. It put me in an awful bind. I was so embarrassed to have been defrauded out of a payment. I checked for the delivery of all my packages and they were all delivered to the appropriate addresses. I wanted to warn others as soon as possible. I called the company phone listed on the website and it was disconnected.