I received an email today with the title “VACANCIES AT WESTBURY LUXURY HOTEL LONDON”. The content was like this:

THE WESTBURY HOTEL BOND STREET, MAYFAIR LONDON, W1S 2YF, United Kingdom Tel: +447024019627 www.westburymayfair.com

After contacting our affiliated job sites for job-seekers who are willing to work here in London, your CV/Resume was among the jobseekers that was sent to us at the Westbury Luxury Hotel London, if you are interested in any of the following available positions kindly send us your CV/Resume as an attachment.

The success of our company depends on its people. At the Westbury Luxury Hotel London, we are committed to developing each employee to his or her full potential. Our focus is on personal people development and continuous learning.

The Human Resource Department ofWestbury Luxury Hotel London wishes to inform the general public about the job vacancies currently existing with The Westbury Luxury Hotel London here in United Kingdom.Furthermore,We require the services of devoted and hardworking individuals, who are ready to relocate to London and to work at The Westbury Luxury Hotel after undergoing enlistment training in current job opportunities at our 5-star hotel, as the management intends to increase its manpower base due to an increase in the number of customers.

Employment Type: Full Time Basic Monthly Salary: £1,500GBP – £8,000GBP depending on level of experience and position being offered.

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

CONFERENCE & BANQUETING OPERATIONS MANAGER DEMI CHEF DE PARTIE CHEF DE PARTIE CHIEF CHEF STEWARD CHIEF STEWARD ASST CHIEF STEWARD FOOD & BEVERAGE TEAM MEMBERS STORE KEEPER KITCHEN POTTER CONTINENTAL/INTERCONTINENTAL DISHES COOK & CHEF ACCOUNT MANAGER ACCOUNTANT ACCOUNT AUDITOR CASHIER BANQUET SALES EXECUTIVE BANQUET SALES COORDINATOR CASINO F&B BAR CAPTAIN WAITER/WAITRESS BARTENDER HOST/HOSTESS ASSISTANT MANAGER OF FRONT OFFICE RECEPTIONIST CASINO & F&B FLOOR MANAGER CASINO F&B BAR SUPERVISOR CASINO F&B WASHER SERVICE STYLIST DOOR PERSON LOBBY ASSISTANT PART-TIME GUEST RELATIONS ASSISTANT GUEST RELATIONS ASSISTANT FIRST AID WARDER ENVIROMENTALISTS FASHION DESIGNERS EVENT MANAGER QUALIFIED NURSES ASSISTANT FLOOR HOUSEKEEPER COMMIS HOUSEKEEPING SERVICES COORDINATOR NANNIES ROOM ATTENDANT CLEANER SECURITY PERSONNEL FOREIGN/INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS COMPUTER OPERATOR PHOTOGRAPHERS VIDEO PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES PERSONNEL INTERNET SERVICE EXPERT BEAUTICIAN ETC.

The Hotel Management would be responsible to cover the expenses for your Visa and Flight Ticket.

All other information about benefits & accommodation would be given when your application has been received.

Best regards Julian Hackling Human Resources Department Westbury Luxury Hotel London

The first thing that struck my mind was, God, people are going to fall for this. It’s a bloody scam … a bit more professional this time. Let’s analyze the first visible symptoms.

A subject line that comes in uppercase?? Truly, this is like you’re screaming in my ears. No professional HR person will ever do that.

Next the content is all in bold. Who sends a whole mail in bold? Obviously, the sender was desperate to catch your attention so he/she sends out a mail in bold characters and uppercase subject line. Next, study the writing style with address on top-left corner … It so much reflects the old-school letter writing style. Do you see corporate emails like these nowadays? The email says they have got your contact details from an affiliated job-site but fails to mention which one. It tempts you for a salary between £1,500GBP – £8,000GBP and offers a long list of vacancy. It also claims to provide relocation expenses … haha!

Let’s analyze the technical side now. You receive a mail from recruitment@westbury-hotel.com whereas the official website is at www.westburymayfair.com. If you browse to westbury-hotel.com it leads to a parking page by namecheap.com.

The email is also signed by Julian Hackling. I digged around on Linkedin and found that indeed Julian Hackling is the HR Manager of The Westbury Hotel. My doubts became stronger when I found Julian’s work email being something else than recruitment@westbury-hotel.com. The email address is neither to be found on the official contact page of The Westbury Hotel.

I contacted Julian on his work email and he replied me confirming that this is a scam and that no one should send money or whatsoever to someone pretending to be him. Here is Julian’s message to me :

Ish
You are correct, this is a scam. Please do not correspond with this person and DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY. This scam is taking place throughout the world involving a number of London Hotels (and other employers) and unfortunately they have picked our hotel and my name. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Regards Julian Hackling

I thanked Julian for providing clarification.

So, folks … It won’t be long when this email will reach you too. Do a favour to share this on Facebook, Google Plus or any method by which you can make people aware of this scam.

Thank you.