This afternoon I received an email from the very verbose ViVi Brown.
It began with the standard “I hope this email finds you well.” Then the pitch begins.
“I came across your profile on LinkedIn and noted your public contact information, which is why I am reaching out to you directly.”
I couldn’t find Brown’s own LinkedIn profile, by the way. The pitch continues.
“I am currently the Founder of a San Diego-based startup, primarily responsible for managing and assisting our team in establishing connections with industry leaders like yourself. Our company is backed by TPG Capital, with business sectors encompassing Artificial Intelligence, Energy Systems, Semiconductors, and Algorithmic Platforms.”
Now this sounds impressive. TPG backing, multiple high-tech business sectors. It’s a little odd that Brown didn’t mention her company name, but I knew I could deduce it from her corporate email address.
Unless someone is an independent consultant, there’s no need to use a Gmail address that doesn’t have your name and ends in a number. Especially if you are the Founder (and, as we will see, other things) of a TPG-backed multi-sector high tech firm.
Brown continued her pitch, which went on and on and on. Paragraph after paragraph of corporate-speak, such as a reference to “the intersection of Global Supply Chain and Systemic Accountability.” Because obviously my LinkedIn profile screams global supply chain.
Translating corporate-speak to English, apparently ViVi Contras Belleville Brown 429 wants to chat about a Global Strategic Operations Partner position. And to get to know me via a deeper conversation.
She then closes her email with a signature block listing her positions (but again not her company name).
So she is the Founder, the CEO, the Managing Partner, the Chief Revenue Officer…and the Project Lead? That’s more job titles than I have at Bredemarket—even when you include “Senior Nespresso Operator.”
I don’t know what 429’s scam is. Data harvesting? Identity theft? Financial fraud? For all I know it may be a romance scam. (Run by a 40 year old guy.)
I knew I was going to write about this scam email in the Bredemarket blog and on LinkedIn. Employment fraud is a hot topic on both platforms. But how should I respond to the scammer?
My usual “As an anti-fraud professional, I require that you please provide your corporate email address” would take too much time. So I aimed for surprising brevity:
KYB Fraud Failure
Bredemarket 