LuminFire has recently been made aware of a troubling trend: fraudulent job offers circulating that misuse the LuminFire company name. These deceptive schemes often begin with contacts via social media from compromised or cloned accounts (sometimes mimicking long lost acquaintances), or through emails sent from sophisticated “look-alike” domains designed to appear legitimate. We want to urgently alert the public to these scams and provide guidance on how to identify and avoid falling for them.
How to Identify a Job Scam Impersonating LuminFire
Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Here’s how to spot the warning signs:
- Look-alike Domains: Always verify the sender’s email address.Scammers use email addresses from domains that closely resemble `luminfire.com` but contain subtle changes (e.g., `luminflre.com` – note the use of the lowercase “L” in place of the “i”). Always verify the sender’s email address carefully, and do not rely on the sender’s email signatures, as these can be easily faked, spoofed or copied.
- Unsolicited Offers: Be highly suspicious of any unsolicited job offer, especially if it seems too good to be true, creates a sense of urgency, or pressures you for personal information or money.
- Validity of the Position: The most common fraudulent offer we’ve seen is for a “data entry specialist.” All open positions at LuminFire are listed on our website’s Careers Opportunities page. To confirm the validity of a position with us or any other company, call or email the company using information from their official website, not the information provided to you by the person who contacted you.
- Requests for Payment: This is a definitive red flag. LuminFire (like all legitimate companies) will never ask job applicants for money for applications, training, or equipment, or any other reason. We will not overpay you and ask for a refund, nor will we ever ask you to purchase gift cards with promises of reimbursement. Any request for payment is a clear sign of a scam.
- Skipping the Interview Process: LuminFire’s legitimate hiring process is rigorous and involves multiple stages with our executive team, including a face-to-face interview. We do not use external recruiters or have “hiring managers” reaching out directly without a formal application and interview process. If you receive a job offer without going through a proper, multi-step interview, it is fraudulent.
Our Actions to Combat Fraud
We are taking these incidents very seriously and are actively working to protect the public:
- We’ve updated our answering service to include specific information about this scam.
- We are directly contacting individuals who call to verify the legitimacy of offers they’ve received.
- We have reported these fraudulent activities to the relevant domain registrars and email hosts involved. We are currently awaiting their response and resolution to get these deceptive domains suspended.
Protect Yourself & Others
Your vigilance is crucial in protecting yourself and others from these deceptive schemes.
- Consult the FTC: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides valuable resources on how to avoid job offer scams. We strongly encourage you to review their tips and information on How to spot the latest job scams and General Information on Job Scams.
- Report to the FTC: If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent job offer impersonating LuminFire, please report it to the FTC.
- Report to Us: If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent job offer impersonating LuminFire, please contact us directly via [email protected].
- Forward Suspicious Emails: If you’ve received emails from these scammers, please forward them to [email protected] to assist us in getting the look-alike domain suspended.
- Monitor Your Credit: If you have provided any personal information to these scammers, we strongly advise you to monitor your credit closely and consider freezing it at all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) to mitigate the risk of identity theft.
Your proactive steps help protect yourself and others from falling victim to these fraudulent activities.
If your organization needs assistance with ongoing security awareness training and monitoring— we can help.
Tim Cimbura – CEO, CFO and Software Engineer
Tim is an expert in creating custom business solutions that make businesses more effective, productive, and profitable. He specializes in rapid application development with Claris FileMaker, Laravel, and WordPress. He also knows Apple macOS technology inside and out.