I guess the scam is on the folks that took on the jobs and lost money over it. Some of the folks in the story upended their lives over this scam.
But that's what I don't understand, what was the scam? People upended their jobs, sometimes even quiting salaried positions, to sign a contract to work on commission for a 6 month probation period. And because their sales were zero, the commission was zero. That's not a scam. A scam is something which is a deception or a lie, not terms to which you openly agree to.
If you quit your job and go to work for a new company on commission, and then don't make any sales, you were not scammed. You made a poor job decision.
The only thing I can see approach a scam was all of the nonexistent people on the staff page, and I don't really see the point of that or how it contributed to anything.
To me this looks like a lot of people making poor job decisions, some out of desperation and some out of greed, but I don't see the scam or fraud element.
- Misrepresented previous client list - Misrepresented project experience - Misrepresented personal brand (fake LinkedIn reviews) - Misrepresented other brands (faking reviews from fake Nike employees) - Misrepresented company status (faked employees) - Misrepresented company director status (fake GQ adverts, fake instagram followers)
The scam is that an individual carefully constructed a fake reality to sell a "job" to a bunch of individuals under false pretences. This wasn't an honest mistake. It was an orchestrated and premeditated punt at using a group of individuals labour at zero cost to land a big client for significant financial reward for the perpetrator.
> A scam is something which is a deception or a lie, not terms to which you openly agree to.
"Come join our new agency. We have no client list, or leads, and no pedigree with which to land a big client, and I will be unable to pay you until we land our first client"
vs
"I am a highly successful creative director with a swathe of personal and professional connections to high value businesses. I am offering a commission only role but given <all of the misrepresentation> we will definitely land 7 figure contracts! You don't have to take my word for it, look at all the <carefully crafted misrepresentation>"
Shameful to be insinuating this is an honest business practice, IMO