a) Business propositions
The business propositions pretending to be made on behalf of Shell Group companies come in different guises, but generally solicit the help of the recipients in transferring huge sums of money in foreign currency. The people initiating these propositions claim the sums involved are for instance entitlements in respect of deceased relations, or monies accruing from excess crude oil sales, or have been forgotten in some dormant account. Sometimes they also propose to award huge value contracts to the recipients of such mails.
b) Recruitment scams
The job offers come from organizations falsely pretending to recruit on behalf of Shell Group companies or by people claiming to work for, or be affiliated to, a Shell Group company. These propositions notify individuals that their qualifications were found suitable to work as an employee (local or expatriate) for a Shell Group company and solicit the transfer of significant sums of money to pay for work permits, insurance policies, etc.
Please note that Shell Group companies (nor any of the organisations that recruit on our behalf) never ask for any money or payments from applicants, at any point in the recruitment process. All individuals who are successful in gaining an offer of employment from a Shell Group company, whether directly or indirectly, are always required to go through a formal recruitment process. All communications should originate from a verifiable Shell e-mail address and not from an Internet e-mail address e.g.: hotmail, yahoo etc.
c) Prize awards and grants
The awards of prizes and monetary grants often come through via text messages and/or e-mails purporting to be from Shell London, UK, informing that the recipient has won in the Shell Petroleum International lottery promo and similar non existent competitions, and asking the customer to send money in order to receive the winnings.
Please note that Shell Group companies are NOT involved in any lottery or mobile draws, e-mail/sms (grant) awards.
What to do...
- Do not respond to unsolicited business propositions and/or job offers from people or e-mail addresses you do not know or trust.
- Do not disclose your personal or financial details to anyone you do not know or trust or on a website you do not trust. Should you have disclosed this information to somebody you do not know or trust or to a website you do not trust consider reporting the incident to your local law enforcement.
- Be on the lookout for suspicious signs – e.g. communications from non-Shell e-mail addresses (e.g. from a yahoo.com address); poor use of English; and requests for money
Our position...
Shell’s name and identity is being used fraudulently in these instances. In as much as we sympathise with anyone who has lost money in this way, Shell Group companies cannot accept any responsibility.
