Okay, so this probably isn't the kind of thing you usually see on here but since Bungie doesn't have an available HR or similar department number that's posted...This is the only place I can think of to do so besides [i]maybe[/i] messaging them on their Instagram.
My S.O. recently received a job opportunity through who we were led to believe was actually Bungie. She had applied for a Creative Writer position posted on LinkedIn and went to the website linked there to fill it out. This was sometime last year, we both did. Didn't think about it after that, assumed we weren't going to get it because thousands were applying, qualified or not. Out of sight, out of mind.
Flash forward to last Tuesday [March 3rd 2022] when she received an email from someone who was supposed to be Amy Madden. Email looked legit, had 'Bungie.careers' in it (no gmail/w-e subtags or anything, a proper business email), we checked all over to make sure this wasn't some mistake or a scam. She had a lengthy 2-hour initial interview via a business comms app called Wire. She made sure that was a legit app before ever joining the call, everything said it was. Amy said we should hear back in 24-48hrs if she made it to the second phase of hiring. Tentatively excited, right? OMG, Bungie just gave her a shot at a job, wtf!? General excitement abounds, but cautiously so.
A day passed by and she hears back from someone supposed to be Joey Sopo. Again, the email looks legit. It's a Bungie.work email and nothing online is talking about scams this in-depth. Awesome! Still cautious, still not getting our hopes up. She has another interview, this time a phone call. Lasts about the same length of time. Very standard questions, talking about various projects, what is potentially to be expected, how can you benefit the company, why do you want to work with us, etc etc. Standard Interview Stuff :tm:. Says that Amy gave her a glowing review before, liked her professionalism, gave a recommendation, and that he had to speak to the rest of the hiring team and that we'd hear back in, again, 24-48 hours.
2 days come and go. We figure she didn't get it, family member in business says that sometimes schedules for the hiring team and the in need departments don't always line up, give it a couple of days. Day 3 rolls around and about midway through the day, gets the email saying she's got the job. Many tears were had, much celebrating of nerds. Holy -blam!-, you're working for Bungie, so proud. Now things take a bit of a turn.
They are going to pay for some new equipment for her so she can work with the rest of the team, every one of the new hires is getting the same stuff, all Apple products, Macbook, Ipad, Webcam, Headset, and a printer. They try to direct deposit but our bank has a transfer limit. Everyone is confused, including us who didn't know that, so they try with a smaller amount. The bank is like, no, your account which is just shy of a year old is too new, the limit is under 2k. The initial amount they were *going* to send was something very specific, 6-7kish with change. Like they'd paid for the same thing before so they knew the pricing.
Okay, some redflags go up here. Try talking to 'Amy' about this potential worry as this is seeming scammish, she's disappointed but understands because of all the confusion. They try to send the amount, we try to pay it using their money, bank's got a hold on it for three days to see if it clears. She says we'll need to do something to get it shipped out (I know, red flags, we saw them too). We held off til Monday when it looked like their cheque cleared. Great, awesome, we were scared for nothing. Use their money and a bit of ours towards getting this equipment (which we've been told they will send the rest to pay for it. We'd seen they tried to send the full amount before, made sense that they'd be the ones paying for it.)
That night, the redflags are still there (because we're freelancers, so being paranoid about scams is half the job) but everything [I]seems[/i] okay. The cheque cleared, we've got it paid for, she's getting her equipment sent via Fedex 1-day, and life's grand. This morning, still laying in bed with a migraine (they're chronic, kill me), I get a phone call from my bank. The cheque, which had previously cleared, was flagged as having been altered or fictitious. That money we spent? Non-existent. Bounced like SCP-018, never to be seen again.
I'm looking over my shoulder as I type right now and the mad lads are still messaging her on the Wire app (after we've closed the account, disputed the obvious fraud, and filed a police report. Fun times.). Telling her her consignment is shipping, she's going to give her the tracking details, and that they're so happy to have her aboard.
In the very unlikely scenario...Yo, Bungie...If this [I][u][b]IS[/b][/u][/i] you, your bank busty as hell, and your cheques are bouncing to the moon.
In the more likely scenario that we've just been the victims of hiring fraud...Bungie, you've got people expertly impersonating your business emails, employees, your legal documentation, offering hardworking, qualified freelancers jobs, and scamming them out of their hard-earned cash. We've got plenty of material on these people, so hit us up. You see my account, you got my email. Message me and I'll get you in touch with my S.O. who has all the details saved in a lovely big google doc called 'Bungie Scam'.
Anyway, sorry for the rant but this needs to be seen by someone stat...And y'all need a number someone can call about this. Seriously. I'm about to make a big -blam!- tweet about this if nothing gets done.
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I just got a similar job offer email, found your post when trying to figure out if it's a scam! Guess my hunch was right, glad I caught that and saw your post. Sorry you and your SO went though that ordeal! I definitely wish there was a way to bring this to their attention, I'm probably going to tweet about it to let my game dev friends and followers there know.
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Hey there. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you and your S.O., but it sounds like you unfortunately fell for a convincing scam. Please see this info from Bungie's official careers page: [quote]Please be aware that fictitious job openings, consulting engagements, solicitations, or employment offers may be circulated on the Internet in an attempt to obtain privileged information, or to induce you to pay a fee for services related to recruitment or training. Bungie does NOT charge any application, processing, or training fee at any stage of the recruitment or hiring process. All genuine job openings will be posted [url=https://careers.bungie.com/]here[/url] on our careers page and all communications from the Bungie recruiting team and/or hiring managers will be initiated from an [b]@bungie.com[/b] email address.[/quote] I'm not sure if Bungie is able to do anything about the scammers, but I could forward this thread to them and see.