Beware of JohnnyD - He a Scammer

[PowerHosting123]

This kid is a scammer he continue to ask you for job once you hire him as staff he being to complete pesk you like annoying pecking bird once you give him a higher staff position he'll scam you by accessing your PayPal accounts then sending money to his own accounts. Once he complete he request of sending money he'll pretend it was his brother has done the transaction when actually it him doing it. He has done this with several providers such as ShackServers.com & Hosting-shack.com, and HosterSlice.


I have been scammed and hacked by this guy. STAY AWAY

He has also gone by the name of "Wolfie", "Johnathan Snyder", "David Klein"
He currently owns MageHoster.com, works at Freedom United (No site)

DO NOT TRUST UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!

 

[wswd]

Why would you ever give somebody access to you/your company's PayPal account like that? There is absolutely no reason any employee should ever have that info.

I'm sure we all appreciate the heads-up, but above all, you really need to use this to examine how you run your business.

 

[PowerHosting123]

Why would you ever give somebody access to you/your company's PayPal account like that? There is absolutely no reason any employee should ever have that info.

I'm sure we all appreciate the heads-up, but above all, you really need to use this to examine how you run your business.

I'm posting this on Behalf of another provide but Johnny did do this with us we were able to recovering the stolen funds howevery he did it again with another hosting provider we know.

 

[wswd]

I understand that. But why would a company ever give an employee such access? Would you give such an employee access to your bank accounts? How about your credit card info and PIN?

This guy's scams should never be an issue. He is prowling on people who, quite honestly, shouldn't be running businesses, if they give that information to an "employee" they don't know, never met, and "hired" over the Internet. This should just never happen.

On a side note, your website is not working. Appears to be down.

 

[Muhammad Danial]

well, should becareful next time, thx for the info =)

 

[UpReseller]

I meet JohnnyD on some hosting forums. But I don't think I'll hire anyone by searching Google or looking at any forums.

 

[CS Squad]

From the past records, even in this forum, JohnnyD did have very bad reputation by claiming himself is the CEO of an "international" company, which he basically mean, a company that runs on the Internet and "need not to register to any state".

JohnnyD was also go around and claim that his "company" is very big and reputable compare to a lot other hosting company, while he do not even have much customers.

Well, if you search in Google, you might also found some black history about this JohnnyD.

 

[JasonS]

You claim to have a decent sized company, don't you have accounting/billing staff that need this kind of access? It's standard practice at several rather sizeable companies I've worked for.

I understand that. But why would a company ever give an employee such access? Would you give such an employee access to your bank accounts? How about your credit card info and PIN?

This guy's scams should never be an issue. He is prowling on people who, quite honestly, shouldn't be running businesses, if they give that information to an "employee" they don't know, never met, and "hired" over the Internet. This should just never happen.

On a side note, your website is not working. Appears to be down.

 

[Decker]

Any proper company would interview & vet anyone who was to be staff, and more so if they are to have any billing access.
So it was a $62 don't be a Muppet training course they got, unfortunately didn't pass the exam as they then advertise the specifics on a public forum :evilb:

Plus that's some handy emails and other details should someone want to make use of them... :wink2:

 

[sander k]

Our staff are real life friends, but they still don't have PayPal acces.

 

[JasonS]

Our staff are real life friends, but they still don't have PayPal acces.

I wouldn't ever give anyone else access if it were me. But I've worked in a very large environment with easily 100+ remote full time staff where a handful had PayPal and banking access to carry out their job. Is a result of Skype interviews and reference checks. It's the real world, it's $62.

 

[wswd]

You claim to have a decent sized company, don't you have accounting/billing staff that need this kind of access? It's standard practice at several rather sizeable companies I've worked for.

Standard practice is to give out the company's banking information? Uhhhhhhh...I don't think so. We have several billing people working for us, and our Sales staff needs to address billing issues now and again (i.e. an account doesn't get activated due to frozen payment or such), and not one has access to our PayPal account info, bank info, etc. They don't need it! They can issue refunds, look up transactions, etc., right through our billing software. There is absolutely no need for them to ever log in to our PayPal account or bank accounts.

The only people with that access are the partners/officers in the corporation. We have all known each other personally for over 25 years.

 

[JasonS]

Your situation is different. When I think of a big hosting provider, I don't think of you (sorry) - but I think of the one I'm talking about - competition to Gator - all remote workers, no offices, meaning billing staff that need the ability to use PayPal in their scenario.

It's part of their business model and many others. Business relying on remote workers is fine, but thinks like PayPal access are needed at the end of the day.

Standard practice is to give out the company's banking information? Uhhhhhhh...I don't think so. We have several billing people working for us, and our Sales staff needs to address billing issues now and again (i.e. an account doesn't get activated due to frozen payment or such), and not one has access to our PayPal account info, bank info, etc. They don't need it! They can issue refunds, look up transactions, etc., right through our billing software. There is absolutely no need for them to ever log in to our PayPal account or bank accounts.

The only people with that access are the partners/officers in the corporation. We have all known each other personally for over 25 years.

 

[wswd]

Right, we're certainly not as big as HG. Nowhere close. Definitely no offense taken. LOL! All our billing staff work remotely (except for 1), and as I said, there is still absolutely no reason employees should have access to that information. There is absolutely no reason for any employee to ever have to log in to the PayPal account. It can (and should) all be done using APIs or billing software. You would think being such a large company, they would understand that, and would most certainly have the resources for using billing software or custom APIs.

Could you give me an example of what the employees were doing that they needed a login to the PayPal account?

If a company is stupid enough to give out their banking information and account passwords to their employees, they shouldn't be disappointed when something like this happens. It's asking for trouble and it's absolutely stupid business practice.

 

[JasonS]

Who pays the staff? Most remote workers work as self employed contractors.

Who handles refund requests? The remote billing staff

Who ensures the PayPal balance is kept to a minimum by initiating bank transfers to core accounts? Controllers/billing staff.

Who pays the bills? Who buys new equipment? Who buys e business cards or other apparel? Too much work to distract a CEO.

The company in question has a private billing solution which may have had an impact. Practices may have changed, but at the time, no Apis in place. It's their job, they do things like this.

Right, we're certainly not as big as HG. Nowhere close. Definitely no offense taken. LOL! All our billing staff work remotely (except for 1), and as I said, there is still absolutely no reason employees should have access to that information. There is absolutely no reason for any employee to ever have to log in to the PayPal account. It can (and should) all be done using APIs or billing software. You would think being such a large company, they would understand that, and would most certainly have the resources for using billing software or custom APIs.

Could you give me an example of what the employees were doing that they needed a login to the PayPal account?

If a company is stupid enough to give out their banking information and account passwords to their employees, they shouldn't be disappointed when something like this happens. It's asking for trouble and it's absolutely stupid business practice.

 

[wswd]

I'll respect the fact that this company is large, but man...what a way to run a business.

Who pays the staff?
I have never seen a legitimate business pay its employees using PayPal. I realize some of the Internet "businesses" do, but what a mess. Could you imagine physically going to work at some company's office, and being paid via PayPal? ROFL! We use direct deposit or a standard paycheck to pay our folks. Makes no difference if they are independent contractors or not. If they want to be paid via PayPal, they can go somewhere else, and be hired by some 14 year old kid who wants to play business in mommy and daddy's basement.

Who handles refund requests?
As I said, refunds should be processed via the billing software. Our Billing staff does it right from our software. They don't need our PayPal account info or bank account info for that. They hit the refund button and everything happens automatically.

Who pays the bills? Who buys new equipment? Who buys e business cards or other apparel?
Hopefully it isn't the remote staff doing any of that!! If it's not the company's higher-ups paying the bills and taking care of equipment acquisitions, that's a major problem.


More power to them if that's how they want to run a business, but they're setting themselves up for problems, exactly like the ones in this thread. We have been in business for 16 years, and have yet to ever have an employee steal money from us. That's because they can't. Legitimate businesses running things properly highly limit the number of people who have access to the business' financial assets. If you're giving out your PayPal, 2CO, Moneybookers, bank account info, etc., to every remote billing staff who happens to come your way, you should expect to have money stolen from you.

Just manage your business properly and you won't have to worry about people like JohnnyD.

 

[wswd]

Thinking about it further, I think the difference is that most of these Internet businesses start out as Internet businesses, and accordingly have picked up some very bad practices. We started off as a local business with a physical office, real live employees at our office, etc. That really helps when it comes to running a business. It's no wonder some of these Internet-only businesses are experiencing problems like this.

 

[JasonS]

In response:

Staff payments via bank are often manual for contractors on no fixed comtract (common for remote workers - where hours were logged and paid by the hours worked). So staff needing bank access to make those payments.

Equipment purchases in my experience are done by a member of staff, not a top dog. A purchasing/procurement member of staff who just needs a signature to approve the purchase.

Bills - often handled by a staff member in the form of a financial controller or someone in billing. Apparel often by a sales type person.

But ultimately, in an environment where everyone is 100% remote, it is necessary to make moves as if some people were within a local office environment because it is really not possible for a CEO to take care of this in a big business environment.

I'll respect the fact that this company is large, but man...what a way to run a business.

Who pays the staff?
I have never seen a legitimate business pay its employees using PayPal. I realize some of the Internet "businesses" do, but what a mess. Could you imagine physically going to work at some company's office, and being paid via PayPal? ROFL! We use direct deposit or a standard paycheck to pay our folks. Makes no difference if they are independent contractors or not. If they want to be paid via PayPal, they can go somewhere else, and be hired by some 14 year old kid who wants to play business in mommy and daddy's basement.

Who handles refund requests?
As I said, refunds should be processed via the billing software. Our Billing staff does it right from our software. They don't need our PayPal account info or bank account info for that. They hit the refund button and everything happens automatically.

Who pays the bills? Who buys new equipment? Who buys e business cards or other apparel?
Hopefully it isn't the remote staff doing any of that!! If it's not the company's higher-ups paying the bills and taking care of equipment acquisitions, that's a major problem.


More power to them if that's how they want to run a business, but they're setting themselves up for problems, exactly like the ones in this thread. We have been in business for 16 years, and have yet to ever have an employee steal money from us. That's because they can't. Legitimate businesses running things properly highly limit the number of people who have access to the business' financial assets. If you're giving out your PayPal, 2CO, Moneybookers, bank account info, etc., to every remote billing staff who happens to come your way, you should expect to have money stolen from you.

Just manage your business properly and you won't have to worry about people like JohnnyD.

 

[wswd]

But ultimately, in an environment where everyone is 100% remote, it is necessary to make moves as if some people were within a local office environment because it is really not possible for a CEO to take care of this in a big business environment.

I guess so, and that's why stuff like this happens. If you run your business in a ridiculous manner that leaves yourself open to fraud and theft, then things like this can be expected.

The lesson I'm trying to teach everybody in this thread, is that you simply can't give your business' sensitive banking information to employees. If the CEO doesn't want to lose money to theft, then yes, the CEO absolutely CAN be involved in taking care of things. In this case, the guy is out $62. It could have easily been $62,000. Food for thought.

 

[Decker]

Think we've lost sight of the objectives here guys

1. Small company (assumption that it is a proper company) hands over sensitive info to muppet.
2. Muppet proceeds to rob company.
3. Muppet has committed an actual criminal offence, so why complain here law enforcement is required or they just keep doing it.
4. Large companies do allow minions to buy things, after sign off, but the accounts are settled with the suppliers by finance (usually a very few people in a trusted and 'sight seen' position) not the person buying.

Could add a load to this but that would turn into a long list.