Frank Weston aggresively pursued me on the internet.
I asked for referrals, he showed me four testimonials of individuals with no fullname. I searched on BBB and found nothing.
I paid and waited. Their internal site provides sketchy activity, w/o a PE name. Finally an interview and the guy presumably interviews me and than nothing. The deal is still in making and there was no closure.
My 30 days commitment expires so "yuo have a real chance if you extend for another 30 days($3,000). Another interview. Interesting: the same numbers and like the same deal but now with a different leading PE, which is a small one not the Blackstone where presumably Frank Weston has worked.
Nothing happened after the second interview.
Now, suddenly Frank Weston's face is associated with Wesley Anderson on LinkedIn. The Company CTO (working for Police in TX, presumably) Wade Ahmed is now displaying his credentials under Jaree Zafar.
Nobody answers anything (phone or e-mail) anymore and they've dissapeared.
I'm trying to get my money back from these crooks. Can you or anyone else who got taken by them please send me an email with your specific issues. My credit card company is hesitant to refund my money!
these crooks are behind another scam now called executiveemployers.com. Wade (Wasil) Ahmed is calling himself, Daniel Whitehurst and the other Jaree Zafar, Mark Stiller associated with a fake company called indigofunding.com. Check it out, www.indigofunding.com. taken down by these crooks. interesting is all the press releases with that name still exist. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/indigo-funding#/entity you can use waybackmachine.com to find it They will likely disappear but the word is they are being investigated and may be part of a bad group of people located in Pakistan.
Too often the people that get hurt the most are the ones that mention names and do not understand how easy it is for any online business to track an IP address. Who wrote the March 11th post. If the information you posted in false in any way, i can as much as guarantee you have gone down a path that will likely cause significant legal issues.
The site that disappeared was a duplicate site not even associated with these guys. This entire post looks like birds of feather flocking together. I was told about this site from the rip off report site...you don't even need to submit an email address to this place. Good stuff and likely a real good place to find the truth. i wasted my time again.
I was contacted by Wes Anderson pehhs.com and after finding nothing negative about the company I said I would send them a check. Then I found this post. To know that this guy goes by two different names and works out of a Texas and CA location with different websites that have identical content plus a negative rating on the Texas BBB---man, I dodged the bullet. I am sick to my stomach thinking I was almost taken for my hard earned money and that my hopes were high. Thanks to this poster. .
Unfortunately, I didn't see this post and was taken for $3,500. PEHHS is a SCAM and will be reported to the BBB. Do NOT deal with Wes Anderson, Frank Weston, Wade Ahmed or any other name associated with this company.
I received an email from PEHHS.com in mid-August and bought into their story... I've been through a number of headhunters and never found their service to be very appealing since they were always working for the company that was looking to hire and not me. Thus I got suckered by their story that Wes Anderson told me that he only takes on a few clients each month and that he had a massive backlog of jobs available for someone with my skills. Since I was moving to Europe in September, I thought that this service was a great opportunity to have someone do part of the job search legwork for me while I was dealing with the details of moving myself and family.
I'm telling this story in the hopes that you don't get suckered like me, so here goes:
I received an email to my consulting company account (not my personal email address that I've used on job boards) and found the email very curious because it was the first time a recruiting company has contacted me about them working on my behalf to find me a position in a PE or VC-backed company. I had found the email very intriguing and decided to follow up. Shortly thereafter, Wes Anderson ([email protected] or [email protected])
Wes called or emailed me very couple of days with an update on his progress and some guys with heavy Indian accents kept calling me to deal with the technical issues of running their crude website's back end. Wes told me that because he didn't have a position for me right now for Europe, he'd take half his normal fee ($1,750) and then get paid the other half once I'd obtained an acceptable interview.
As I didn't have a credit card, I asked if I could wire him the funds, to which he said yes. I sent the funds to a Texas-based JP Morgan account and he started to send me regular email updates. He eventually told me that he had one hot lead for me, one had fallen off the table and one that was still on the backburner that needed some more convincing. He told me that he was waiting to hear back on the hot lead and then he'd get back to me.
Well Wes got back to me after about a week and told me that his hot lead was Eric Gordon from Argonaut Partners. I asked him who he was and what the deal was about. He mentioned something about how Argonaut was leading a deal with Apax Partners out of New York and another PE shop. If I was successfully selected for an interview then I'd probably have to sign an NDA in advance of the call.
According to West, all he knew about the opportunity was that Argonaut and Apax were buying a distribution group that was five companies being rolled up into one with a headquarter in London and branches throughout Europe and North America. The plan was to close the deal end of September or October and put a new senior operating team in place beforehand. I was one of two or three candidates in consideration as part of the executive team (I was never told a specific position that I could be slotted for: this was probably my first warning sign).
In advance of my meeting with Eric, I did some background research on Argonaut, Apax and possibly what I thought the deal could be (because I am inquisitive by nature). Argonaut's only real contact on their website www.argollc.com, to which Mr. Eric Gordon was not listed as part of their team, nor was there an Eric Gordon on LinkedIn at Argonaut Partners. I then checked Argonaut's address at 155 Bodwell St, in Avon, MA on Google Maps and found that this location as in the middle of an industrial park (check it out for yourself) with no signs that said "Argonaut Partners"... now this wasn't a big problem for me, because I know lots of small investment shops that are the investment group of an actual operating business, but when I called Argonaut's phone number, I got nothing... it just kept ringing.. I found another address from crunchbase and it was 390 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 610 in Boston, MA and checked it on google maps... guess what? condo complex in Boston, but since I've known small PE shops that ran their businesses from Condos, I didn't really thing anything of it. So while the two differing locations wasn't necessarily a bad thing, when coupled with the weird phone number, that should have been another red flag.
So in addition to my update call with Wes regarding Eric (more on that in a moment), I received a call from an American speaking guy named Chris Johnson who wanted to walk me through their system and make sure that I understood everything. We had a brief call and I asked him if he knew anything about Argonaut and he said no and that I should talk to Wes.
The day before my call with Eric, Wes and I spoke about the contents as part of the preparation for the call.... this all seemed fairly normal to me... then I told him that I had concerns about Argonaut, that they weren't a legit PE shop... I told him about all the details of my DD and he told me that he didn't really know them well, that they were just frontrunning the deal on behalf of his contacts at Apax in NYC.... what could I say..he sounded credible.. I should have asked for his contact's name at Apax and then called the NYC Apax office to talk to them, but I didn't... bad on me... you should definitely do this though.
A weird thing happened after my call with Eric had been set up via Wes. I received an email from Kevin Ross who said he was the HR Executive for Argonaut Partners and that he wanted to set up a meeting for me with Eric. Kevin responded back to me on the day when I was supposed to have my call with Eric. This seemed both odd and confirmed that Argonaut may not have its act together.
So on the scheduled time for my call with Eric, I dialed the number and he didn't show. After 20 minutes, I sent an email to West telling him that Eric was a NO SHOW and that I was getting off the conference number. Wes said that Eric had dialed into the wrong number and that I should redial. I did so and Eric and I spoke for an hour and not the allotted 20 minutes. It sounded like Eric was on a cell phone and he asked some general questions about my background, but he didn't really ask any detailed questions about my prior work as to how it would relate to the new role, which I found odd, but I answered the questions honestly and forthright. When I started asking detailed questions about the strategy, role, timelines, skill sets required, number of team members, Eric was very vague. I asked him how they found the deal... again, vague. Regardless, I hung up, thought it was a good enough call to advance me to the next level... I don't need to suggest, there was no next call.
About 15 minutes after the call Wes sent me an email asking me to talk. We then spoke for about 10 minutes and he told me that Eric was raving about me and that he could hardly wait to put my candidacy in front of his partners... our next step would be a face to face in NYC soon if they agreed (which seemed odd, but whatever). He told me that in all his years of recruiting that he had never had a hiring manager call him back almost immediately after the call with candidate to tell him how great it went (that made me feel good..bad on me) and that he could hardly wait to get me onto the next stage but he had one more person to speak to. Then Wes did something very weird... he loudly told someone in his "office" that he was on the phone with me and that he'd make sure we took care of it... I wasn't sure what that meant, but I found out as his next breath was something like, "don't forget that you owe us the other half of our fee". At which point, no matter how great this call was, we need to have the other opportunities advancing in the pipeline as this one may fall off the table.
I received a couple of emails from Wes about the payment that was owed and told him that it was forthcoming. But something wasn't quite right about that call and the way things were going. I decided to withhold $750 of the agreed upon fee and with the exception of him mentioning it once to me in an email, he never mentioned it again. Of course I never really spoke to him after my call with Eric and his follow up call thereafter.
So I moved myself and my family across the Atlantic and went about my business of getting settled into our new life as per our plan. After about two weeks, I reached out to Wes and he told me to call him a few days later at his number of 760.650.5022, we never really connected, I got his voicemail a couple of times, but never spoke.
About a week later, I received a weird email from Eric Gordon requesting that I provide him some travel dates in the next few weeks and then asked me to write him a perfect role job description. The first request I found normal as we'd talked about this, the second was odd...how could I write something about a role that I had no knowledge... I was supposed to describe my dream job? (beachfront, 1 hour a day, no decisions, 7 figures after-tax, seriously?) I sent an email to Wes about this and how to deal with it, no response... I guess since my 30 day marketing period was over I as on my own.... so I responded as best I could. I then received another request to answer the question about my ability to handle "spending" investor money under time constraints... Ok this is a weird question... we don't use terminology like this in the PE business and if you were a real PE guy, you'd never use this language. Still I answered the question as best I could.
Three days later, I received the following email:
We appreciate your interest in our company and the time you spent with
me during our interview process.
I want you to know how close we came to bringing you on board for this
role but after meeting with our board members we concluded this project
at this time is not right you! With that being said, it is likely your
skills will be up for consideration again at some point in the future.
We wish you every personal and professional success with your job search
What??? After 6 weeks of back and forth, not another phone call or face to face. For a $150 million operating company? You've got to be serious?... I was hurt and confused, I reached out to Wes.... nothing.
So I took it for what it is... another learning experience that I should ALWAYS trust my instincts and if the deal doesn't smell right AT ALL, then I will always walk away, no matter what my heart says.
Incidentally, the address for PEHHS in Carlsbad, CA, is a virtual office... so while we might think it's a legit address, in fact, it is not. The good news is that I have all the addresses, contracts and bank info to turn over to the FBI.
So to the Actors in this play: Wes Anderson, Eric Gordon, Chris Johnson and whomever you are, enjoy the $2800 you got from me because it's the last time you'll be able to get something from me again. And you can be assured that if I ever find you in the real world, I'll use all of my energy to ensure that you are exposed for what you really are. Sad, pathetic and weak individuals who can't make a buck the honest way.
To those who believe that I have slandered PEHHS, Wes Anderson, Eric Gordon or anyone else here's what I have to say:
The definition of slander according to dictionary.law.com is:
n. oral defamation, in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about another, which untruth will harm the reputation of the person defamed. Slander is a civil wrong (tort) and can be the basis for a lawsuit. Damages (payoff for worth) for slander may be limited to actual (special) damages unless there is malicious intent, since such damages are usually difficult to specify and harder to prove. Some statements, such as an untrue accusation of having committed a crime, having a loathsome disease or being unable to perform one's occupation, are treated as slander per se since the harm and malice are obvious and therefore usually result in general and even punitive damage recovery by the person harmed.
Check out the link here : http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1969
The definition of libel is:
to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander, which is oral defamation. It is a tort (civil wrong) making the person or entity (like a newspaper, magazine or political organization) open to a lawsuit for damages by the person who can prove the statement about him/her was a lie.
Here is the link: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1153
So while is possible my description of events could be construed to the libelous, they certainly are not slander as no Oral statement has been made.
Regardless, I can tell you that I am a real person, who has incurred real harm due to the actions described above by the actors in this operation. I merely described the events that took place, I did not embellish the truth and made comments that were my opinion in very specific cases.
So I'm very aware of what I said, if you want to come after me for making libelous statements, come and get me, you know where I am.. I'd be happy to answer for my actions in court, so long as I can counterclaim against you as well and expose you for the frauds that you are.
these guys are about to pay the piper - they tried to scam the wrong people who are onto the scams and the various websites that they use and have informed the appropriate federal authorities.
I wish I found this before they took my $3000. Same deal: big wig interviewer was late/no show, they got him on the call and interview went great. Then, all of the sudden I find out that the PE firm didn't get its investment round and that was all she wrote.
Now, the site they used to contact me has been suspended and they're showing up all over scam boards like this one.
Let's see what this individual has to say in a few months. Come and get me. I would have to guess this individual can not live without the drama. I will offer a little bit of content information concerning the interpretation of the law based upon intent, libel or libelous. Are you comfortable with the validity and authenticity of your accusations?
Please understand you are putting yourself directly in line for slander and you will be held lilbelous. You have to be smarter than to put individuals names and content associated with confidentialty and non disclosure legal action. You can not use content from places, sites that do not require identification or any accountibilty for the content. And certainly do not give details that will surely identify you to anyone of the individuals you have named. You have to be careful with negative content sites . I am telling you all from experience. Stay clear and hope they do not find this content.
be carefull using content from site with no accountability
You can get in a lot of trouble posting peoples names on this site. if they can track you to any of this un accountable content you will be held liable. People are being sued and for all you feel applies to you none of this can be used to help you cause but all of it can used against you.
The website iis thrown together with no real information, just dummy filler info on job postings and hiring companies. They took over a week to setup my "account" and spelled my name wrong and had very poor english. The names to look out for are We Anderson, Chris Johnson and Wade Ahmed. There are no particulars given and they work in tandem with "fake" PE companies who send very vague emails from obscure email accounts such as "[email protected]" or "[email protected]". They do their homework and have very simple links to shell companies to make you think they are legit. They also publish "press releases" to lend credibility to Wes Anderson's accomplishments. Basically they tell you they can find you a high paying executive job with a Private Equity backed portfolio company. Then they pretend to call their network and sell your background. You might get a phone call interview with an accomplice and then it will turn into nothing. Classic con-artists taking $3,500 for each 1 month contract. If they do this 20 times per month they are making a killing. Please call the BBB and inform your colleagues.
As mentioned in all the reports, PEHHS is using the same method to get you to sign a contract with them and charge $1,750.00 upfront to your credit card of the $3,500.00 total and then the remaining $1,750.00 after the first phone interview takes place which in my case was also the same mysterious Eric Gordon from Argonaut as mentioned in earlier reports. Obviously, this son of a bitch is part of the scam so PEHHS is able to charge the second $1,750.00 to your credit card. DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT FROM PEHHS otherwise you will experience the same scam then anyone here and you will loose properly $3,500.00 or more.
Private Equity Headhunters is a complete scam! Wes Anderson talks a smooth game; most con men do. I still kick myself for giving them $3500 for one interview. For all I know, that person was part of the scam. A couple of interviews, then nothing. After 30 days, I was treated like yesterday's news - tossed out. If you are ever contacted by Wes Anderson or Wade Ahmed, HANG UP THE PHONE IMMEDIATELY!!
I was also taken for $1,750 which I am in the process of recovering from my bank. These guys are now operating under three different names, i.e., 7figurerecruiting.com, 7figuresrecruiting.com, 7figurecareers.com with Art French (salesman) and John Chris, account manager (sound familiar to Chris Johnson??) who has a strong Pakistani accent. My interview is coming up but believe I figured them out already and thanks to these posts I am sure these are one and the same. Same modus operandi and amounts $1,750 up front and $1,750 after first interview. I looked at the supposed PE Firm site and confirmed my suspicions. I'll post my results later as I want to complete my process and validate my suspicions.
You should have done both validate and authenticate before you posted your content. You can make generic statements and still be effective but when you mention names and domains, while trying to do something you WANT to feel strongly about you have created even more problems for yourself. "so you can validate your suspicions".
Like previous posts, these guys have a slick presentation, but offer nothing but a fake interview and correspondence from PE firms. Seems everyone is contacted by Briarcliff Solutions or an Eric Gordon at Argonaut. Save yourself $3,500 by ignoring these scam artists.They'll tell you they "targeted" you for your qualifications. You were targeted alright, but not for your qualifications.
They certainly have a good schtick that hits into your desire to apply your skills to a PE turnaround situation and make $$$. But they can't produce one bit of evidence or reference of a PE company they have worked with or verifiable individuals that they have placed. They offered one live reference - Brad Davis - the same guy they have their press releases. If you raise an objection about this they will offer the 'half price' payment approach which is listed in the BBB complaint on them, but they can't deliver on any references. That's like a start up company asking a VC for investment by saying "trust me". Not with my money.
They also trot someone named Arnold Spencer, who is likely Brad Davis. These guys at PEHHS really know how to play their victims! Keep your $$ and hang up the phone immediately if Wes Anderson or Wade Ahmed call.
This is another one that will not serve well if found
You have to take into consideration the sources you are referencing. I have no idea who these individuals are but you need to pray they do not find this content. They can get court orders to obtain your IP from any of these sites. If you have been in an executive position or want to be, you need to ensure this content never gets out or is found by the individuals named. Why bring attention to yourself in a way un like an executive and can be easily found when a background check is done.
Unfortunately Wes Anderson and group scammed me $3,750. Money I could not afford to loose. Signed paperwork, they conducted feedback via web site then actually set up a fake interview and of course never heard from again. No job, No money!
If you are using this content in any way shape or form you put yourself in a bad position. I don't know who wrote this reply but I can promise you all, are not a past customer of the business mentioned. Mentioning federal authorities, if someone see FBI or federal authorities, it serves for no other purpose but influence the 1 or 2 innocent people reading this. Most of the information on this site came from rip off report and likely being posted by the same people. Use your good judgement and stay away from replying to anything written here or any site similar because it is you that will be held accountable not the sites. If you are smart you need to investigate this site for it origin...you will be very surprised.
I was contacted by Wes Anderson too. Same story as everyone else on here. About 40 days in I was contacted by a "representative" of a "new" PE company that was looking for a VP-Sales (what I do), when I followed the link to the interviewing company, I noticed a website that was 1 page and very cheaply designed. I did research into the company I was to interview with and they had went out of business like 14 years ago!
I told Wes I didn't feel comfortable and needed references and a way to better check them out. The response I got was, "Well no need to move forward, they have put in an incredible amount of time marketing me and will now have to stop working with me". That's it!
These experiences are all the same as victims had with the new version of this scam, SevenFigureCareers.com -- same names, same m.o., same phony legal threats to keep victims quiet.
According to this report, victims can get their money back from credit card companies. AmericanExpress already cancelled the account. How many got duped?
I discovered a scam by a US firm (name removed, due to a legal protest by the firm that promised me a 7-figured salary). Looks like they hired a "french Art" dealer to design a elaborate scheme to dupe me... they had a fake "PE firm" staffer send me an email expressing interest in my resume, as if to establish it was a real hiring opportunity. Soon after the email I received a call from the recruiter telling me that email was a "mess-up", but he suggested a potentially high compensation to get me salivating, and once I did they proceeded to tell me the base fee of $3,500/month for me to qualify. I am led to believe that once you sign-up they keep dragging you along asking you to renew at that same price every month, which makes it a very expensive scam. They seem to want to target people who are very skilled executives (more experienced) who can afford to pay their fees and would not want to publicly admit that they have been taken in. BEWARE. (P.S. If you come across such a scam, please don't forget it to share your stories but DON'T put their direct name here or elsewhere, otherwise you will likely receive a letter from the legal hound like I did)
If you were threatened by these guys with "a legal letter," check this article where the same happened -- and the "lawyer" was impersonated by the scammers, this time operating as SevenFigureCareers:
I sent the URL (link) to this web page to Mr French with whom I was speaking. He replied, "Why are you sending me this". I replied with a snippet of the complaints posted herein with his name and company URL bolded. He replied, "Thanks and keep me posted".
PRIVATE EQUITY HEADHUNTERS LLC Reviews
Frank Weston aggresively pursued me on the internet.
I asked for referrals, he showed me four testimonials of individuals with no fullname. I searched on BBB and found nothing.
I paid and waited. Their internal site provides sketchy activity, w/o a PE name. Finally an interview and the guy presumably interviews me and than nothing. The deal is still in making and there was no closure.
My 30 days commitment expires so "yuo have a real chance if you extend for another 30 days($3,000). Another interview. Interesting: the same numbers and like the same deal but now with a different leading PE, which is a small one not the Blackstone where presumably Frank Weston has worked.
Nothing happened after the second interview.
Now, suddenly Frank Weston's face is associated with Wesley Anderson on LinkedIn. The Company CTO (working for Police in TX, presumably) Wade Ahmed is now displaying his credentials under Jaree Zafar.
Nobody answers anything (phone or e-mail) anymore and they've dissapeared.
Me too! I need your help!
I'm trying to get my money back from these crooks. Can you or anyone else who got taken by them please send me an email with your specific issues. My credit card company is hesitant to refund my money!
Wade (Wasil) Ahmed and Jaree Zafar
these crooks are behind another scam now called executiveemployers.com. Wade (Wasil) Ahmed is calling himself, Daniel Whitehurst and the other Jaree Zafar, Mark Stiller associated with a fake company called indigofunding.com. Check it out, www.indigofunding.com. taken down by these crooks. interesting is all the press releases with that name still exist. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/indigo-funding#/entity you can use waybackmachine.com to find it They will likely disappear but the word is they are being investigated and may be part of a bad group of people located in Pakistan.
Need some help too!
Too often the people that get hurt the most are the ones that mention names and do not understand how easy it is for any online business to track an IP address. Who wrote the March 11th post. If the information you posted in false in any way, i can as much as guarantee you have gone down a path that will likely cause significant legal issues.
Disappeared
The site that disappeared was a duplicate site not even associated with these guys. This entire post looks like birds of feather flocking together. I was told about this site from the rip off report site...you don't even need to submit an email address to this place. Good stuff and likely a real good place to find the truth. i wasted my time again.
Wow! This post saved me $3,500!
I was contacted by Wes Anderson pehhs.com and after finding nothing negative about the company I said I would send them a check. Then I found this post. To know that this guy goes by two different names and works out of a Texas and CA location with different websites that have identical content plus a negative rating on the Texas BBB---man, I dodged the bullet. I am sick to my stomach thinking I was almost taken for my hard earned money and that my hopes were high. Thanks to this poster. .
Now called executiveemployers.com
executive employers.com doing the same thing.
Wish I had Seen This Sooner
Unfortunately, I didn't see this post and was taken for $3,500. PEHHS is a SCAM and will be reported to the BBB. Do NOT deal with Wes Anderson, Frank Weston, Wade Ahmed or any other name associated with this company.
Yup.. me too... but I got them also.
I received an email from PEHHS.com in mid-August and bought into their story... I've been through a number of headhunters and never found their service to be very appealing since they were always working for the company that was looking to hire and not me. Thus I got suckered by their story that Wes Anderson told me that he only takes on a few clients each month and that he had a massive backlog of jobs available for someone with my skills. Since I was moving to Europe in September, I thought that this service was a great opportunity to have someone do part of the job search legwork for me while I was dealing with the details of moving myself and family.
I'm telling this story in the hopes that you don't get suckered like me, so here goes:
I received an email to my consulting company account (not my personal email address that I've used on job boards) and found the email very curious because it was the first time a recruiting company has contacted me about them working on my behalf to find me a position in a PE or VC-backed company. I had found the email very intriguing and decided to follow up. Shortly thereafter, Wes Anderson ([email protected] or [email protected])
Wes called or emailed me very couple of days with an update on his progress and some guys with heavy Indian accents kept calling me to deal with the technical issues of running their crude website's back end. Wes told me that because he didn't have a position for me right now for Europe, he'd take half his normal fee ($1,750) and then get paid the other half once I'd obtained an acceptable interview.
As I didn't have a credit card, I asked if I could wire him the funds, to which he said yes. I sent the funds to a Texas-based JP Morgan account and he started to send me regular email updates. He eventually told me that he had one hot lead for me, one had fallen off the table and one that was still on the backburner that needed some more convincing. He told me that he was waiting to hear back on the hot lead and then he'd get back to me.
Well Wes got back to me after about a week and told me that his hot lead was Eric Gordon from Argonaut Partners. I asked him who he was and what the deal was about. He mentioned something about how Argonaut was leading a deal with Apax Partners out of New York and another PE shop. If I was successfully selected for an interview then I'd probably have to sign an NDA in advance of the call.
According to West, all he knew about the opportunity was that Argonaut and Apax were buying a distribution group that was five companies being rolled up into one with a headquarter in London and branches throughout Europe and North America. The plan was to close the deal end of September or October and put a new senior operating team in place beforehand. I was one of two or three candidates in consideration as part of the executive team (I was never told a specific position that I could be slotted for: this was probably my first warning sign).
In advance of my meeting with Eric, I did some background research on Argonaut, Apax and possibly what I thought the deal could be (because I am inquisitive by nature). Argonaut's only real contact on their website www.argollc.com, to which Mr. Eric Gordon was not listed as part of their team, nor was there an Eric Gordon on LinkedIn at Argonaut Partners. I then checked Argonaut's address at 155 Bodwell St, in Avon, MA on Google Maps and found that this location as in the middle of an industrial park (check it out for yourself) with no signs that said "Argonaut Partners"... now this wasn't a big problem for me, because I know lots of small investment shops that are the investment group of an actual operating business, but when I called Argonaut's phone number, I got nothing... it just kept ringing.. I found another address from crunchbase and it was 390 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 610 in Boston, MA and checked it on google maps... guess what? condo complex in Boston, but since I've known small PE shops that ran their businesses from Condos, I didn't really thing anything of it. So while the two differing locations wasn't necessarily a bad thing, when coupled with the weird phone number, that should have been another red flag.
So in addition to my update call with Wes regarding Eric (more on that in a moment), I received a call from an American speaking guy named Chris Johnson who wanted to walk me through their system and make sure that I understood everything. We had a brief call and I asked him if he knew anything about Argonaut and he said no and that I should talk to Wes.
The day before my call with Eric, Wes and I spoke about the contents as part of the preparation for the call.... this all seemed fairly normal to me... then I told him that I had concerns about Argonaut, that they weren't a legit PE shop... I told him about all the details of my DD and he told me that he didn't really know them well, that they were just frontrunning the deal on behalf of his contacts at Apax in NYC.... what could I say..he sounded credible.. I should have asked for his contact's name at Apax and then called the NYC Apax office to talk to them, but I didn't... bad on me... you should definitely do this though.
A weird thing happened after my call with Eric had been set up via Wes. I received an email from Kevin Ross who said he was the HR Executive for Argonaut Partners and that he wanted to set up a meeting for me with Eric. Kevin responded back to me on the day when I was supposed to have my call with Eric. This seemed both odd and confirmed that Argonaut may not have its act together.
So on the scheduled time for my call with Eric, I dialed the number and he didn't show. After 20 minutes, I sent an email to West telling him that Eric was a NO SHOW and that I was getting off the conference number. Wes said that Eric had dialed into the wrong number and that I should redial. I did so and Eric and I spoke for an hour and not the allotted 20 minutes. It sounded like Eric was on a cell phone and he asked some general questions about my background, but he didn't really ask any detailed questions about my prior work as to how it would relate to the new role, which I found odd, but I answered the questions honestly and forthright. When I started asking detailed questions about the strategy, role, timelines, skill sets required, number of team members, Eric was very vague. I asked him how they found the deal... again, vague. Regardless, I hung up, thought it was a good enough call to advance me to the next level... I don't need to suggest, there was no next call.
About 15 minutes after the call Wes sent me an email asking me to talk. We then spoke for about 10 minutes and he told me that Eric was raving about me and that he could hardly wait to put my candidacy in front of his partners... our next step would be a face to face in NYC soon if they agreed (which seemed odd, but whatever). He told me that in all his years of recruiting that he had never had a hiring manager call him back almost immediately after the call with candidate to tell him how great it went (that made me feel good..bad on me) and that he could hardly wait to get me onto the next stage but he had one more person to speak to. Then Wes did something very weird... he loudly told someone in his "office" that he was on the phone with me and that he'd make sure we took care of it... I wasn't sure what that meant, but I found out as his next breath was something like, "don't forget that you owe us the other half of our fee". At which point, no matter how great this call was, we need to have the other opportunities advancing in the pipeline as this one may fall off the table.
I received a couple of emails from Wes about the payment that was owed and told him that it was forthcoming. But something wasn't quite right about that call and the way things were going. I decided to withhold $750 of the agreed upon fee and with the exception of him mentioning it once to me in an email, he never mentioned it again. Of course I never really spoke to him after my call with Eric and his follow up call thereafter.
So I moved myself and my family across the Atlantic and went about my business of getting settled into our new life as per our plan. After about two weeks, I reached out to Wes and he told me to call him a few days later at his number of 760.650.5022, we never really connected, I got his voicemail a couple of times, but never spoke.
About a week later, I received a weird email from Eric Gordon requesting that I provide him some travel dates in the next few weeks and then asked me to write him a perfect role job description. The first request I found normal as we'd talked about this, the second was odd...how could I write something about a role that I had no knowledge... I was supposed to describe my dream job? (beachfront, 1 hour a day, no decisions, 7 figures after-tax, seriously?) I sent an email to Wes about this and how to deal with it, no response... I guess since my 30 day marketing period was over I as on my own.... so I responded as best I could. I then received another request to answer the question about my ability to handle "spending" investor money under time constraints... Ok this is a weird question... we don't use terminology like this in the PE business and if you were a real PE guy, you'd never use this language. Still I answered the question as best I could.
Three days later, I received the following email:
We appreciate your interest in our company and the time you spent with
me during our interview process.
I want you to know how close we came to bringing you on board for this
role but after meeting with our board members we concluded this project
at this time is not right you! With that being said, it is likely your
skills will be up for consideration again at some point in the future.
We wish you every personal and professional success with your job search
and in the future.
Sincerely,
Eric Gordon
Argonaut Partners
[email protected]
What??? After 6 weeks of back and forth, not another phone call or face to face. For a $150 million operating company? You've got to be serious?... I was hurt and confused, I reached out to Wes.... nothing.
So I took it for what it is... another learning experience that I should ALWAYS trust my instincts and if the deal doesn't smell right AT ALL, then I will always walk away, no matter what my heart says.
Incidentally, the address for PEHHS in Carlsbad, CA, is a virtual office... so while we might think it's a legit address, in fact, it is not. The good news is that I have all the addresses, contracts and bank info to turn over to the FBI.
So to the Actors in this play: Wes Anderson, Eric Gordon, Chris Johnson and whomever you are, enjoy the $2800 you got from me because it's the last time you'll be able to get something from me again. And you can be assured that if I ever find you in the real world, I'll use all of my energy to ensure that you are exposed for what you really are. Sad, pathetic and weak individuals who can't make a buck the honest way.
I wrote this...
To those who believe that I have slandered PEHHS, Wes Anderson, Eric Gordon or anyone else here's what I have to say:
The definition of slander according to dictionary.law.com is:
n. oral defamation, in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about another, which untruth will harm the reputation of the person defamed. Slander is a civil wrong (tort) and can be the basis for a lawsuit. Damages (payoff for worth) for slander may be limited to actual (special) damages unless there is malicious intent, since such damages are usually difficult to specify and harder to prove. Some statements, such as an untrue accusation of having committed a crime, having a loathsome disease or being unable to perform one's occupation, are treated as slander per se since the harm and malice are obvious and therefore usually result in general and even punitive damage recovery by the person harmed.
Check out the link here : http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1969
The definition of libel is:
to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander, which is oral defamation. It is a tort (civil wrong) making the person or entity (like a newspaper, magazine or political organization) open to a lawsuit for damages by the person who can prove the statement about him/her was a lie.
Here is the link: http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1153
So while is possible my description of events could be construed to the libelous, they certainly are not slander as no Oral statement has been made.
Regardless, I can tell you that I am a real person, who has incurred real harm due to the actions described above by the actors in this operation. I merely described the events that took place, I did not embellish the truth and made comments that were my opinion in very specific cases.
So I'm very aware of what I said, if you want to come after me for making libelous statements, come and get me, you know where I am.. I'd be happy to answer for my actions in court, so long as I can counterclaim against you as well and expose you for the frauds that you are.
The law is closing in
these guys are about to pay the piper - they tried to scam the wrong people who are onto the scams and the various websites that they use and have informed the appropriate federal authorities.
Thanks for the detailed write-up
I wish I found this before they took my $3000. Same deal: big wig interviewer was late/no show, they got him on the call and interview went great. Then, all of the sudden I find out that the PE firm didn't get its investment round and that was all she wrote.
Now, the site they used to contact me has been suspended and they're showing up all over scam boards like this one.
I hope they get caught.
Come and get you?
Let's see what this individual has to say in a few months. Come and get me. I would have to guess this individual can not live without the drama. I will offer a little bit of content information concerning the interpretation of the law based upon intent, libel or libelous. Are you comfortable with the validity and authenticity of your accusations?
Not a good idea who wrote this
Please understand you are putting yourself directly in line for slander and you will be held lilbelous. You have to be smarter than to put individuals names and content associated with confidentialty and non disclosure legal action. You can not use content from places, sites that do not require identification or any accountibilty for the content. And certainly do not give details that will surely identify you to anyone of the individuals you have named. You have to be careful with negative content sites . I am telling you all from experience. Stay clear and hope they do not find this content.
be carefull using content from site with no accountability
You can get in a lot of trouble posting peoples names on this site. if they can track you to any of this un accountable content you will be held liable. People are being sued and for all you feel applies to you none of this can be used to help you cause but all of it can used against you.
Total Scam - Con men at work
The website iis thrown together with no real information, just dummy filler info on job postings and hiring companies. They took over a week to setup my "account" and spelled my name wrong and had very poor english. The names to look out for are We Anderson, Chris Johnson and Wade Ahmed. There are no particulars given and they work in tandem with "fake" PE companies who send very vague emails from obscure email accounts such as "[email protected]" or "[email protected]". They do their homework and have very simple links to shell companies to make you think they are legit. They also publish "press releases" to lend credibility to Wes Anderson's accomplishments. Basically they tell you they can find you a high paying executive job with a Private Equity backed portfolio company. Then they pretend to call their network and sell your background. You might get a phone call interview with an accomplice and then it will turn into nothing. Classic con-artists taking $3,500 for each 1 month contract. If they do this 20 times per month they are making a killing. Please call the BBB and inform your colleagues.
Total Scam
As mentioned in all the reports, PEHHS is using the same method to get you to sign a contract with them and charge $1,750.00 upfront to your credit card of the $3,500.00 total and then the remaining $1,750.00 after the first phone interview takes place which in my case was also the same mysterious Eric Gordon from Argonaut as mentioned in earlier reports. Obviously, this son of a bitch is part of the scam so PEHHS is able to charge the second $1,750.00 to your credit card. DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT FROM PEHHS otherwise you will experience the same scam then anyone here and you will loose properly $3,500.00 or more.
Don't waste your money!
Private Equity Headhunters is a complete scam! Wes Anderson talks a smooth game; most con men do. I still kick myself for giving them $3500 for one interview. For all I know, that person was part of the scam. A couple of interviews, then nothing. After 30 days, I was treated like yesterday's news - tossed out. If you are ever contacted by Wes Anderson or Wade Ahmed, HANG UP THE PHONE IMMEDIATELY!!
PEHHS under new name 7figuresrecruiting.com
I was also taken for $1,750 which I am in the process of recovering from my bank. These guys are now operating under three different names, i.e., 7figurerecruiting.com, 7figuresrecruiting.com, 7figurecareers.com with Art French (salesman) and John Chris, account manager (sound familiar to Chris Johnson??) who has a strong Pakistani accent. My interview is coming up but believe I figured them out already and thanks to these posts I am sure these are one and the same. Same modus operandi and amounts $1,750 up front and $1,750 after first interview. I looked at the supposed PE Firm site and confirmed my suspicions. I'll post my results later as I want to complete my process and validate my suspicions.
Validate and authenticate
You should have done both validate and authenticate before you posted your content. You can make generic statements and still be effective but when you mention names and domains, while trying to do something you WANT to feel strongly about you have created even more problems for yourself. "so you can validate your suspicions".
Scam Artist
Like previous posts, these guys have a slick presentation, but offer nothing but a fake interview and correspondence from PE firms. Seems everyone is contacted by Briarcliff Solutions or an Eric Gordon at Argonaut. Save yourself $3,500 by ignoring these scam artists.They'll tell you they "targeted" you for your qualifications. You were targeted alright, but not for your qualifications.
Me too. Money gone forever.
Same story Eric Gordon at Argonaut.No job No Money
Keep your hand on your wallet
They certainly have a good schtick that hits into your desire to apply your skills to a PE turnaround situation and make $$$. But they can't produce one bit of evidence or reference of a PE company they have worked with or verifiable individuals that they have placed. They offered one live reference - Brad Davis - the same guy they have their press releases. If you raise an objection about this they will offer the 'half price' payment approach which is listed in the BBB complaint on them, but they can't deliver on any references. That's like a start up company asking a VC for investment by saying "trust me". Not with my money.
CR Nichols
There is also a man named "CR Nichols" who purports to be the CEO. His email address is [email protected].
These guys are very good and cover their bases. I'm sure the FBI will figure these guys out soon enough.
We have another mention of names
You need to ensure your IP is not linked to this site around the same date you posted this content.
Scam pros!
They also trot someone named Arnold Spencer, who is likely Brad Davis. These guys at PEHHS really know how to play their victims! Keep your $$ and hang up the phone immediately if Wes Anderson or Wade Ahmed call.
You better hope the person you named does not find this
you better pray no one finds this post. i promise you they are watching this site
This is another one that will not serve well if found
You have to take into consideration the sources you are referencing. I have no idea who these individuals are but you need to pray they do not find this content. They can get court orders to obtain your IP from any of these sites. If you have been in an executive position or want to be, you need to ensure this content never gets out or is found by the individuals named. Why bring attention to yourself in a way un like an executive and can be easily found when a background check is done.
Dont send them a dim
Unfortunately Wes Anderson and group scammed me $3,750. Money I could not afford to loose. Signed paperwork, they conducted feedback via web site then actually set up a fake interview and of course never heard from again. No job, No money!
Law closing in
If you are using this content in any way shape or form you put yourself in a bad position. I don't know who wrote this reply but I can promise you all, are not a past customer of the business mentioned. Mentioning federal authorities, if someone see FBI or federal authorities, it serves for no other purpose but influence the 1 or 2 innocent people reading this. Most of the information on this site came from rip off report and likely being posted by the same people. Use your good judgement and stay away from replying to anything written here or any site similar because it is you that will be held accountable not the sites. If you are smart you need to investigate this site for it origin...you will be very surprised.
Run From These Scum
I was contacted by Wes Anderson too. Same story as everyone else on here. About 40 days in I was contacted by a "representative" of a "new" PE company that was looking for a VP-Sales (what I do), when I followed the link to the interviewing company, I noticed a website that was 1 page and very cheaply designed. I did research into the company I was to interview with and they had went out of business like 14 years ago!
I told Wes I didn't feel comfortable and needed references and a way to better check them out. The response I got was, "Well no need to move forward, they have put in an incredible amount of time marketing me and will now have to stop working with me". That's it!
Too bad I didn't read this before.
Same scam as SevenFigureCareers
These experiences are all the same as victims had with the new version of this scam, SevenFigureCareers.com -- same names, same m.o., same phony legal threats to keep victims quiet.
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/9348/7f-anatomy-recruiting-scam
According to this report, victims can get their money back from credit card companies. AmericanExpress already cancelled the account. How many got duped?
Job placement in PE firms
I discovered a scam by a US firm (name removed, due to a legal protest by the firm that promised me a 7-figured salary). Looks like they hired a "french Art" dealer to design a elaborate scheme to dupe me... they had a fake "PE firm" staffer send me an email expressing interest in my resume, as if to establish it was a real hiring opportunity. Soon after the email I received a call from the recruiter telling me that email was a "mess-up", but he suggested a potentially high compensation to get me salivating, and once I did they proceeded to tell me the base fee of $3,500/month for me to qualify. I am led to believe that once you sign-up they keep dragging you along asking you to renew at that same price every month, which makes it a very expensive scam. They seem to want to target people who are very skilled executives (more experienced) who can afford to pay their fees and would not want to publicly admit that they have been taken in. BEWARE. (P.S. If you come across such a scam, please don't forget it to share your stories but DON'T put their direct name here or elsewhere, otherwise you will likely receive a letter from the legal hound like I did)
Legal threat?
If you were threatened by these guys with "a legal letter," check this article where the same happened -- and the "lawyer" was impersonated by the scammers, this time operating as SevenFigureCareers:
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/9294/sevenfigurecareers-threats-fraud
There was no real threat. Just an effort to intimidate and shut up victims.
Called them on their scam
I sent the URL (link) to this web page to Mr French with whom I was speaking. He replied, "Why are you sending me this". I replied with a snippet of the complaints posted herein with his name and company URL bolded. He replied, "Thanks and keep me posted".
Have authorities been notified?