Like many organizations, fraudulent email, text messages and messages from fraudulent or fake social media profiles are being sent by individuals purporting to be representatives of the World Economic Forum.
These email and text messages have in the past used the names of the Forum’s management team, with ‘Reply To’ addresses that do not end in @weforum.org. They may use Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail accounts, and occasionally similar addresses (e.g. @weforum-jobs.org).
Furthermore, fake profiles on Linkedin (e.g. Prof. Klaus Schwab) or other social media networks have been used to request payment for Forum events or other Forum activities.
Typically, these messages take the form of invitations offering membership, the possibility of participating in Forum events (e.g. “Davos 17”) as an individual or as part of a delegation, or offers of employment. They often ask the potential victim to respond for further information. The Forum also received reports about SMS (text messages) claiming to provide awards or grants and either asking the individuals to call a fraudulent number or fill out a form with their personal information or credit card details.
Ultimately the recipient will be asked to provide personal information (passport, bank and other personal details), and finally payment (usually via Western Union or MoneyGram) to a fictitious Forum representative.
These emails and text messages are not legitimate World Economic Forum communications, and are in most cases a form of advance fee fraud. Their objective is to mislead victims into paying for a fictitious membership, event registration or “training course” prior to an offer of employment. Their objective may also be to commit identity theft.
Please note
- Emails from the World Economic Forum are only sent from addresses ending in: @weforum.org. To assist mail providers and your IT team in the identification and filtering of fraudulent messages, the World Economic Forum maintains an up-to-date SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record.
- Participation in the Annual Meeting is by invitation only and is reserved exclusively for Members of the World Economic Forum and invited guests.
- Employment opportunities are published on the website of the World Economic Forum and are never advertised via unsolicited email communications. The World Economic Forum does not use Western Union or MoneyGram to receive payments.
- No awards, grants or equivalent are granted by the World Economic Forum via text messages or emails.
If you have received such emails or have any doubts about the authenticity of a text message or a social media contact that you supposedly received from the Forum please forward the message to itsecurity@weforum.org for verification. Anyone who receives a text message and suspects it to be fraudulent or a scam should delete it. Anyone who has already provided personal information and credit card details in response to these fraudulent text messages should contact their bank or credit card company immediately to notify them of the possible attempt at identity theft.
The World Economic Forum disclaims all responsibility with respect to any expense, loss and/or damage of any kind that might have occurred in connection with any fraudulent membership, event registration invitation or in any way resulting from these unauthorized activities.