Understanding the Scam

Who are the Scammers?

The perpetrators behind this scam remain unidentified, but they go by the name “Marberg Staffing” in their initial contact with potential victims. They exploit the reputation of legitimate companies like Sachs Marketing Group in an effort to gain trust.

The Fake Job Offer:

Victims are contacted by these scammers, who claim to represent Marberg Staffing, offering an enticing job opportunity. They tell recipients that Sachs Marketing Group is seeking individuals to write product reviews. This offer can be tempting, especially in today’s “gig” economy, where remote work opportunities are highly sought after.

Screenshot of https://www.sachsmarketing.cc

The Deceptive Website:

To legitimize their claim, the scammers provide a link to a fake Sachs Marketing Group website (https://www.sachsmarketing.cc/#/). This website poorly mimics the appearance of our legitimate business site, complete with job listings and a web form for potential applicants.

Personal Information Theft:

The scammers’ primary objective is to obtain personal information. To apply for the fictitious job, victims are required to complete a web form, which requests sensitive data, such as their name, email address, phone number, and even financial information. This information is then used for malicious purposes, including identity theft and financial fraud.

How to Spot the Scam

Recognizing fraudulent schemes like this one is crucial to protecting yourself and your personal information. Here are some telltale signs to help you identify this scam:

1. Unsolicited Contact: Be cautious of job offers from unknown entities, especially if you did not initiate contact with them. They may initiate contact via email, SMS text, and even WhatsApp.

2. Check the Website URL: Examine the web address carefully. In this case, the fraudulent website uses “sachsmarketing.cc” instead of Sachs Marketing Group’s legitimate domain. Always verify the website’s authenticity.

3. Too Good to Be True: If a job offer appears too enticing or lucrative, it might be a red flag. Scammers often use attractive offers to lure victims.

4. Research the Company: Conduct a quick online search to confirm the legitimacy of the company and its job openings. Reach out to the company directly if you have doubts about a job offer.

Protect Yourself and Others

Now that you are aware of this scam, it’s essential to take steps to protect yourself and help prevent others from becoming victims. Here’s what you can do:

1. Do Not Share Personal Information: Never provide sensitive personal information, such as your Social Security number, financial details, or passwords, to unknown sources or through suspicious websites.

2. Verify Job Offers: If you receive a job offer, contact the company directly using their official website or contact information to confirm its legitimacy.

3. Educate Friends and Family: Share this information with friends and family members to raise awareness about the scam and prevent them from falling victim.

4. Report the Scam: If you encounter or fall victim to a scam, report it to your local authorities, and notify relevant online platforms and authorities like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Conclusion

Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics to deceive unsuspecting individuals. The fake job offer from “Marberg Staffing” impersonating Sachs Marketing Group is a prime example of such deceitful practices. By staying informed and vigilant, you can protect yourself and others from falling prey to these scams. Always verify the authenticity of job offers, exercise caution when sharing personal information online, and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities. Together, we can thwart these scams and ensure a safer online environment for all.

Feel free to contact Sachs Marketing Group directly if you or someone you know has been targeted by these scammers.

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What Happened

Actually, we were burglarized – give us a call if you would like a detailed explanation of the difference between the two crimes.

Someone broke into our Westlake Village office.  It happened on October 6th at 2:04 am PST.  The bad guy smashed our front, glass door and crawled through a small hole in the broken glass.  Once inside, he used a flat-head screwdriver to pry open an interior office door lock.  He wanted to get into my office where my brand-new Mac Pro was sitting on my desk.  The suspect defeated the door lock in about 9 seconds, disconnected all of the cords from the computer, lifted the computer off of my desk, and exited through the same hole in the glass door that he used to gain entry.  You can watch it happen here:

The Good News

Since Sachs Marketing Group is completely cloud-based, we did not lose or compromise any data.  The computer had nothing on it but software.  Also, since it was a Mac, I was able to place it into “Lost Mode” which basically turns that computer into a fancy looking paperweight.  The next time the computer gets turned on, it will automatically wipe the hard drive clean and display a message:

“This computer was stolen in a commercial burglary in Westlake Village, CA on October 6th at 2:04 am PST.  Please contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s department at 805-494-8208 and reference criminal report number:  21-******.”

The bad guys (or any innocent purchaser) won’t be able to do anything with the computer unless they can prove to Apple that they purchased it with a valid receipt, which they won’t be able to do obviously.

The Bad News

Even with my 10-year law enforcement background, I made it way too easy for this criminal to take my computer.  I thought I had everything covered!  I had an alarm system (more on that below), a lock on my interior office door, I even had several cameras and motion sensor lights set-up inside the office.  None of that mattered.  The suspect was out the door before the alarm siren started wailing and he was long gone way before the police were notified.  So, what went wrong?

In evaluating what went wrong and what I could have done on my end to change the outcome of this incident, I realized that the alarm system I was using was the weak link.  My alarm system (like almost all commercial and/or residential alarm systems) had zero chance of stopping this burglary from occurring.  Why?  Most alarm systems are reactive – not proactive.

Play By Play

The suspect smashed the glass door and gained entry.  Since he didn’t need to open the door, the alarm door sensor wasn’t activated.  It wasn’t until the suspect walked into my interior office (after defeating the inner door lock) that the motion sensors finally noticed him.  That activation started a 60 second clock which was more than enough time for the suspect to unhook my computer and exit.  But it gets worse…

After beeping for 60 seconds, the alarm siren started to sound – the “activation.”  The alarm company monitoring station got the activation signal and immediately made a call – TO ME!  You see, their process is to call the responsible party to see if everything is okay when they get an activation.  They called me but because it was 2:04 am, I was asleep with my phone on Do Not Disturb.  When they weren’t able to reach me, they called the 2^nd person on my list – my wife.  She was also asleep (next to me) and her phone was also on silent.  When they weren’t able to reach my wife, they called the 3^rd person on my list – my Admin Assistant.  Guess what?  She was sleeping too!  Since the alarm monitoring service was unable to reach any of the three people listed on my emergency call list, they finally called my local law enforcement agency – the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Consider this – The alarm company called the Sheriff’s Department to report a commercial burglary alarm.  The Sheriff’s department knows that 99% of commercial burglary alarms are false alarms.  Do you think they responded to my burglar alarm with any sense of urgency?  Probably not.  Nothing against the Sheriff’s Department by the way – I get it.  I responded to 100’s of false burglar alarms during my 10-year law enforcement career.  Most of them are nothing.

Suffice to say – by the time the deputies arrived at my office, the suspect was in the wind.

After the incident, I called my alarm company and asked them to change their SOP for my account.  I wanted them to call the police IMMEDIATELY upon any activation.  I even told them that I would be willing to sign a document agreeing to pay for any false alarms and to hold the alarm company harmless for any and all false alarm fees imposed by law enforcement.  I didn’t want to have to suffer any delays while they called everyone on my emergency list to determine if there was actually a crime in progress.  Just call the police and get them rolling right?  They said “no.”  They would not – could not change their process.

By the way – what if I had picked up the phone at 2:04 am that morning?  The alarm company would have asked me if everything was okay at the business.  How would I have known if everything was okay?  I would have been half asleep and would have had to have the presence of mind to bring up my camera app on my phone and check the cameras – while the alarm company was on hold – to try and determine if something was going on at the office.  All that time wasted right?

The good news is that this incident woke me up.  I did a TON of research.  I called pretty much every traditional alarm platform I could find and found that they all followed the same protocols:  Receive an activation, call emergency contact(s) first, then call police. None of the alarm companies I contacted were willing to alter their process and call police immediately upon receiving an activation.

I kept searching and finally found a solution that I believe will stop any and all future burglary attempts.  I found a company called Deep Sentinel and ordered systems for my office and my home.  Here’s how this new system is different:

Deep Sentinel is proactive as opposed to reactive.  Cameras are mounted outside of our office now and they are monitored 24/7 by live guards.  If the guards see anyone looking suspicious (hanging around the outside of the office after hours, peaking into the windows, etc.) they will verbally engage in real-time with the suspect(s) via a speaker mounted above each camera.  They will say something like:

“This is Deep Sentinel Security; your image is being recorded and the police are being contacted now.  Leave the property immediately!”

They also have the ability to initiate a 100db siren via that same camera speaker.  If the suspect doesn’t leave or starts to actually try to break-in, the guards will immediately call the police and this time, they are reporting on an in-progress crime complete with a suspect description in real-time.  Police agencies will respond at the highest priority (typically with lights and siren) to a verified in-progress crime, as opposed to a “normal” burglar alarm that’s probably a false alarm.  About a week or so after installing this new system, this happened (speakers on for this video):

In addition to this awesome new security system with 24/7 monitoring, I also made some changes to the office internally – stuff I won’t go into detail about here but trust me, no one will be stealing anything else from inside our offices.

Finally, I installed the same Deep Sentinel Security system at my home, and I can’t tell you how nice it feels to have guards monitor the exterior of my home 24/7.  That level of peace of mind is worth every penny (about $100/month after the initial purchase of the camera equipment).

I don’t work for Deep Sentinel, but I have been very impressed with their platform and wanted to share this experience with all of our clients – businesses who could probably use this level of security.  If anyone decides to get a system, Deep Sentinel has a referral program that give you a 15% discount off your order.  Use this link to get the 15% discount: CLICK HERE

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We are excited to announce that Clutch recognized our excellence as a digital marketing agency and gave us the award of Top Social Media Marketing Companies in Los Angeles!

Clutch is a B2B market research company in the heart of Washington, DC that aims to help businesses of all sizes identify and connect with the agencies they need to achieve their goals. They cover diverse industries, such as IT, advertising, and marketing, and their team of analysts conducts in-depth interviews with clients about the quality of their engagement with service providers. Clutch also carefully creates lists of the market leaders by industry and location, to enable companies to establish credibility and to allow buyers to find the right provider.

We are proud to have ranked as one of the top firms in our industry! This award is a testament to our commitment to our clients and our ability to deliver positive results. With this, we are inspired to take our business to the next level.

One of the reasons why we received this award is because of our outstanding performance on Clutch. We currently have a perfect five-star rating on the platform based on 17 validated, detailed, and unbiased reviews. Here’s an excerpt from the review of Matthew Johnston, President of California Aeronautical University, “They deliver on what they promise. They’re true, genuine partners. I don’t feel like we’re a client that simply generates revenue for them. We’re treated more like family.” To read more, visit our Clutch profile!

Do you need help with your SEO efforts? Contact us today, and let’s discuss how we can work together to make your company stand out online.

If you want to grow your business through digital marketing, like SEO, check out our Los Angeles digital marketing agency.

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Each year, UpCity analyzes and scores more than 70,000 service providers based on their UpCity Recommendability Rating and acknowledges the top national and local providers with an UpCity Excellence Award. The results are in, and we won!

We are ecstatic to announce that Sachs Marketing Group, which has grown to become a leading Los Angeles digital marketing agency, has been recognized as one of the top B2B service providers of 2021 in the Los Angeles area by UpCity!

At Sachs Marketing Group, we work to separate you and your company from all of the “online noise” – a lack of differentiation in a saturated market. Our goal is to help your company stand out from the competition and get in front of the right target audience, at the right time. This will lead to higher website traffic and greater lead generation.

Mark Tepper, SVP of Sales & Customer Success at UpCity, had this to say about Sachs Marketing Group:

“Sach’s team provides transparency to their clients by documenting every task that they complete with supporting evidence. They also report the status and progress of each campaign so that clients are always aware of the progress that’s being made. Congratulations to Sachs Marketing Group for achieving the UpCity Local Excellence Award.”

– Mark Tepper, SVP of Sales & Customer Success

This recognition has been driven in large part by our 5-star review rating on UpCity. Here are a few of our favorite pieces of feedback we’ve received from our incredible customers:

“Efficient, knowledgable and smart — keep apprised of cutting edge opportunities. They are transparent partners with us who are committed to helping us achieve results.”

-Laura Segall, Sachs Marketing Group customer

“Attitude and communication. Everyone at Sachs is enthusiastic about their jobs and they have fantastic communication. I especially like the transparency they give with regards to their work. I always know what they are doing to my campaigns.”

-Brent Riskey, Sachs Marketing Group customer

Thanks to our valued clients, Sachs Marketing Group has experienced tremendous growth and success over the past several years. As a company, we are truly blessed. Thank you to the UpCity team and our Sachs Marketing Group customers for this tremendous award and honor.

If you want to grow your business through digital marketing, like SEO, check out our Los Angeles digital marketing agency.

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Sachs Marketing Group is thrilled to officially announce that we are one of the top service providers in the United States! UpCity launched the Excellence Awards as a follow up to their local excellence awards in fall 2020, celebrating the top 100 service providers as measured by their UpCity Recommendability Rating.

UpCity is an online marketplace that helps businesses find B2B service providers they can trust. UpCity’s Excellence Award winners are selected based on the UpCity Recommendability Rating, a proprietary algorithm that measures a provider’s credibility, recommendability, and reputation based on digital signals.

This prestigious accolade is a testament to their outstanding service delivery and success in helping businesses achieve their online marketing goals. The award highlights their proficiency in areas such as SEO, social media marketing, and web design, distinguishing them as a top performer in the industry.

Their commitment to delivering innovative and effective marketing strategies, coupled with their dedication to client satisfaction, has set them apart, marking them as a leader in the digital marketing space. This recognition by UpCity not only validates their effectiveness but also positions Sachs Marketing Group as a go-to agency for businesses seeking to enhance their online presence and drive growth.

View the list of all 100 of the top service providers in the United States!

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Here at Sachs Marketing Group, we pride ourselves on being a trustworthy, 100% in-house SEO company. Since 2010, our marketing experts have provided SEO services for dozens of huge clients, including BMW, Diamond Resorts, and the United States Air Force. We’re proud to learn that our hard work has been rewarded as Clutch has named us one of the top 1,000 B2B companies in the world! The Clutch 1000 only includes the top 1% of firms listed on Clutch, which makes this recognition quite special for us.

Our industry-renowned work has garnered a perfect 5.0 rating on Clutch. A leading B2B market research platform and a member of the Inc. 5000, Clutch uses verified client feedback to rank and evaluate companies across hundreds of directories.

We’ve been consistently named as a top company by Clutch since 2015, and we’re happy to continue to receive such great feedback from customers.

In a recent review, we developed social media advertising campaigns for the California Aeronautical University.

“We’ve worked with similar firms before, but this is the first time we’ve had a really trusting relationship,” said Matthew Johnston, the president of the university. “They’re not trying to take advantage of a budget. They’re true, genuine partners. I don’t feel like we’re a client that simply generates revenue for them. We’re treated more like family.”

Sachs Marketing is also ranked on The Manifest and Visual Objects, Clutch’s sister sites. On those sites, we’re listed as one of the top SEO firms in Los Angeles. Thanks to this industry recognition, prospective buyers can connect with us to bring their SEO to the next level. If you are looking to start a project, feel free to drop us a line today. We offer a free SEO audit and have never had a complaint or credit card dispute.

If you want to grow your business through digital marketing, like SEO, check out our Los Angeles digital marketing agency.

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Sachs Marketing Group is a Westlake Village, California. A local SEO company based centered on providing cutting digital marketing solutions to your business including Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Development, Web Design, Mobile, Reputation Management, Conversion Testing and Optimization and Video Marketing. Our ability to provide small to midsize companies access to solutions usually available to big firms is what we pride ourselves on. We are very excited to share that Sachs Marketing Group has been recognized as a top provider of SEO Services in Los Angeles area by Clutch.

Clutch is B2B ratings and review agency that helps you connect with the right business partners to help you solve your next challenge. They use a holistic review process that includes past and present client feedback, market presence, work expertise and return on investment to get you reliable data to be well informed when you make your choice. Through their independent evaluation, Clutch awarded Sachs Marking Group an overall perfect rating of 5/5.

A look at a review of Sachs Marketing Group on Clutch:

The Los Angeles area is our home and our business is entirely established in this city. It is therefore with pride that we share that The Manifest, an affiliate of Clutch, has recognized us amongst the leading SEO firms in Los Angeles. The Manifest is a business news and how-to website that features business reviews and provides actionable industry insights and expert opinions to help you grow your business.

Clutch’s recognition is important to us because it is useful for you. We want our customers to have the right data and reliable information before they make a decision about who to hire to address their needs. Check out Visual Objects, Clutch’s new project, featuring top web designers alongside their creative portfolios to help you visualize products and services provided.

“Being recognized as a Clutch Leader for 2019 is a huge honor – confirmation that our focus on being of service to our clients has been a major contributor to our success over the years. Clutch has been extremely instrumental for us. The partnership between Clutch and Sachs Marketing Group has been a major driver of both brand exposure and lead generation for the past several years.”

If you want to grow your business through digital marketing, like SEO, check out our Los Angeles digital marketing agency.

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Sachs Marketing Group is a local SEO company with offices in Westlake Village, California. We conduct our services 100% in house with no contracts and enjoy near 100% client retention. We offer complete search engine optimization services focused on getting your website found in search engines. We don’t hide from our clients and pride ourselves in maintaining complete transparency in our work. In fact, we give our clients access to an online workflow account created to allow our clients to essentially look over our shoulders and monitor our daily activities, progress, and reports.

This year we are excited to announce that the B2B ranking and review site, Clutch, has named Sachs Marketing Group among their premier local SEO companies of 2019.

To provide context, Clutch is a ratings and reviews platform based in Washington, D.C. that evaluates technology service and solutions companies based on the quality of work, thought leadership, and client reviews.

Unlike similar sites, reviewers on Clutch cannot simply publish short testimonials that have the potential to be subjective or misleading. Integrity and reliability are at the forefront of Clutch’s review process, as their analysts speak directly with our clients over the phone before posting a review to our profile. The feedback elicited dives deep into the full scope of a collaboration to understand not just the services provided and results, but also the nature of team dynamics, project management, and other similar factors. Check out one of our most recent review summaries below!

We’ve really appreciated the time our clients have spent to provide feedback and their insights have been applied for the purposes of continually improving our business!

Along with our spotlight on Clutch, make sure to check out our portfolio featured among top local SEO firms on the Manifest, Clutch’s content-driven sister site, aiming to make the B2B buyers’ journey easier.

In addition, we are pleased to share that Clutch’s other affiliate site, Visual Objects, has recognized our team as one of the top digital marketing agencies on their platform. Visual objects is a unique review site because it features a company’s creative design work as a primary element of their profile. We believe it is important to let work speak for itself and that viewing past projects is essential to ensure that the style and quality is up to par with expectations.

We would like to extend a sincere “Thank You” to all of our satisfied clients and Clutch for help building an online reputation of trust and commitment for our business. It is no secret that a strong SEO strategy is an essential aspect of every business. Thankfully our team at Sachs Marketing Group is here to make your companies’ digital transition as seamless as possible. In all, this achievement puts us at the forefront of the industry, and we’re confident that our team will continuously grow and work hard to maintain this reputation!

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The results are in! Sachs Marketing Group, a leading digital marketing agency in Los Angeles, has been awarded a 2019 Los Angeles City Excellence Award by UpCity. Out of 624 marketing service providers in Los Angeles, we were selected as one of the top 20 based on our UpCity Rating, which measures digital recommendability by reviews, search score, domain authority and more.

By having our services listed on UpCity and featured as one of the top 20 agencies in Los Angeles, we’re able to cut through the noise, standout and create trust with prospective buyers. It’s an honor for us to be represented on the City Excellence Award List.

The infographic below goes more into detail on what makes a great agency in Los Angeles and stats that highlight Los Angeles as a marketing hub in North America.

UpCity helps businesses find marketing providers they can trust. The UpCity Marketplace creates and empowers successful relationships between businesses and marketing service providers. We provide transparency and insights to dramatically improve the marketing partner selection and purchase experience. Over 225,000 businesses visit UpCity each month seeking marketing services from over 33,000 providers in over 600 cities in North America. UpCity helps partners in the marketplace grow their business and build their digital recommendability.

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The way that businesses compete with each other has fundamentally changed; from billboards, magazine ads, and commercial jingles to duking it out in search results, on social media, and ads on leading digital platforms. Companies that recognize these changes increase their chances of succeeding, but the firms who leverage them to reach their audiences and test new waters are the ones destined for greatness. And we are more than happy to help them achieve that greatness.

Although we help our clients be greater, we have recently been recognized for a bit of greatness ourselves. We are proud to share that Clutch has named Sachs Marketing Group an industry leader among the top SEO services in Los Angeles. Clutch is a leading research firm that provides in depth research and verified client reviews for vendors of B2B services. After being the subject of in depth research with nearly 600 of the top SEO agencies in LA, we are proud to be listed as one of the top ten overall.

Clutch’s research methodology includes considerations for marketing presence, company portfolios, social media efforts, and most importantly, verified client reviews. With a total of 15 reviews, we are proud to maintain a rating of five stars on the platform, with our clients saying things like,

“They’re not trying to take advantage of a budget. They’re true, genuine partners. I don’t feel like we’re a client that simply generates revenue for them. We’re treated more like family.”

We are thankful to have the opportunity to hear from our clients, and we have been thrilled with what they have to say. We cannot wait to see what else our clients have to say, and to use it to improve ourselves and our services.

In addition to our presence on Clutch, we are featured on their sister-site, The Manifest. The Manifest serves as a resource to firms of all shapes and sizes, offering industry insights and how-to guides to help address any number of industry challenges. We were included on their list of the top SEO companies in Los Angeles, acknowledging the quality of our work and the value of our services. We are grateful for our inclusion on these lists of top notch service providers, and we believe that it speaks to the quality of our services. And to further demonstrate the quality of those services, we have created a profile on Visual objects, a space for digital marketing agencies and other creatives to share their work with prospective clients.

Upon being made aware of our recognition, our founder Eric Sachs remarked, “Being acknowledged by Clutch as a Los Angeles Leader in the digital marketing space is an extreme honor for my agency.  To me personally, the award is a validation of the client-focused culture we’ve developed over the past 9 years.  I remain humbled and grateful for the continued opportunity to be of service to our clients.”

If you want to grow your business through digital marketing, like SEO, check out our Los Angeles digital marketing agency.

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