The Silicon Review contacted me in 2018, and I've documented the interaction below. My experience is that this is a scam company that will research and approach other companies to tell them they've won an award. The will then try to upsell services, such as advertising. The Silicon Review are scumbags and certainly not operating in a legit manner. They should be avoided.
The Silicon Review in 2018
“Dear Michael, Congratulations! Web Safe Staff has been selected as one of the 10 Best Security companies list of 2018 in The Silicon Review magazine. Please read below for important details and next steps….. Cost is $1000.”
Me in 2018
I respond to them, calling them out on the scam. No reply.
The Silicon Review returning in 2019
“Hi Michael, Congratulations! Web Safe Staff has been selected as one of the 10 Best Security companies in Asia 2019 (Asia Edition) in The Silicon Review magazine. …… Cost is $1500.”
Me
“Wow that’s awesome! What is the criteria for determining the shortlisted companies? And who in Asia nominated me for my fine work? Where is the Silicon Review based, and is this exclusive offer available only to me, or the other 9 shortlisted companies? Also, given I’ve been shortlisted, what’s the actual prize? Very exciting!”
Them
“Hi Mike, Nice to e-meet with you! Please go through the below Shortlisting Criteria…..” (They provide a crappy list)
Me
“OK great. And will the silicon review enter into EDHR agreements with all the nominees? I’d love to find out how you structure this, and also maybe what you will be doing for PCK, I mean I definitely want to know I’m getting the best marketing possible!” (these are just made up acronyms)
Them
“Hi Mike, Great! Here is the next procedure:
1) Please find the attached insertion order form…” (they’re want the money now)
......
Me (I make up some bogus acronyms)
You didn’t answer my questions, maybe you didn’t see them? I’ll write them again:
1) Will the silicon review enter into EDHR agreements with all the nominees?
2) What you will be doing for PCK?
Them
“Hi Mike, Please accept my sincere apologies for missing your questions. Could you please explain me both EDHR agreements and PCK or you can provide me the link where we can find more information about it and I will check with my management and let you know.“
Me
“Oh, I thought you’d know about this seeing as you are in the awards industry for security. It’s kind of like the BMH schemes from a few decades ago. A quick question re the nominations. What is the actual award, and if I win can it be sold on my behalf and bitcons transferred to me instead?”
Them
(They deflect, because they have no idea) “Hi Mike, No! We actually provide branding and advertising platform to the companies where they can showcase their products and services in front of global business leaders like CEO's, CTO's, CMO's and other industry leaders…..”
Them again
“Hi Mike, Hope you are doing great! Is there any updates regarding your participation? This issue will be published by first week of April 2019 so kindly let me know your thoughts asap.”
Me
“Hi Bille. I’m very excited about the opportunity, but I’d love more information about the actual award too. Will I be required to wear a suit and black tie for the award ceremony?"
Them
“Hi Mike, Thanks for the reply back! Can we have a quick call now? Please share with me the your direct number.”
Me
“Hi, I don’t have a phone due to security concerns, it’s voicemail only. That’s how I got nominated as one of the top 10 best cyber security companies in Asia Asia edition. Can you just send me information on the awards first before I talk about the advertising? I’d obviously like to be able to mention in my advertising how I was nominated, and no doubt I’ll win it too so I could speak about that, perhaps in advance.”
Them
(Now I get an email from someone else doing the same scam, but a new amount of $6000!)
Hi Mike, Greeting From The Silicon Review!! I am Kundan from The Silicon Review magazine, published from Silicon Valley, California. The Silicon Review is a business magazine for all business decision makers and enterprise IT. It is the most trusted source of news and information for business professionals…. Cost is $6000
Me to Kumar
Hang on, who the heck are you? I’m dealing with Billie Mounica, and was quoted initially $1500, but I got a discount price of $800. You guys are totally confusing me!
Me to Bille
Hi Billie, who the heck is this guy? And why am I now being charged $6000? You told me it would be $800. I’m concerned that this is not a real deal!
Bille to Me
“Hi Mike,
1) We have the news team who is doing research on google and they are also going through all the companies websites and their social networking sites
2) After doing research they will shortlist 30 companies as per their details like:” (just sending old details, not asking the question).
......
Me
Bille where are you based? Perhaps we can meet up as this is far too confusing! I’m in Trenton New Jersey, is that far from you? (I checked out their bogus website and they list Hamilton New Jersey as the location. Trenton is very close.)
Them
Hi Mike, Sorry for the inconvenience! This is for the cover feature, for the cover feature cost is different. Please find the attached sample profile of full cover feature & Listing profile. Looking forward to hear from you.
Me
Billie, there’s a reason I’ve been nominated for this award. I never open email attachments because they can be infected with malware. It’s a policy I have with no exceptions. Can you please copy the contents of the PDF’s into an email? Also PDFs are potentially very dangerous because they can carry javascript code in them. I hope you have turned off the javascript feature within your PDF reader!
The Silicon Review in 2020
I've been contacted by their HR Manager / Legal Advisor (yeah right...) regarding this blog post. They object to being called scumbags, apologise for the inconvenience to me, and want to avoid legal action but ask me kindly remove this article. It's probably because when you search for their "magazine" name, this article rates very highly on Google. In short, this article needs to be here. People need to be warned about these fake award scams, and if they want to chase this up legally I have all correspondence showing their shady business practices. A quick Internet search will show many other people with the same concerns, including people who were actually scammed out of thousands of dollars by this horrible company.
