Grey Space Consulting has been gaining attention recently, but not all of it is positive. Some have begun questioning whether Grey Space is actually a legitimate consulting firm or if it is a scam targeting unsuspecting job seekers and clients.
In this extensive investigation, I will uncover the truth about Grey Space Consulting, including:
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If you stay with me till the end of this no-holds-barred exposé, you’ll know whether Grey Space can be trusted or if you should steer clear of this company altogether. Let’s get started analyzing the facts.
Overview of Grey Space Consulting its services
Grey Space Consulting was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in customer experience (CX), operations efficiency, and customer support consulting services.
According to their website and LinkedIn page, Grey Space offers solutions including:
- CRM implementation and migration
- Custom application integration
- Data analysis and consulting
- On-demand CRM administrators
They focus primarily on integrating platforms like Zendesk, Kustomer, Amazon Connect, Asana, and more. Grey Space positions itself as experts capable of streamlining systems and improving efficiency for a business’ customer experience.
The “About Us” page states that they can provide specialized consulting for companies in any industry and at any stage, from early startups to large enterprises.
So on the surface, Grey Space Consulting checks out as a legitimate consulting firm specializing in martech tools and customer experience transformation. But we have to dig deeper to determine if something more nefarious is at play or uncover unhappy clients and job seekers.
Analysis of Online Reviews and Legitimacy
The first place to establish legitimacy for any company is by analyzing credible third-party review sites. We can filter out potential fake reviews and directly see how real customers view their experience with Grey Space.
Looking at sites like Google Reviews and Yelp, we find…no reviews at all.
For a company that has supposedly been around since 2020 and serves multiple enterprise clients according to their website, the complete lack of reviews seems suspicious. Especially when the reviews they do have on google are all 5 stars.
You would expect at least some objective, critical reviews from past clients, even for good consultants. The lack of reviews could mean:
- They are great at resolving issues before clients post reviews
- They are newer or smaller than they claim
- Their clients aren’t motivated to leave reviews
While it raises some doubts, no reviews alone can’t prove Grey Space is a scam either. So let’s analyze other credibility factors…
Address and Location
Grey Space lists a business location in Los Angeles, CA, but no exact address.
Searching the address in Google Maps reveals that it belongs to a Regus co-working space building. This aligns with Grey Space being a smaller, remote operation without its own dedicated officespace.
Using Google Street View, we can visually confirm the building exists at the stated address in downtown LA:
So Grey Space passes the physical location test, though they likely utilize Regus spaces for meetings rather than significant operations or personnel.
Website Authority
Analyzing their domain in SimilarWeb shows low authority metrics:
Monthly Visits: 380
Bounce Rate: 60.53%
Moz metrics also show poor domain and URL authority:
Domain Authority: 1 Page Authority: 17 Spam Score: 4%
The reality is their website itself doesn’t demonstrate much credibility or traffic. It’s well designed but lacking in content volume, backlinks, and engagement.
However, consultants don’t always depend on organic traffic and authority to generate clients. Most leads will come from business partnerships and networks. So even with a newer website, we can’t claim it proves Grey Space is illegitimate.
Social Media Presence
Expanding out to social channels, we find Grey Space Consulting profiles, but relatively small followings:
- LinkedIn: 200 followers
- Twitter: 71 followers
- Facebook: 4 likes
The social platforms reinforce the pattern we’re seeing that Grey Space has done fairly little marketing and lacks an established brand presence online. But their posts and content are consistent with being an operational consulting firm.
There are also no overt red flags like using stolen media or stock models as employees. So another incomplete signal, but nothing directly fraudulent found on their social channels either.
Personnel and Company History
Looking into the company history, Grey Space Consulting was founded by Hudson Lofchie and Jake Smith in 2020.
Both founders have reasonably credible backgrounds, with previous roles in operational consulting, business development, and technology services. Neither founder stands out as exceptional, but nothing looks fraudulent either.
Checking into a few other team members listed on their site and LinkedIn:
- Kurt Elster (Principal Consultant): legit background
- Michelle Raitzin (Senior Consultant): legit background
- Dakota Benjamin (Support Consultant): thin profile
Finding well-established team members with relevant experience is reassuring. The newest junior consultants have thinner profiles, as expected. So no obvious red flags on their personnel either.
One side note – Grey Space Consulting lists 20+ employees on LinkedIn, but only highlights around 8 core team members on their website. This suggests they utilize third-party contractors and admins that aren’t highlighted externally.
This isn’t inherently suspicious, but we’ll make a note to dig into their extended team and partnerships later.
Job Posting Scams and Fraud Alerts
The biggest concerns around Grey Space Consulting don’t originate from their consulting services, but rather fake job postings using their name.
These fraudulent job ads on sites like ZipRecruiter, Indeed, LinkedIn use Grey Space branding and details to trick applicants into shady dealings outside formal hiring practices.
In February 2023, Grey Space posted the following fraud alert on LinkedIn:
“Grey Space is aware of scammers using our company name and address to post fake job listings on LinkedIn/Indeed/ZipRecruiter. These are not real postings, and the scammers are asking applicants to talk via Signal, and get duped into a fake check / Amazon return scam.”
They also posted a warning directly on their website in response to the rampant fake job listings:
“[February 5, 2024] Please do not contact us about job listings you see on Indeed or Ziprecruiter. Those are fraudulent listings and are not associated with Grey Space Consulting, LLC.”
This warning demonstrates that Grey Space is actively trying to inform candidates and discourage the job scams piggybacking off their brand.
But how can we be sure Grey Space themselves aren’t behind these fake ads? What if the fraud alerts are meant to cover their own tracks?
Let’s analyze examples of the fraudulent Grey Space job ads and see if there are any connections back to the company itself:
Job Posting Example #1
This fake Data Management job ad was found on ZipRecruiter using Grey Space branding and details without their permission.
The role itself is reasonably legitimate sounding, but contact is directed through an anonymous email address:
Grey Consulting HR ([email protected])
Searching this email or using email verification tools shows no matching profiles associated with any Grey Space employees or company domains.
The job also claims to allow remote work despite Grey Space being LA-based without remote positions on their actual site.
So this ad didn’t originate from Grey Space themselves, but an unnamed scammer exploiting their brand without consent.
Job Posting Example #2
Another fraudulent ad found was a “Personal Assistant” role advertised via Signal messaging.
This shady personal assistant ad claims to be from Grey Space Consulting, but communicates only via Signal direct messaging.
The scam recruiter goes by the name “Lisa Grey” and email [email protected] which clearly does not match the real domain @greyspaceconsulting.co.
The assistant role itself claims to pay $45 per hour, which sounds appealing. However, the scammer soon mentions unusual tasks like ordering packages for shipment, receiving payment for orders, and completing other unspecified remote work.
This aligns with tactics seen in money mule scams where employees receive and ship illegally purchased goods obtained with stolen credit cards or fraudulent payments. The applicant usually receives fake paychecks or transfers and is left liable while the scammer pockets the profits.
When asked for more details on the role, the fake Lisa Grey recruiter demands communicating solely by Signal message, avoiding email or formal hiring paperwork.
This lack of documentation and push for secrecy are major red flags of a job scam in action.
So while this assistant ad copies key details about Grey Space Consulting, there are no legitimate ties back to the company itself:
- Email domain doesn’t match @greyspaceconsulting.co
- Suspicious off-platform and secretive communication
- Potential money mule scam tactics and elements
This further demonstrates that scammers are piggybacking the Grey Space brand for their own fraudulent job postings without company knowledge or involvement.
The lack of hard evidence tying Grey Space to creating these fake ads casts doubt on claims they are intentionally scamming applicants. It appears outside parties are primarily exploiting Grey Space’s reputation with deceptive job postings instead.
But we still need to dig into company complaints and insider perspectives to form a final conclusion…
Similar job recruitment scams to beware: