Phishing and Fraud Awareness

Blackstone is a leading global alternative asset manager. Cybercriminals frequently attempt to take advantage of Blackstone’s reputation to engage in fraudulent schemes, through which victims are tricked into thinking that they are dealing with trusted Blackstone personnel, including through websites, texts, emails, mailings, telephone calls, social media, and other communication platforms. These fraudulent tactics are continuously evolving and usually involve using false pretenses to convince a victim to share personal information. Many of these attacks take the form of “phishing,” a practice where a cybercriminal attempts to obtain your confidential personal information, such as your social security number, account/financial information, and usernames/passwords.

Below is general information on how to recognize and avoid common schemes.

Common Examples of Fraudulent Activities

  • Email or SMS (Text) Phishing: The most common form of phishing involves a cybercriminal sending an email or text message that looks like it comes from a legitimate source, asking you to click on a link, download an attachment, or provide personal information.
  • Vishing: Vishing, or telephone phishing, involves a cybercriminal calling you on the phone, pretending to be a company representative. The visher will say there is an urgent problem that will cause you financial harm, and their solution will involve you providing your personal information.
  • Job Offer/Social Media Scams: Scammers may pose as a company on a website or social media account, and may target job seekers through posts and paid advertisements. Imposters may also send fraudulent emails purporting to offer employment at Blackstone and misusing the official Blackstone logo. These emails do not originate from Blackstone or any of our affiliates. The only social media accounts authorized by Blackstone are: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube. The official Blackstone podcast can be listened to on Apple, Spotify and SoundCloud.
  • Mobile Device App Scams: Scammers may steal personal information by creating mobile device apps which purport to be an official Blackstone app, including a fraudulent mobile device app using a gold diamond logo. The scammers solicit investments into non-existent managed funds and are not in any way affiliated with Blackstone. The only app authorized by Blackstone is Blackstone Events, an events coordination app that is not intended for investment or commercial purposes.
  • Bank Transfer Scams: Scammers may contact you, usually by phone but potentially by other means, presenting an urgent and false story that requires you to transfer money into or out of your bank account. Scammers purporting to be Blackstone may also promise extraordinary returns on your investment at little to no risk.
  • Investment Scams: Scammers may contact you offering “high-yield” and similar investments through Blackstone. These “high-yield investment programs” typically are frauds. For more information on high-yield investment programs and how to avoid them, visit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission webpage.

Best Practices

  • Confirm you are visiting a Blackstone authorized site or communicating with an account authorized by Blackstone. The email domains and websites authorized by Blackstone are: Blackstone.com; Blackstonesradvisors.com; Gsocap.com; Bxaccess.com; Equityhealthcare.com; Investdox.com; breit.com; bxmix.com; bgsl.com; blackstonelaunchpad.org; bxdms.blackstone.com; bgflx.blackstone.com; bcred.com; blackstonemortgagetrust.com; bxsl.com; bepif.com; pws.blackstone.com. No other website or email domains are authorized by Blackstone. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about the legitimacy of a website, app, or communication.
  • Read email carefully. Pay close attention to the details of your emails. Pay attention to things such as typos, unfamiliar links, attachments and any other awkward or urgent language. Do not click on any links in the email that appear suspicious or enter any of your bank [or personal] information.
  • Do not share password or login information. Certain Blackstone web sites are private, available only to clients through secure log-in procedures. Apart from allowing you to use your password and log-in to enter an authorized website, Blackstone will never ask you for your login information or password.
  • Avoid suspicious downloads. Be sure to double check the sources and validity of content and apps that you’re downloading while online and always avoid suspicious pop-up ads.
  • Be skeptical of unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls. You should be suspicious of emails, texts or phone calls coming from unknown senders and unfamiliar organizations, especially if personal information is requested.
  • Be suspicious of phone calls asking for personal information. Often callers will impersonate your bank, a familiar company like Blackstone, or a government organization. Do not provide personal information, such as your bank information or credit card number, to these callers. If you think the call might be legitimate, hang up, separately look up the organization’s official contact information online and call them.
  • Be skeptical of changes to wire or payment instructions. If this happens, you should hang up, separately look up the official contact information of the organization requesting payment, and call them to verify. Blackstone will never ask you to solicit payment of funds or wiring of funds over the phone, email, or text.
  • Be skeptical of job offers made through social media. Blackstone does not hire from social media or conduct interviews via text or messaging services, nor will Blackstone request payment in connection with the hiring process. All openings at Blackstone can be found here.

How to Report Fraud

If you think you may have been a victim of internet crime or are aware of potentially fraudulent activity, please contact your local authorities and consider also filing a report with these government entities:

For more general guidance on avoiding internet crimes, visit the FBI webpages on common fraud schemes and recent e-scams at https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud and https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission webpage on avoiding fraud at https://investor.gov/investing-basics/avoiding-fraud.

Blackstone is not responsible for the content of third-party links and provides links to these resources for your informational purposes only.