u/Own-Customer-4516 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Just out of curiosity, OSLabs website says the board is a bunch of people (not sure if I can write their names) that aren't from Codesmith, are they ones signing the letters?
u/michaelnovati replied · · edited ★ FEATURED
The person who signed letters is Phil Troutman who was Codesmith's Head Instructor for 10 years and left recently.
Codesmith's placement staff "help coordinate" letters for you if you have trouble.
And OSLabs phone number is intended to go to Phil.
The instructions presented to me offer support for "work verification", "background checks", and more and indicate that Phil is the primary person who does background check calls.
**The board members on the site, look into them:** one is Codesmith's lawyer, two I beleive are Codesmith alumni who don't advertise it much but show up on alumni lists.
The "director" is not affiliated with Codesmith but I'm not sure if she works there, last I chatted with her she was "on leave" and she reported some security problems I had to Annie - Codesmith's Director of Outcomes and Admissions who is present here on Reddit.
Finally, OSLabs tax records show they haven't had more than $25K of donations in any given year, nor are they properly registered in NY State where they are homed (which could be because they have no employees and have taken in little to no money).
I can keep going about this... it's a giant scam in my opinion and I hope someday it's headline news.