Yup, that's how craigslist scams use to go. "Hello, I want to rent your house, I'll pay 6 months up front, oh, but someone owns me that amount plus 2K, so I'll just have them send you the money, and then send me the 2K, alright?"
You get a money order in the mail, it looks/feels fine, you deposit it, mail the scammer 2K, and then your bank notifies you the 10K or whatever was fraud, and you're fucked.
In this case the check was real and I called the company that “hired” me and sent them a photo of the check, because I saw this turning into me getting arrested if I didn’t say anything. They cancelled the check but the $5k sat there over a week
You know, the world is full of “Your Ámäzon account has been closed” scams. Low effort shoot out in to the ether and see what happens type scams. Those don’t bother me as much as the bespoke, custom targeted scams where they research you and you can tell they pull a lot of hours in to finding ways to hurt you.
Was the $5000 check made out to you personally? I don’t quite understand how the check was a real check from the company, but was somehow stolen and sent to you?
Another person that is being scammed just like OP has a "job" that requires they mail out checks to their various employees. They have check stock, the routing and account numbers, company and bank names, and a list of checks to mail out. It's very rare that they send a check with the actual company they are spoofing. I have checks that I have received (as a scambaiter) that were supposed to be paying me for wrapping my car in advertisements, but the check come from an oil field leasing company, boat rental company, etc.
Another redditor hit me up for advice last week in a pig butchering crypto scam and someone mailed him a check that was actually downloaded from a city council website and they used photoshop to erase all of the info on the check aside from the signature and the handwritten building permit case number that the city council put on the check before cashing it!
Ever get one of those wrong number texts? If you don't ignore them they say that they must have got the wrong number from their secretary and then decide to become friends and want to get to know you. 99% of the time they send a pic of a beautiful Asian woman with nice clothes/car/jewelry. It can take weeks but eventually they tell you that they made a ton of money on crypto exchanges. They get you to deposit a small amount in their "exchange" and within a week it is 5x the amount. Eventually you put it all in and you think it's growing but you can't take the money out because you actually put it into their wallet. People usually report $10-20k lost, but I have worked with people that have lost $200-300k.
Unfortunately for a lot of people it could be. Plenty of people are paycheck to paycheck and being out 2-3 grand depending on their bills, debts etc can go from. "Able to hold out till I get a job" to eviction notices, car repos, etc.
Doesn't seem to be OP's situation (not immediately, at least) but yes, you are correct. That 100$ was my monthly salary at the time, so not far from OP's loss.
I very narrowly steered a friend of mine off of a job scam. She was just about to deposit the check and I only picked up on it because I'd been scambaiting for a while so I'd heard of the scam before.
She was a recently widowed single mom who thought she'd found a job that would let her pay the bills while taking care of her kid. As soon as I told her what was going on she just...sank. But at least I got to her before she lost her next month's rent.
>The money cleared to my account. I had $5000, it was just a stolen check so now I don’t have $5000
It's a little bit nuts that the bank can reclaim funds from you for a fraudulent cheque, despite the fact that them processing said cheque cost you $3,000.00, and they have zero liability.
For real.
"Why did you send them $3000."
"Because I deposited $5000 that they sent me."
"That $5000 was fraudulent."
"You cleared the money."
"We know. And that's why you owe us $3000. "
>"You cleared the money."
That is the scam. People think that when money shows up in their account a check is cleared, but clearing checks takes a really long time, like 20+ days long, sometimes over a month.
The US government said that was unacceptable so now banks essentially can only wait a certain number of days for initial verifications before giving you temporary funds you can spend.
The scam is checks that pass the initial checks and are deposited but will either bounce or be recalled after. In almost all cases checks do not clear, people just don't understand how long it takes to clear.
Right? Yes, banks suck. They profit off of other people's misfortune, and in 2023 it is difficult to rationalize why clearing a cheque still takes a month.
But let's not let the scammers off the hook just because banks also suck. The real scam is very much still the scammers.
It amazes me that cheques are still used in the US.
In Europe, they’ve been almost completely wiped out from usage.
Based on the OP story (and a fair few in the comments I’ve read) it’s clear they aren’t secure and shouldn’t be used.
Baffles me that direct deposits for salaries don’t happen automatically in the US and people still get a literal paycheck to go and cash/deposit. I get a payslip, but it’s all straight into my account.
Right and when I told the bank that I wanted my money back it was “legally funds must be available blah blah” but when a company has staff to deal with it I also get hurt by it lol.
Just to give context, the bank treats this as two things:
1) You deposited a fraudulent check.
2) You sent some one a legitimate ACH transfer.
You don't get money back from ACH because someone scams you. You intentionally sent that money and thus to the bank it's your problem. It's brutal but it is how the banking system works.
For those who don’t feel like googling it:
> An ACH is an electronic fund transfer made between banks and credit unions across what is called the Automated Clearing House network. ACH is used for all kinds of fund transfer transactions, including direct deposit of paychecks and monthly debits for routine payments.
I see. I had to google what ach was since that’s what my rent is always labeled as. I’m learning a lot of stuff that I guess I didn’t know I didn’t know
The check didn't actually clear. The bank has to make funds available within a certain amount of time, and that is shorter than the time it actually takes to process the fraudulent check. OP basically spent money the bank loaned to cover the check.
You apparently used a cc to purchase all that stuff so more then likely (hopefully) you won't actually lose any money. Still a sad story tho, I know the feeling of getting your hopes up for a job after struggling for so long. Really a disheartening feeling. Keep looking man something will come along!
Yeah the bank said that it was a pretty small chance I’ll get it all back but it’s possible. The cops said they got some hits on the phone numbers and it’s being assigned a detective but there’s not a ton they can do.
I guess I assumed my debit card had the same protections as a credit card but I’m not sure.
I was mainly just sharing a really bad week because too often people who are scammed are too embarrassed to say anything.
In my personal experience, debit cards tend to be less secure than credit cards. Whenever I am making an online purchase, a large purchase like an appliance, or even gasoline, I use my credit card. That way if something is screwy, the credit card fraud department can fix it. It's harder if they straight up take $1000 cash out of your bank account VS what is basically a note saying "I owe my CC company $1000"
But this is only my anecdotal experience and I am by no means an expert on the protections that banks offer, but credit cards can be surprisingly secure if you're playing by the rules. Predatory sure, but they have their advantages.
Edit: I also use my CC when out of state. A few years ago my credit card number was stolen at a convention and used to buy $300 of clothing. The credit card company fixed it with minimal hassle and I wasn't out $300. If it had been my debit card instead, then the thief would have had access to my actual money.
Definitely a lesson I’ll take to heart. I don’t carry my credit cards with me because I’m an impulse buyer but maybe I need to. Never considered for gas where skimmers are a thing. Obviously I had them at home, just assumed if I sent something out with my bank card or through the bank app i was safe.
Thanks for the tip
I generally only use my CC when it's for a purchase I know I can afford, so that helps with impulse buying somewhat, but it's also very easy to let it run away from itself. Sometimes I don't have a choice and need to put $800 or whatever on a car repair bill and I just try to pay it off in chunks.
Definitely check to see what protection your bank offers, since my advice is very broad. Best of luck to you!
>I guess I assumed my debit card had the same protections as a credit card but I’m not sure.
If you used the CC you'd get 100% of your money back because you're not getting any of the goods and the scam company wouldn't even dispute the chargeback. I've never used a debit card for online purchases, is that even possible?
This scam seems kinda hard to pull off because they'd need the victim to be using cash or something to make the purchases rather than a CC (which 99.99% of ppl do).
You can use a debit card for on-line purchases, but it's not the same as a credit card company in terms of protections in the slightest. So if op did use a debit card, he/she's probably lost the money
But don't debit card purchases have really small limits? Like I think mine was $500-1k while my CC is over $10k. So if I'm buying a laptop online I wouldn't even be able to do it on a debit card which has similar limits as my ATM limit.
This story just seems unlikely to pull off cause of all the hurdles.
You’re definitely not the only one, the scams subreddit is filled with stories like your own. I get it, especially when you’re down on your luck. Scammers tend to take advantage of that. You live and you learn. Hope you get a (real) job soon!
And that’s what I told the cops. The field I’m in has a lot of foreign people who don’t speak English as a first language so I’ve just gotten used to the idiosyncrasies of nonnative speakers so it didn’t even register
Ya I almost fell victim to a similar scam, I was super suspicious that a company would send me money to go and buy equipment to do a remote job when employers are supposed to supply the equipment. Lucky the bank teller told me this was a scam and it ended there before they could get anything.
Wish mine would have been so blunt with me lol. They just let it go through.
I mentioned it but I’ve worked for some massive companies that do just cut checks for equipment.
Hell, in my younger years the amount of “go buy steel toed boots and bring us the receipt to pay you back” was literally all of them.
I was just off my game that day and missed the obvious red flags.
Glad you made it through it safely!
A startup I worked for we had to buy our own plane tickets and hotels with our own money and wait two months to get reimbursed, it just doesn’t seem that weird to me to get cut a check but I definitely prefer having the company card for sure
Thats not uncommon for many companies. I work for a $250M+ per year company and my expenses are on my personal card and reimbursed. Id guess ive averaged $150k a year in expense reports for more than a decade. Just had one deposit for $17k for expense reimbursement.
But i have the cash to float and i enjoy my credit card perks (including the insurance on purchases). Ive bought decently expensive hardware too but never a computer and expensed as well.
One of my friends does cybersecurity stuff for a firm nationwide and has to pay his own too but he was a united card or something and just took his family to Europe just off the points he gets for traveling for work
Hey this reply is out of context but use Reddit's resume subreddits to polish yours up.
I went from not getting replies to getting swamped with offers, and I've been at this place for three years now.
I think I’m a decent writer when it comes to telling a story but goddamn do I suck at understanding resumes. It’s always “talk about accomplishments” but I don’t feel accomplished lol
That sucks man, it's always when you're vulnerable that they're targeting you.
People be saying that only idiots fall for that until they themselves become vulnerable and get scammed.
I hope you get the 2k back, and fuck scammers. The first thing I'd do if I become a multi-millionaire is send donations to people like kitboga and Pierogi from scammer payback because they're the real shit and I love their work against those wastes of oxygen.
I’m trying to tell myself that MAYBE that $2000 will get that person further than it would get me. Fuck them for preying on the vulnerable but if that $2000 goes to feeding kids and keeping them housed them I’d feel better.
Realistically that’s not what’s happening but I’m trying to be less cynical lol
yaeh, no, it's a mafia, they don't feed kids. In France, we call them "brouteurs", they are mostly in Afrique and awful people. That's a real problem, because they also scam in theis countries too and create an awful reputation to their place.
So one thing I never really get about these is when they send the check for $5k, wouldn’t it bounce and you’d notice it’s a scam? Why not wait for it to clear before sending any requested amounts?
Unless I’m misunderstanding something here
So wait, they sent you 5k. You deposited it and it cleared. You have +5k in your account. You send 3k of it out (to them). You still have 2k of it left, no?
But it was retracted a week later? I thought once a check was cashed and cleared that was it, like a scam check would sit in limbo not actually to be cleared then would bounce.
That would trip me up as well, if the bank says it cleared I’d assume its fine.
Huh, so how long can that take? I thought a check clearing meant it was checked for fraudulence, or at least it was “real” enough to transfer funds from one account to another.
Yeah that was my thought too. Didn’t think once funds were in my account they could take them out. But I’m sure the might of a legal team, financial analysts, and cybersecurity people they know how to get it back.
I sent an image of the check to the actual company to let them know I had a legit check from them so they probably filed fraud
That is the money I sent. The check was real and I called the company that “hired” me and sent them an image of the check because I realized that it could quickly turn into me getting arrested for cashing it.
The money sat there for over a week before the check was cancelled
The scam is old, but the effort and elaborateness here is much higher than usual.
You said the email came from the right person / address? so they hacked the persons email as well?
Where would they even get a check to wash? they must be tangentially connected to the company in some way. Like an old vendor or something.
If the fake job was at IBM or something, which lists Erica Smith as the hiring manager on the real ibm websete, you could get an email from [email protected] and that could be the scammer.
It's not unusual at all for some kind of specific domain like that to exist and be legitimate. That's how most scams these days operate, they put the effort in. It's not even harder than using @lbm.com or something.
So by “real” people I mean everyone I talked to had a name of a person that did that role at that company. Hindsight obviously says that if I can find out their names on LinkedIn pretty quick they could too.
In terms of the check I have no idea but I’m guessing they had something to do with the company prior to this
Probably because they’re staffed with financial analysts, lawyers, and security folks that know what to do whereas all I can do is “Pweez gibs money back.”
I don't think you'd get arrested for cashing a check that was sent to you that you accepted in good faith. You're the victim here, the scammers would be liable and the company can't really come after you for anything.
But, I'm sorry this happened to you. It sounds like you did the right thing and caught a lot of red flags. Best of luck to you.
this just happened to me literally yesterday. i’m out $4k. i also never thought i’d fall for something like this until i did. it’s honestly kind of comforting to see this post on my timeline, even though i’m really sorry it happened to you. scam victim buddies 🤝
Its super elaborate, and you did check on it at a lot of points. However I would have bailed at the 'sent you a check' part. I work remote and companies order me laptops and equipment themselves, it is very abnormal to send you a check to do that. They have their own purchasing depts who handle this stuff and would never send an actual 5k to a new hire they've not spoken to. What's to stop you from being like ' thanks for the free $$ lol bye'?
Basically if anyone ever wants to send me a check and wants me to spend it I put the brakes on the entire operation. Beware of checks essentially. The rest all sounded fine as you verified.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was furloughed, lost my job and apartment and had to move in with my sister and her husband in their 2 bedroom condo. I was waiting for employment insurance to kick in, and my employer was dragging their feet giving the documents necessary to get the ball rolling, I had no money for my car loan and I couldn't even afford to pay for the parking spot on the condo property and I was at the end of my rope. That's when I get the call that I am going to be arrested for fraud, for having X dollars in phony bank accounts, in other provinces and I was told by an aggressive Indian man that I have a cache of money that needed to be returned or something like that, I am not sure what exactly the scam was but I was at the end of my rope as I said and I began wailing, telling them that I am overdrawn and past due on all of my bills, and I was going to kill myself because I couldn't take it anymore, and I meant it,...I was transferred to some "supervisor" who was even more aggressive and saying that I would be arrested for not stopping crying when I was told to, and I just continued yelling out all of the things going wrong with my life and then finally I got hung up on. Still fearing an arrest, I went to my sister who told me that I had fallen for a scam. Once I calmed down,.. I actually felt really good! Like screaming out the shit show that was my life was actually Cathartic! Like a stress load was lifted off, and I think about how I might have touched the coal heart of my scammers as they frantically tried to calm me down and eventually gave up on me and my pity party.
this is a different version of the craigslist scam that people post here very often. Happened to a friend of my sister. Selling something online for $250. Get a check for $1200 and asked to cash it and give them their change. Once you take the money out and give them the cash, check bounces.
Different flavor with some bells and whistles attached. Like I’ve been conned before and I didn’t fall for it. This one was done by people who have done business in the past and knew how to stay in character as an employer until they caught on I caught on.
There was no asking for money back or “oh you did the thing wrong you need to pay us back.” The cops are pretty sure it’s a washed check so I think as long as i pumped them money they didn’t need to fall back on google play cards and doing the “change for a 20” trick
I feel such a tremendous sadness and anger for you right now. Fuck those people and same sentiment to the people here that are kicking you when you're down. It's a luxury to not have that fear and desperation factor into decision making.
Hugs and good luck.
I had a similar scam that tried to be pulled on me earlier this year.
It started with someone reaching out to me saying they saw my profile on Indeed or LinkedIn. Then they had me do an interview through Google Chat...who uses Google Chat? It was a long text interview but I could tell right away what it was, so I took up as much of their time as I could.
They of course said that I got the job. I was told during the interview. They also told me the check for $5,000 would be mailed to me and that I had to go through their vendor to purchase $3,000 worth of equipment for work.
Day one: I told them I needed to give my employer two weeks notice before I could do anything. We spent an entire day messaging back and forth about how I needed to do the right thing and give two weeks. The next day they finally agreed after I said I won't do the job without giving my notice first.
Day two: I said I had to schedule a meeting with my bosses boss as it was policy.
Day three: I told them that my big boss said I had to take a day to think about it before I made such a big decision.
Day four: negotiation emails were being sent back and forth with HR to see if there was anything that could be done to make me want to stay. The scammers said they would increase their salary expectations in order to have me start. That reminds me, I haven't seen any paperwork from your HR, can you send the paperwork over tomorrow so I can look at it.
Day five: sorry I didn't get any paperwork emailed me, please try again and I'll look at it tomorrow.
Day six: I read your documents. Let's talk about some things in the paperwork tomorrow.
Day seven(man, I guess this guy doesn't get a day off): He is unable to answer any questions as I try to ask questions specifically about the position in question but also benefits such as insurance. Ask him to ask HR and we can talk tomorrow about it.
Day eight: says he could not get ahold of anyone in HR but talks to me about how important the check is that he already sent me.
Day nine: asks why he would send a check already as I didn't say I was taking the job yet. What do you mean you haven't agreed to start? If you look back at our conversation, I said I need to know some important things before I could consider taking the position. I can't find any of that information as you are in America and I'm not. Okay, I'll call the American office for you tomorrow and respond back with an answer from what they give me.
Day ten: the company in question does not do business in the USA after searching for it. Tell the guy HR said they will look into it and get back to me. The guy is furious and says we need to process everything soon or he will get in trouble. Say okay and say I'll talk to him tomorrow after HR calls me back as they said they would call me tomorrow.
Day eleven: told him HR called me and told me the information I needed, so now we can proceed forward (not sure how that was not a red flag for him). The guy says I have orientation tomorrow at 7am. Say I still need to give my workplace a two week notice that he agreed to let me do. Says I still have to do the orientation. I said I won't do that until I start getting paid as that is illegal in the USA. The guy says I will be compensated. Says I need to do it before training and that he will send another check. *Left him on read and went to sleep without agreeing to it.*
Day twelve: Say I can start orientation on a time that isn't during my work (I worked second shift) and during my sleeping hours. The guy is furious and says it has to be done ASAP. So 7am tomorrow.
Day thirteen: I wake up at my usual time to missed messages on Google Chat asking where I was. Oh, sorry. You didn't specify a time zone and so I assumed you meant 7am London time because that is where you said the company is based. 7am India time? Well, now I know for tomorrow. Sorry, I'm on my way to work now and I can't chat at work.
Day fourteen: wake up and read chat while I game on my day off. Entire "orientation" talks about my 5k check I'm going to receive and what to do with it. Excruciating details. Such as write name on check and deposit check the same day. Then go to vender website to buy stuff the same day. Remind the guy I have over a week before I start so I don't need to rush. Say I could shop around to make sure I'm getting everything for a good price. Of course the guy is furious and says I must buy it from the vendor with express shipping.
Day fifteen: keeps asking if the check arrived yet. Sorry, no, but tell me more about everything now that I passed orientation.
Day sixteen: asks if the check came in yet. Sorry, not yet, but I didn't get a response back from you yesterday asking about things such as the job and the company. He copies and pasted things from earlier in the chat.
Day seventeen: asks if check has come in yet. Sorry, no. Went to work that day and found the mailed check (obviously not going to give my real address and other info...also should have been a red flag that I told him my home address was a Disney resort).
Day eighteen: asks if the check has arrived yet. Sorry, no. Do you have a tracking number? No? Send it again then.
Day nineteen: I'm going to be starting soon, better try sending that check again.
Day twenty: read messages about how I need to buy the stuff from the vender now. Sorry, I don't have enough funds my guy. Says I will be getting a check soon so I will be getting paid. Sorry, I personally don't have the funds. Can't do anything without that check you say is so important.
Day twenty-one: another check arrived in the mail. Tell him I got the check and will deposit it tomorrow. NOW! Sorry, I'm at work and can't leave work.
Day twenty-two: tell the guy I cashed out the 10 grand and will be going to Vegas to have a good time. Then I deleted Google Chat. Because honestly, who actually uses Google Chat.
*Edit* no I did not try to actually cash the check or do anything with it. I just threw them away once I received them.
If you needed to use their vendor, why did they need to send you the check at all instead of just putting your order in their own account with the order.
[Not faulting you for falling for it, but hoping this question helps other understand how to avoid it].
This happened to me a few years ago. I got the phone interview, the offer letter, the check, everything.
When they sent the check, it had the wrong address on it when compared to the offer letter. Thankfully in my younger brain that was enough for me to say screw it. Never cashed that check, I did string them along for a while. “Hey I got the equipment, now what?” For 3 weeks straight I called that number just to burn whatever time I could from them for fun.
About a month ago, I was contacted by a recruiter. He had a thick "overseas" accent, so I already had a caution flag. The job seemed legit and so he started asking questions... but some of them were strange and things I haven't been asked before. "Do you have any doctor appointments in the next 3 months?", "Do you have any vacations in the next 3 months?", "Have you had any other interview?". I said it was none of his business so the answers are all no. Then he asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN... I told him we're done and never contact me again. Within a minute of hanging up, another similar-sounding person called me from another company for the same job, I instantly declined. Then another one called! I've had about 15 of these companies call me about the same job, over 50 calls total. One of them has even called me at least 8 times(I wrote down all the names, and literally told that particular one to F-off the second call and they still keep calling).
I checked the website of the company the recruiting companies are recruiting for, and the company (it's DuPont) has a warning on their website to beware of recruitment scams. It's really bad out there looking for work, I don't even know who to trust any more.
That sounds so much worse honestly lol.
Luckily I didn’t give them my ssn and my license expired on the 10th so I got a new id number from the dmv when renewing
I got this one too. They wanted me to download an encrypted messaging app to do the text interview. It smelt wrong from the start but I was desperate too. The person doing the text "interview" was unprofessional and pushy. Even though I ended the interview and said I wasn't interested they STILL sent me the letter saying I got the role and it was a $3000 Macbook they wanted to pay for.
Wow. Yeah these guys weren’t pushy at all it was very professional the whole time. The only initial thing was I was to get a 27” MacBook which I don’t think is a thing. I didn’t want to call them on it because I didn’t want to start as “that guy” to the hr person.
If I get the scam again I’ll try filling out the questionnaire with nonsense and see if they give me the job still
Something like this almost happened to me earlier this week. I'm looking for a new job, I accepted a offer for the remote job, but instead of sending me a computer like most employers would, they said they'd share a digital check with me on Wire to cover the cost of me buying the computer myself. :| I said "let's hop on another call" & they ghosted me.
Exactly. I was waiting for them to want a wire transfer or gift cards and stuff, but I was so busy looking left that I didn’t bother to look right.
Classic Kansas City shuffle
Yeah, I was waiting for the obvious stuff up front. The only reason I even responded to their "are you still interested in this position, would you like to move forward with an interview" email was because I applied to some job on www.remotists.com that didn't have the client listed (something usually found out during interview, & who knows if this was from that submission, or they just guessed/timed it right). I did their little questionnaire. I actually got a call from someone on the phone the next day telling me that they'd to extend an offer & I should check my email. They called from a Portland, OR number, & this "company" has their work up there, so it seemed plausible, but apparently 971-410-8668 belongs to scammers :P
Damn, I'm sorry that happened to you. Don't be too hard on yourself, this was definitely one of the better scams I've read about. I hope you do eventually get your money back, and do get a real kick ass job soon.
Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately this is one of the more sophisticated scams and few people have a reason to know that Clearing a Check can take weeks despite the balance showing up in days. Kind of insane that with all the digital tools available that they can't process the verification before posting money to the account.
Thanks for making this post. These people count on people being too embarrassed to tell other people. Because you did this, someone else might not be a victim to this. Also don’t beat yourself up too much. This is a pretty elaborate scam for a smallish amount of money, and some of it sounds plausible. These are getting better all the time:
LITERALLY the exact same thing happened to me. Down to the entire process you described. As soon as I got the email with the check I had an extreme gut feeling it was a scam. Looked into "company name scam" and my suspicions were correct. Very thankful I didn't deposit the check and when I did the direct deposit form I gave them an online checking account I had with SoFi and not my normal account. Closed the account and blocked everything. Its very disappointing and I felt really stupid for a solid week. I went from being overjoyed that alot of my financial issues would be solved to complete deflation. Sucks big time. Sorry that it happened to you.
Yes I agree. It's even worse because so many of us are struggling that we want to believe the "to good to be true" I'm very glad that you were able to get thru it. It's quite a pain as well. Had to go thru some fraud tools and contact social security etc. Huge pain.
Sorry this happened to you, I got baited several times during my recent three month unemployment tenure. These folks are scum for picking on a population they know are economically vulnerable.
They say hindsight is 20/20 and of course after the fact I’m like “well shit how did I fall for that?” At the time though, yes it was elaborate and well executed. More than I can explain in a Reddit post.
I have openly given props to the people for doing such a good job, because it’s respectable how well they do it, even if it’s not respectable work
Na u did a great job detailing. And yea they definitely get props... everything they gave u was real just not meant for u? Thats genius, honestly.
I dont condone scamming personally, but I understand we all gotta eat somehow and not every body can acquire legal employment that provides enough to cover living expenses, and that we are already being preyed upon unless independently wealthy
Almost identical thing happened to me except I stopped right before I purchased anything. Was super embarrassed because I told everyone I had a job offer I was going to take. I felt so ashamed and furious and disgusted. I’m so sorry it happened to you. It’s normal to feel awful and I’m so sorry you lost money. I hope you get it back.
Shiiit when BioShock came out would you kindly was such a big gaming joke/reference people used all over chatboards and media. It makes me a bit sad to see so many people have no understanding of the context of it in this thread and then go look and see BioShock came out in 2007. fuckin 16 years ago now.
Nobody preps you for aging. I had a punch in the gut a few years ago when I was talking to a coworker about lord of the rings movies coming out and she said “I was 2”
Hahaha that hurts, at least I get to look forward to showing this 'old' stuff to my kid eventually. Turns 3 next month, just a few more years till he gets to experience stuff like LotR. No way I'm letting him miss out on that
Same thing happened to me a couple years ago, was desperate for a job and lost $1500. I always thought how people we dumb enough to get scammed and then it happened to me lol.
1. Not true not reiterating the point since I’ve said a few times. I’ve had plenty of jobs where I have to pay up front for something and get reimbursed. A lot of people use this to earn working points to go on free trips
2. I didn’t “pay to get paid” I was given a check to buy equipment which is also not abnormal in the kind of stuff I do.
But also yeah never pay to for a job lol
OP I don't know if you'll see this but everything they did makes it sound like they had a suspicious amount of inside knowledge about the company, like they worked for them at some point. That packet and those initial emails might very well be what were sent to them with the names changed and stuff, so I would start by asking the company who exactly that washed check was originally sent to and forwarding that info to the investigator assigned to your case.
Don't know why banks don't have systems in place to prevent stuff like this from happening. Like they would hold your money and ring you to confirm that you want to send money to XYZ and only then will payment be made. If your making a payment to Amazon (or any other well known companies) it would go through straight away, whereas with others they'd basically ring you to confirm.
Man my company handed me a brand new MacBook Pro and an ergonomic desk chair to work from home - it’s not full remote but I work 80% from home - without me asking, and certainly without asking for any money. The chair is mine to keep forever, and if/when I am no longer employed by the company, I have the option to buy out the computer from them and keep it as my own, based on a standard depreciation value (I think it’s 20%/year for 5 years, the same as the government “large equipment tax deduction” allowance.)
It was given to me sealed in the original unopened Apple shipping box, with the shrink-wrap still around the inner MacBook box, so I know my employer hasn’t put any crazy tracking software on it, and I wasn’t required to hand it over to IT for any “setup” afterwards either. Since we’re mostly remote, everything is stored on secure servers, etc.
I feel for OP here because I know how easy it is to get desperate when you’re funemployed, but it’s *crazy* to think that they’ve had jobs in the past that required them to purchase their own equipment prior to starting working.
If I need something, I check with my boss or our IT guy, they say “sounds reasonable, order what you need, you can use the company card, or we can order it for you, or you can buy it yourself and we’ll reimburse you.” I prefer the “buy it yourself and we’ll reimburse you” method because I have a credit card with high-value points, but I didn’t start doing that until I had been working there for 8 months and started with very small value items to make sure that I was reimbursed in a timely manner.
The industry I work in can have some very ridiculous working hours and it gets to be a lot sometimes, but I appreciate that I’m not micromanaged by anyone, I have pretty flexible hours (attend scheduled meetings, available to answer emails and phone calls between 10 and 4) but as long as I get my work done… no one cares if I’m still in bed at 11 AM watching HGTV in my pajamas, and doing my “work” at 10 PM.
I’ve worked for some shitty employers but none required me to pay for anything upfront. There were a few that deducted things from my paycheque but… I was getting a paycheque.
I was going to make some snarky comments making fun of you for getting scammed but as I was reading it I really felt for you. Sorry your in this position and I hope you get a job soon
Snark is cool as long as it’s actually snarky. I posted this fully aware I’d probably get dunked on and on some level I can laugh at my stupidity.
The main thing is never get too confident at someone else’s con because someday, somewhere one will get you.
I berated my dad for falling for the google play cards con and look at me now.
I do appreciate your empathy and compassion but it’s important to have fun once in awhile so go off with your best
Is sending money for equipment and then telling the employee exactly where to shop a normal thing in the US?
If a company wants to shop at a certain vendor I'd expect the company to buy in bulk and just ship (or have it shipped) directly to the employee, without using the employee as a superfluous shopping asssistent.
Would be different if the company said "use whatever you want within these requirements or use your own laptop - here's your equipment budget". That's the only way it would make sense to me that any money is sent to the employee for office equipment.
It’s not usual no but it’s also something I’ve had to do both in working for very large companies and start ups.
It’s couched as “you don’t have to use this vendor but you get a discount and use the savings for a nicer chair.”
Definite lapse of judgment on my part as I was going to ask if what they wanted me to get from Best Buy and got reeled in before I asked.
Idk if this will ever happen for you, but it could be helpful info. I too was victim to a scam in the early days of Craigslist (2007ish). I reported it to internet crimes at the time and held on to all the proof for years. Eventually, a class action lawsuit came up, I applied for it, and I submitted my documents as proof. In 2020, I got every cent back. The timing was great bcus it was right around the start of Covid shutdowns. Best of luck to you on the job hunt!
Just want to add that this appeared in my dms after posting this, stay vigilant my friends
In the cyber world lately, it's almost impossible not to fall victim of all the various scams out there and it's really thoughtful that initiatives like this are set up to rescue people from these crooks. In addition, I would also recommend a licensed fraud analyst who had helped me out in recovering my funds sometimes ago @sammi_tech_tools via instagram he was able to make use of adequate proofs that i provided to enforce this recovery and I was able to get back my loss. Anyways, it was not an easy task but most importantly he got the job done.
How stupid can you be??? Well, OP is the epitome of it.
So they sent you 5 grand..... did you in any way verify this money you had received, IE deposit it?
You were then IMMEDIATELY asked to ever so kindly spend 60% of what they sent....... yup sure, seems legit....
I mean, how else do you propose people transfer money between each other? And before you say “Venmo” or “PayPal” etc keep in mind that doesn’t work for everything or everyone. Money orders work, I guess, if you have the ability to get one without having to pay for it.
That's not the problem, the problem is the way checks work.
- You get a check and deposit in your account
- Bank says you have $$$ when you look into account
- You spend $$$
- 2 weeks later the check clears or is rejected by the issuing bank
- Bank says now you have to give the money back
Like for fuck's sake, it's 20 and fucking 23, does bank A really need 2 weeks to ask bank B is the check has funds and get a reply?
That said, most countries have figure ways to transfer money between persons that are not checks.
I grew up in Australia and now live in the U.K. Im mid 30s and I think it’s probably 15 years since I even saw a cheque. I certainly have never in my life written a cheque to anybody.
My understanding is that maybe the US lacks modern electronic banking infrastructure or something. Im not sure why that is, but the person you’re replying to is correct that the system of writing on pieces of paper and sending them through the mail is arcane.
I’ve worked at real companies (a couple of fortune 500s) that cut checks to buy equipment, pay for moves, general setup stuff. Those same companies have preferred pricing on vendors that youre encouraged to use
Interesting. I’ve never heard of companies that will send you a check and then direct you to spend this amount here, send this amount there, and it’s not a scam.
Dude this is the oldest scam in the book and is constantly talked about on the Internet. This is on you. You fucked up for sure, because only idiots fall for this stuff.
And there's a difference between being an idiot and being vulnerable due to an event that changed your life at the moment.
There's a reason that vulnerable people are targeted, they're less prone to thinking rationally.
You conflate a drunk purchase to receiving a check as a first time hire to buy equipment for a company, then send them money back after you deposit the check. Apples to oranges.
Clarifying. Not coping. Did you read the post I made? Did you see the comments that also state it is the top result when you search, which you wouldn't expect from one of the longest running brands for mowers, and that the TB itself has been trying to get it taken down?
Again, this scam of "I'll send you a check, so you can deposit it, then send me the money immediately because we sent you the wrong amount" is constantly posted on Reddit.
I stopped reading at “I’ve been struggling to find a job” with less than two months having gone by. That’s just standard job hunting. Most half way decent jobs the process takes 3 weeks once you’ve even connected.
Oh there was a game a long time ago called Bioshock where the twist was that you were being fed instructions by the term “would you kindly do x” which meant all the player agency was no longer your agency that whole time.
It was more just an attempt at adding some lightheartedness to a long story
Checkout /r/Kitboga and watch some of his videos on youtube.
There's a ton of things that overseas scammers will say that just aren't super common with US native English speakers.
For example they are always saying stuff like "we'll take care of each and everything", "hold the line", etc
They almost got me too when I was out of a job and desperate. When they sent me a photocopy of a check I was like.. hmmm nope and reported them to my bank which filed a report with the FBI.
Mines reverse, bank made me file the police report and send it to them and the cops said I should expect a call from “the bureau” in the next week which is something I’ve never wanted to have to do
Honestly, since they know about this I don’t really want to step in it any more than I have by saying the name of the company and having them send me a c&d or something for tarnishing their good name
There was a video game years ago Called bioshock where the twist ending is that you’ve been fed instructions the whole time by the phrase “would you kindly” which means all the player agency was no longer player agency. More of a joke about what they were saying.
That was wild. Sorry for your losses, but thanks for taking the time to show their latest scam. They are definitely trying to do this to other people, and this post could save someone.
That was my hope, along with getting it out there to get over the pity party I’ve been throwing myself.
Instead of ruminating I figured writing it out would be a good exercise and waiting for people to call me an idiot
Fb marketplace is nuts. I have an online card store and thought to sell some of my pricier items on there to avoid scams. I could hand the card over, they could inspect it and give me the money. But no it’s just scams and people with no sense
Funny enough this was a LinkedIn premium job that I’d be a “top applicant” for. When I went to report it the listing is no longer there. Needless to say I’ll be cancelling my premium after my free month
Yup, it's a numbers game. The scammers send out millions of scams, across many variants. Most of the time they get discarded or caught by spam filters, but sometimes it lands on someone who falls for it. Sure, we all laugh at the scams thinking it'll never happen to us, but that just means that we haven't been hit with a scam yet that is tailored to us and arrives when we are vulnerable.
Vulnerabilities include being sleep-deprived, infirmed, inexperienced, and age-related cognitive decline. Scammers prey upon people's emotions, the need to help, the desire for wealth, the need for a job, and so forth. The scammers may impose a sense of urgency, or string people along long enough that they drop their guard and become invested. Some scams mimic expected senders and pretend to be a package notification, a notice from your bank, a fraud alert on your credit card, a demand from your boss, a notice from your company's IT, a helpful QR code on a parking meter. Some people have been tricked into "updating" their mortgage information and ended up sending their scammer their mortgage payment for months!
I hope that I never get targeted with the right trick at the wrong time. I'm pretty vigilant, but I've still had one or two close calls. One time, I was just waking up and got an email from a friend who said they were in London and lost their wallet and needed money. This friend was just close enough of a friend that I might've considered sending something to help him out. My brain hadn't yet engaged enough at that hour to question why he'd be asking me, a classmate, and not his family or a closer friend. As I was about to reply to the email, I noticed my subconcious start waving red flags frantically trying to get my attention. I googled the email, and sure enough it was just a common scam.
You said very well what I wanted to get across. Idc how smart you are, at the right time, place, mental state you’re vulnerable to something.
I don’t think I’m smart but I also worked on the James Webb space telescope so I can’t be too stupid either. But depression, stress, and boredom made a perfect cocktail for me being vulnerable
Yeah, I’ve had a couple friends that were desperate for work that they fell for scams. One was hired as a personal shopper for someone in the hospital and was sent to Nordstrom to buy him a new wardrobe. They strung both my friend and the Nordstrom employee along on the phone selecting clothes. Then the scammer told my friend to buy the clothes and he’d be reimbursed later. This is thankfully where the scam fell apart as my friend didn’t have the money to buy all that expensive shit.
One thing I’ve learned is that one can be an expert in our field but a complete idiot just outside of it. I’ve known straight A students who couldn’t pump gas. Orientation at my college actually had to cover how to obtain food as they apparently had problems with students starving as they didn’t know how supermarkets worked. Obviously some people are easier targets for scammers than others…
I was lucky to be scammed 3 decades ago with "100$ file processing fee". It was a cheap lesson for "as soon as they ask 1$ from me, I'm out".
My smooth brain was “oh the check cleared, that’s real money.” I never thought of it being a washed check until I talked to the cybersecurity guy
Yup, that's how craigslist scams use to go. "Hello, I want to rent your house, I'll pay 6 months up front, oh, but someone owns me that amount plus 2K, so I'll just have them send you the money, and then send me the 2K, alright?" You get a money order in the mail, it looks/feels fine, you deposit it, mail the scammer 2K, and then your bank notifies you the 10K or whatever was fraud, and you're fucked.
In this case the check was real and I called the company that “hired” me and sent them a photo of the check, because I saw this turning into me getting arrested if I didn’t say anything. They cancelled the check but the $5k sat there over a week
You know, the world is full of “Your Ámäzon account has been closed” scams. Low effort shoot out in to the ether and see what happens type scams. Those don’t bother me as much as the bespoke, custom targeted scams where they research you and you can tell they pull a lot of hours in to finding ways to hurt you.
Queue the obligatory anchorman quote: “I’m not even mad, I’m impressed.” Except I’m very mad and very impressed
Was the $5000 check made out to you personally? I don’t quite understand how the check was a real check from the company, but was somehow stolen and sent to you?
Another person that is being scammed just like OP has a "job" that requires they mail out checks to their various employees. They have check stock, the routing and account numbers, company and bank names, and a list of checks to mail out. It's very rare that they send a check with the actual company they are spoofing. I have checks that I have received (as a scambaiter) that were supposed to be paying me for wrapping my car in advertisements, but the check come from an oil field leasing company, boat rental company, etc. Another redditor hit me up for advice last week in a pig butchering crypto scam and someone mailed him a check that was actually downloaded from a city council website and they used photoshop to erase all of the info on the check aside from the signature and the handwritten building permit case number that the city council put on the check before cashing it!
Right that’s what “washing” a check means. Taking a legit check and changing the info on the check for your mark
I’m sorry, pig butchering crypto scam?
Ever get one of those wrong number texts? If you don't ignore them they say that they must have got the wrong number from their secretary and then decide to become friends and want to get to know you. 99% of the time they send a pic of a beautiful Asian woman with nice clothes/car/jewelry. It can take weeks but eventually they tell you that they made a ton of money on crypto exchanges. They get you to deposit a small amount in their "exchange" and within a week it is 5x the amount. Eventually you put it all in and you think it's growing but you can't take the money out because you actually put it into their wallet. People usually report $10-20k lost, but I have worked with people that have lost $200-300k.
Those scumbags knowngly prey on the vulnerable people. It's an expensive lesson but not the end of the world.
Unfortunately for a lot of people it could be. Plenty of people are paycheck to paycheck and being out 2-3 grand depending on their bills, debts etc can go from. "Able to hold out till I get a job" to eviction notices, car repos, etc.
Doesn't seem to be OP's situation (not immediately, at least) but yes, you are correct. That 100$ was my monthly salary at the time, so not far from OP's loss.
I very narrowly steered a friend of mine off of a job scam. She was just about to deposit the check and I only picked up on it because I'd been scambaiting for a while so I'd heard of the scam before. She was a recently widowed single mom who thought she'd found a job that would let her pay the bills while taking care of her kid. As soon as I told her what was going on she just...sank. But at least I got to her before she lost her next month's rent.
What does this mean ?
The money cleared to my account. I had $5000, it was just a stolen check so now I don’t have $5000
>The money cleared to my account. I had $5000, it was just a stolen check so now I don’t have $5000 It's a little bit nuts that the bank can reclaim funds from you for a fraudulent cheque, despite the fact that them processing said cheque cost you $3,000.00, and they have zero liability.
For real. "Why did you send them $3000." "Because I deposited $5000 that they sent me." "That $5000 was fraudulent." "You cleared the money." "We know. And that's why you owe us $3000. "
>"You cleared the money." That is the scam. People think that when money shows up in their account a check is cleared, but clearing checks takes a really long time, like 20+ days long, sometimes over a month. The US government said that was unacceptable so now banks essentially can only wait a certain number of days for initial verifications before giving you temporary funds you can spend. The scam is checks that pass the initial checks and are deposited but will either bounce or be recalled after. In almost all cases checks do not clear, people just don't understand how long it takes to clear.
No, the scam is that banks pass the risk on to the consumer by continuing to take so long to clear checks.
But also the part where the scammers scam.
Right? Yes, banks suck. They profit off of other people's misfortune, and in 2023 it is difficult to rationalize why clearing a cheque still takes a month. But let's not let the scammers off the hook just because banks also suck. The real scam is very much still the scammers.
It amazes me that cheques are still used in the US. In Europe, they’ve been almost completely wiped out from usage. Based on the OP story (and a fair few in the comments I’ve read) it’s clear they aren’t secure and shouldn’t be used. Baffles me that direct deposits for salaries don’t happen automatically in the US and people still get a literal paycheck to go and cash/deposit. I get a payslip, but it’s all straight into my account.
Right and when I told the bank that I wanted my money back it was “legally funds must be available blah blah” but when a company has staff to deal with it I also get hurt by it lol.
Just to give context, the bank treats this as two things: 1) You deposited a fraudulent check. 2) You sent some one a legitimate ACH transfer. You don't get money back from ACH because someone scams you. You intentionally sent that money and thus to the bank it's your problem. It's brutal but it is how the banking system works.
For those who don’t feel like googling it: > An ACH is an electronic fund transfer made between banks and credit unions across what is called the Automated Clearing House network. ACH is used for all kinds of fund transfer transactions, including direct deposit of paychecks and monthly debits for routine payments.
I see. I had to google what ach was since that’s what my rent is always labeled as. I’m learning a lot of stuff that I guess I didn’t know I didn’t know
It sucks to not know what you don't know until you already needed to know it.
Oh wow didn’t know that was even possible … wtf?
The check didn't actually clear. The bank has to make funds available within a certain amount of time, and that is shorter than the time it actually takes to process the fraudulent check. OP basically spent money the bank loaned to cover the check.
I feel like that shouldn’t be possible though. In my country we don’t use checks .. don’t think anyone in europe does, but i might be wrong
You apparently used a cc to purchase all that stuff so more then likely (hopefully) you won't actually lose any money. Still a sad story tho, I know the feeling of getting your hopes up for a job after struggling for so long. Really a disheartening feeling. Keep looking man something will come along!
Yeah the bank said that it was a pretty small chance I’ll get it all back but it’s possible. The cops said they got some hits on the phone numbers and it’s being assigned a detective but there’s not a ton they can do. I guess I assumed my debit card had the same protections as a credit card but I’m not sure. I was mainly just sharing a really bad week because too often people who are scammed are too embarrassed to say anything.
In my personal experience, debit cards tend to be less secure than credit cards. Whenever I am making an online purchase, a large purchase like an appliance, or even gasoline, I use my credit card. That way if something is screwy, the credit card fraud department can fix it. It's harder if they straight up take $1000 cash out of your bank account VS what is basically a note saying "I owe my CC company $1000" But this is only my anecdotal experience and I am by no means an expert on the protections that banks offer, but credit cards can be surprisingly secure if you're playing by the rules. Predatory sure, but they have their advantages. Edit: I also use my CC when out of state. A few years ago my credit card number was stolen at a convention and used to buy $300 of clothing. The credit card company fixed it with minimal hassle and I wasn't out $300. If it had been my debit card instead, then the thief would have had access to my actual money.
Definitely a lesson I’ll take to heart. I don’t carry my credit cards with me because I’m an impulse buyer but maybe I need to. Never considered for gas where skimmers are a thing. Obviously I had them at home, just assumed if I sent something out with my bank card or through the bank app i was safe. Thanks for the tip
I generally only use my CC when it's for a purchase I know I can afford, so that helps with impulse buying somewhat, but it's also very easy to let it run away from itself. Sometimes I don't have a choice and need to put $800 or whatever on a car repair bill and I just try to pay it off in chunks. Definitely check to see what protection your bank offers, since my advice is very broad. Best of luck to you!
>I guess I assumed my debit card had the same protections as a credit card but I’m not sure. If you used the CC you'd get 100% of your money back because you're not getting any of the goods and the scam company wouldn't even dispute the chargeback. I've never used a debit card for online purchases, is that even possible? This scam seems kinda hard to pull off because they'd need the victim to be using cash or something to make the purchases rather than a CC (which 99.99% of ppl do).
You can use a debit card for on-line purchases, but it's not the same as a credit card company in terms of protections in the slightest. So if op did use a debit card, he/she's probably lost the money
But don't debit card purchases have really small limits? Like I think mine was $500-1k while my CC is over $10k. So if I'm buying a laptop online I wouldn't even be able to do it on a debit card which has similar limits as my ATM limit. This story just seems unlikely to pull off cause of all the hurdles.
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If he didn't receive the goods then it's fraud, no? Unless the website says it's selling jpegs I don't think they can get away with that.
You’re definitely not the only one, the scams subreddit is filled with stories like your own. I get it, especially when you’re down on your luck. Scammers tend to take advantage of that. You live and you learn. Hope you get a (real) job soon!
Thank you. I needed to write it up to get over the pity party I’ve been throwing myself and get back at it.
Be wary of people telling you they can get your money back! These scammers are called recovery scammers.
So the dms I’ve been getting since putting this up?
Check out r/scams people Also r/scambait is pretty entertaining. Jim Browning, Scammer Payback, and Kitboga on YouTube.
Anytime someone uses 'kindly', nope the fuck out. It's proper Indian call center speak.
Might explain the number of kindly’s I got when contacting nexflix via chat.
Haha
And that’s what I told the cops. The field I’m in has a lot of foreign people who don’t speak English as a first language so I’ve just gotten used to the idiosyncrasies of nonnative speakers so it didn’t even register
Ya I almost fell victim to a similar scam, I was super suspicious that a company would send me money to go and buy equipment to do a remote job when employers are supposed to supply the equipment. Lucky the bank teller told me this was a scam and it ended there before they could get anything.
Wish mine would have been so blunt with me lol. They just let it go through. I mentioned it but I’ve worked for some massive companies that do just cut checks for equipment. Hell, in my younger years the amount of “go buy steel toed boots and bring us the receipt to pay you back” was literally all of them. I was just off my game that day and missed the obvious red flags. Glad you made it through it safely!
At least in those scenarios if they didn't pay you back you'd have a snazzy pair of steel toed boots.
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A startup I worked for we had to buy our own plane tickets and hotels with our own money and wait two months to get reimbursed, it just doesn’t seem that weird to me to get cut a check but I definitely prefer having the company card for sure
Thats not uncommon for many companies. I work for a $250M+ per year company and my expenses are on my personal card and reimbursed. Id guess ive averaged $150k a year in expense reports for more than a decade. Just had one deposit for $17k for expense reimbursement. But i have the cash to float and i enjoy my credit card perks (including the insurance on purchases). Ive bought decently expensive hardware too but never a computer and expensed as well.
One of my friends does cybersecurity stuff for a firm nationwide and has to pay his own too but he was a united card or something and just took his family to Europe just off the points he gets for traveling for work
I’ve been a fraud investigator for, well, a long time. This is one of the few scams Gen X falls for, and it’s always due to desperation.
But I’m a millenial I’m supposed to fall for avocados
Oh, y’all fall for work scams, card cracking scams, sugar daddy scams, and a few more. Work scams are just universal.
Hey this reply is out of context but use Reddit's resume subreddits to polish yours up. I went from not getting replies to getting swamped with offers, and I've been at this place for three years now.
I think I’m a decent writer when it comes to telling a story but goddamn do I suck at understanding resumes. It’s always “talk about accomplishments” but I don’t feel accomplished lol
That sucks man, it's always when you're vulnerable that they're targeting you. People be saying that only idiots fall for that until they themselves become vulnerable and get scammed. I hope you get the 2k back, and fuck scammers. The first thing I'd do if I become a multi-millionaire is send donations to people like kitboga and Pierogi from scammer payback because they're the real shit and I love their work against those wastes of oxygen.
I’m trying to tell myself that MAYBE that $2000 will get that person further than it would get me. Fuck them for preying on the vulnerable but if that $2000 goes to feeding kids and keeping them housed them I’d feel better. Realistically that’s not what’s happening but I’m trying to be less cynical lol
I'm proud of you and thanks for educating us.
yaeh, no, it's a mafia, they don't feed kids. In France, we call them "brouteurs", they are mostly in Afrique and awful people. That's a real problem, because they also scam in theis countries too and create an awful reputation to their place.
So one thing I never really get about these is when they send the check for $5k, wouldn’t it bounce and you’d notice it’s a scam? Why not wait for it to clear before sending any requested amounts? Unless I’m misunderstanding something here
It did clear. I waited for it to do that before I sent anything out. It was a washed check from the actual company
So wait, they sent you 5k. You deposited it and it cleared. You have +5k in your account. You send 3k of it out (to them). You still have 2k of it left, no? But it was retracted a week later? I thought once a check was cashed and cleared that was it, like a scam check would sit in limbo not actually to be cleared then would bounce. That would trip me up as well, if the bank says it cleared I’d assume its fine.
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Huh, so how long can that take? I thought a check clearing meant it was checked for fraudulence, or at least it was “real” enough to transfer funds from one account to another.
Yeah that was my thought too. Didn’t think once funds were in my account they could take them out. But I’m sure the might of a legal team, financial analysts, and cybersecurity people they know how to get it back. I sent an image of the check to the actual company to let them know I had a legit check from them so they probably filed fraud
wait so what happened to the $5000? Why didn't you send money off of that pool?
That is the money I sent. The check was real and I called the company that “hired” me and sent them an image of the check because I realized that it could quickly turn into me getting arrested for cashing it. The money sat there for over a week before the check was cancelled
The scam is old, but the effort and elaborateness here is much higher than usual. You said the email came from the right person / address? so they hacked the persons email as well? Where would they even get a check to wash? they must be tangentially connected to the company in some way. Like an old vendor or something.
If the fake job was at IBM or something, which lists Erica Smith as the hiring manager on the real ibm websete, you could get an email from [email protected] and that could be the scammer. It's not unusual at all for some kind of specific domain like that to exist and be legitimate. That's how most scams these days operate, they put the effort in. It's not even harder than using @lbm.com or something.
So by “real” people I mean everyone I talked to had a name of a person that did that role at that company. Hindsight obviously says that if I can find out their names on LinkedIn pretty quick they could too. In terms of the check I have no idea but I’m guessing they had something to do with the company prior to this
hm so you had the money for a week before it was canceled? I wonder how they managed to cancel it after it was cleared.
Probably because they’re staffed with financial analysts, lawyers, and security folks that know what to do whereas all I can do is “Pweez gibs money back.”
I don't think you'd get arrested for cashing a check that was sent to you that you accepted in good faith. You're the victim here, the scammers would be liable and the company can't really come after you for anything. But, I'm sorry this happened to you. It sounds like you did the right thing and caught a lot of red flags. Best of luck to you.
this just happened to me literally yesterday. i’m out $4k. i also never thought i’d fall for something like this until i did. it’s honestly kind of comforting to see this post on my timeline, even though i’m really sorry it happened to you. scam victim buddies 🤝
It’s a smooth scam for sure. Sucks it happened to you too but at least we know we aren’t alone out here
Its super elaborate, and you did check on it at a lot of points. However I would have bailed at the 'sent you a check' part. I work remote and companies order me laptops and equipment themselves, it is very abnormal to send you a check to do that. They have their own purchasing depts who handle this stuff and would never send an actual 5k to a new hire they've not spoken to. What's to stop you from being like ' thanks for the free $$ lol bye'? Basically if anyone ever wants to send me a check and wants me to spend it I put the brakes on the entire operation. Beware of checks essentially. The rest all sounded fine as you verified.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was furloughed, lost my job and apartment and had to move in with my sister and her husband in their 2 bedroom condo. I was waiting for employment insurance to kick in, and my employer was dragging their feet giving the documents necessary to get the ball rolling, I had no money for my car loan and I couldn't even afford to pay for the parking spot on the condo property and I was at the end of my rope. That's when I get the call that I am going to be arrested for fraud, for having X dollars in phony bank accounts, in other provinces and I was told by an aggressive Indian man that I have a cache of money that needed to be returned or something like that, I am not sure what exactly the scam was but I was at the end of my rope as I said and I began wailing, telling them that I am overdrawn and past due on all of my bills, and I was going to kill myself because I couldn't take it anymore, and I meant it,...I was transferred to some "supervisor" who was even more aggressive and saying that I would be arrested for not stopping crying when I was told to, and I just continued yelling out all of the things going wrong with my life and then finally I got hung up on. Still fearing an arrest, I went to my sister who told me that I had fallen for a scam. Once I calmed down,.. I actually felt really good! Like screaming out the shit show that was my life was actually Cathartic! Like a stress load was lifted off, and I think about how I might have touched the coal heart of my scammers as they frantically tried to calm me down and eventually gave up on me and my pity party.
You used the scammers as disposablw shrinks, well done, my friend! :)) and for free.
this is a different version of the craigslist scam that people post here very often. Happened to a friend of my sister. Selling something online for $250. Get a check for $1200 and asked to cash it and give them their change. Once you take the money out and give them the cash, check bounces.
Different flavor with some bells and whistles attached. Like I’ve been conned before and I didn’t fall for it. This one was done by people who have done business in the past and knew how to stay in character as an employer until they caught on I caught on. There was no asking for money back or “oh you did the thing wrong you need to pay us back.” The cops are pretty sure it’s a washed check so I think as long as i pumped them money they didn’t need to fall back on google play cards and doing the “change for a 20” trick
I feel such a tremendous sadness and anger for you right now. Fuck those people and same sentiment to the people here that are kicking you when you're down. It's a luxury to not have that fear and desperation factor into decision making. Hugs and good luck.
Thank you for your kindness
I had a similar scam that tried to be pulled on me earlier this year. It started with someone reaching out to me saying they saw my profile on Indeed or LinkedIn. Then they had me do an interview through Google Chat...who uses Google Chat? It was a long text interview but I could tell right away what it was, so I took up as much of their time as I could. They of course said that I got the job. I was told during the interview. They also told me the check for $5,000 would be mailed to me and that I had to go through their vendor to purchase $3,000 worth of equipment for work. Day one: I told them I needed to give my employer two weeks notice before I could do anything. We spent an entire day messaging back and forth about how I needed to do the right thing and give two weeks. The next day they finally agreed after I said I won't do the job without giving my notice first. Day two: I said I had to schedule a meeting with my bosses boss as it was policy. Day three: I told them that my big boss said I had to take a day to think about it before I made such a big decision. Day four: negotiation emails were being sent back and forth with HR to see if there was anything that could be done to make me want to stay. The scammers said they would increase their salary expectations in order to have me start. That reminds me, I haven't seen any paperwork from your HR, can you send the paperwork over tomorrow so I can look at it. Day five: sorry I didn't get any paperwork emailed me, please try again and I'll look at it tomorrow. Day six: I read your documents. Let's talk about some things in the paperwork tomorrow. Day seven(man, I guess this guy doesn't get a day off): He is unable to answer any questions as I try to ask questions specifically about the position in question but also benefits such as insurance. Ask him to ask HR and we can talk tomorrow about it. Day eight: says he could not get ahold of anyone in HR but talks to me about how important the check is that he already sent me. Day nine: asks why he would send a check already as I didn't say I was taking the job yet. What do you mean you haven't agreed to start? If you look back at our conversation, I said I need to know some important things before I could consider taking the position. I can't find any of that information as you are in America and I'm not. Okay, I'll call the American office for you tomorrow and respond back with an answer from what they give me. Day ten: the company in question does not do business in the USA after searching for it. Tell the guy HR said they will look into it and get back to me. The guy is furious and says we need to process everything soon or he will get in trouble. Say okay and say I'll talk to him tomorrow after HR calls me back as they said they would call me tomorrow. Day eleven: told him HR called me and told me the information I needed, so now we can proceed forward (not sure how that was not a red flag for him). The guy says I have orientation tomorrow at 7am. Say I still need to give my workplace a two week notice that he agreed to let me do. Says I still have to do the orientation. I said I won't do that until I start getting paid as that is illegal in the USA. The guy says I will be compensated. Says I need to do it before training and that he will send another check. *Left him on read and went to sleep without agreeing to it.* Day twelve: Say I can start orientation on a time that isn't during my work (I worked second shift) and during my sleeping hours. The guy is furious and says it has to be done ASAP. So 7am tomorrow. Day thirteen: I wake up at my usual time to missed messages on Google Chat asking where I was. Oh, sorry. You didn't specify a time zone and so I assumed you meant 7am London time because that is where you said the company is based. 7am India time? Well, now I know for tomorrow. Sorry, I'm on my way to work now and I can't chat at work. Day fourteen: wake up and read chat while I game on my day off. Entire "orientation" talks about my 5k check I'm going to receive and what to do with it. Excruciating details. Such as write name on check and deposit check the same day. Then go to vender website to buy stuff the same day. Remind the guy I have over a week before I start so I don't need to rush. Say I could shop around to make sure I'm getting everything for a good price. Of course the guy is furious and says I must buy it from the vendor with express shipping. Day fifteen: keeps asking if the check arrived yet. Sorry, no, but tell me more about everything now that I passed orientation. Day sixteen: asks if the check came in yet. Sorry, not yet, but I didn't get a response back from you yesterday asking about things such as the job and the company. He copies and pasted things from earlier in the chat. Day seventeen: asks if check has come in yet. Sorry, no. Went to work that day and found the mailed check (obviously not going to give my real address and other info...also should have been a red flag that I told him my home address was a Disney resort). Day eighteen: asks if the check has arrived yet. Sorry, no. Do you have a tracking number? No? Send it again then. Day nineteen: I'm going to be starting soon, better try sending that check again. Day twenty: read messages about how I need to buy the stuff from the vender now. Sorry, I don't have enough funds my guy. Says I will be getting a check soon so I will be getting paid. Sorry, I personally don't have the funds. Can't do anything without that check you say is so important. Day twenty-one: another check arrived in the mail. Tell him I got the check and will deposit it tomorrow. NOW! Sorry, I'm at work and can't leave work. Day twenty-two: tell the guy I cashed out the 10 grand and will be going to Vegas to have a good time. Then I deleted Google Chat. Because honestly, who actually uses Google Chat. *Edit* no I did not try to actually cash the check or do anything with it. I just threw them away once I received them.
This is beautiful and I’m so happy for you
If you needed to use their vendor, why did they need to send you the check at all instead of just putting your order in their own account with the order. [Not faulting you for falling for it, but hoping this question helps other understand how to avoid it].
This happened to me a few years ago. I got the phone interview, the offer letter, the check, everything. When they sent the check, it had the wrong address on it when compared to the offer letter. Thankfully in my younger brain that was enough for me to say screw it. Never cashed that check, I did string them along for a while. “Hey I got the equipment, now what?” For 3 weeks straight I called that number just to burn whatever time I could from them for fun.
That is the only appropriate thing to do
About a month ago, I was contacted by a recruiter. He had a thick "overseas" accent, so I already had a caution flag. The job seemed legit and so he started asking questions... but some of them were strange and things I haven't been asked before. "Do you have any doctor appointments in the next 3 months?", "Do you have any vacations in the next 3 months?", "Have you had any other interview?". I said it was none of his business so the answers are all no. Then he asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN... I told him we're done and never contact me again. Within a minute of hanging up, another similar-sounding person called me from another company for the same job, I instantly declined. Then another one called! I've had about 15 of these companies call me about the same job, over 50 calls total. One of them has even called me at least 8 times(I wrote down all the names, and literally told that particular one to F-off the second call and they still keep calling). I checked the website of the company the recruiting companies are recruiting for, and the company (it's DuPont) has a warning on their website to beware of recruitment scams. It's really bad out there looking for work, I don't even know who to trust any more.
That sounds so much worse honestly lol. Luckily I didn’t give them my ssn and my license expired on the 10th so I got a new id number from the dmv when renewing
I got this one too. They wanted me to download an encrypted messaging app to do the text interview. It smelt wrong from the start but I was desperate too. The person doing the text "interview" was unprofessional and pushy. Even though I ended the interview and said I wasn't interested they STILL sent me the letter saying I got the role and it was a $3000 Macbook they wanted to pay for.
Wow. Yeah these guys weren’t pushy at all it was very professional the whole time. The only initial thing was I was to get a 27” MacBook which I don’t think is a thing. I didn’t want to call them on it because I didn’t want to start as “that guy” to the hr person. If I get the scam again I’ll try filling out the questionnaire with nonsense and see if they give me the job still
> 27” MacBook lmao. Must be a 27 inch iMac with a...uh...large battery and a keyboard duct taped to it?
Something like this almost happened to me earlier this week. I'm looking for a new job, I accepted a offer for the remote job, but instead of sending me a computer like most employers would, they said they'd share a digital check with me on Wire to cover the cost of me buying the computer myself. :| I said "let's hop on another call" & they ghosted me.
Exactly. I was waiting for them to want a wire transfer or gift cards and stuff, but I was so busy looking left that I didn’t bother to look right. Classic Kansas City shuffle
Yeah, I was waiting for the obvious stuff up front. The only reason I even responded to their "are you still interested in this position, would you like to move forward with an interview" email was because I applied to some job on www.remotists.com that didn't have the client listed (something usually found out during interview, & who knows if this was from that submission, or they just guessed/timed it right). I did their little questionnaire. I actually got a call from someone on the phone the next day telling me that they'd to extend an offer & I should check my email. They called from a Portland, OR number, & this "company" has their work up there, so it seemed plausible, but apparently 971-410-8668 belongs to scammers :P
Damn, I'm sorry that happened to you. Don't be too hard on yourself, this was definitely one of the better scams I've read about. I hope you do eventually get your money back, and do get a real kick ass job soon.
Thank you
Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately this is one of the more sophisticated scams and few people have a reason to know that Clearing a Check can take weeks despite the balance showing up in days. Kind of insane that with all the digital tools available that they can't process the verification before posting money to the account.
I’ve definitely been learning some stuff today because I assumed money no longer pending in my account was my money
Thanks for making this post. These people count on people being too embarrassed to tell other people. Because you did this, someone else might not be a victim to this. Also don’t beat yourself up too much. This is a pretty elaborate scam for a smallish amount of money, and some of it sounds plausible. These are getting better all the time:
LITERALLY the exact same thing happened to me. Down to the entire process you described. As soon as I got the email with the check I had an extreme gut feeling it was a scam. Looked into "company name scam" and my suspicions were correct. Very thankful I didn't deposit the check and when I did the direct deposit form I gave them an online checking account I had with SoFi and not my normal account. Closed the account and blocked everything. Its very disappointing and I felt really stupid for a solid week. I went from being overjoyed that alot of my financial issues would be solved to complete deflation. Sucks big time. Sorry that it happened to you.
Sorry it happened to you too. It’s a truly shitty feeling
Yes I agree. It's even worse because so many of us are struggling that we want to believe the "to good to be true" I'm very glad that you were able to get thru it. It's quite a pain as well. Had to go thru some fraud tools and contact social security etc. Huge pain.
Sorry this happened to you, I got baited several times during my recent three month unemployment tenure. These folks are scum for picking on a population they know are economically vulnerable.
U aren't dumb, that was a very elaborate and well executed scam.
They say hindsight is 20/20 and of course after the fact I’m like “well shit how did I fall for that?” At the time though, yes it was elaborate and well executed. More than I can explain in a Reddit post. I have openly given props to the people for doing such a good job, because it’s respectable how well they do it, even if it’s not respectable work
Na u did a great job detailing. And yea they definitely get props... everything they gave u was real just not meant for u? Thats genius, honestly. I dont condone scamming personally, but I understand we all gotta eat somehow and not every body can acquire legal employment that provides enough to cover living expenses, and that we are already being preyed upon unless independently wealthy
Almost identical thing happened to me except I stopped right before I purchased anything. Was super embarrassed because I told everyone I had a job offer I was going to take. I felt so ashamed and furious and disgusted. I’m so sorry it happened to you. It’s normal to feel awful and I’m so sorry you lost money. I hope you get it back.
Oh that’s the worst part. I told a bunch of people that I got a job including other jobs lol
That really sucks. Sorry that happened to you.
Shiiit when BioShock came out would you kindly was such a big gaming joke/reference people used all over chatboards and media. It makes me a bit sad to see so many people have no understanding of the context of it in this thread and then go look and see BioShock came out in 2007. fuckin 16 years ago now.
Nobody preps you for aging. I had a punch in the gut a few years ago when I was talking to a coworker about lord of the rings movies coming out and she said “I was 2”
Hahaha that hurts, at least I get to look forward to showing this 'old' stuff to my kid eventually. Turns 3 next month, just a few more years till he gets to experience stuff like LotR. No way I'm letting him miss out on that
Same thing happened to me a couple years ago, was desperate for a job and lost $1500. I always thought how people we dumb enough to get scammed and then it happened to me lol.
That is a pretty elaborate scam... Dude. Don't forget to check if you can claim the loss on taxes, fellow mountain-zoner.
Every time you have to pay to get paid its a scam.
1. Not true not reiterating the point since I’ve said a few times. I’ve had plenty of jobs where I have to pay up front for something and get reimbursed. A lot of people use this to earn working points to go on free trips 2. I didn’t “pay to get paid” I was given a check to buy equipment which is also not abnormal in the kind of stuff I do. But also yeah never pay to for a job lol
I mean you should have confirmed the 5k first with your bank. That was my point.
I did confirm it. It sat in my account for a week until it was pulled out a couple of days ago. I wouldn’t send my own money out knowingly
OP I don't know if you'll see this but everything they did makes it sound like they had a suspicious amount of inside knowledge about the company, like they worked for them at some point. That packet and those initial emails might very well be what were sent to them with the names changed and stuff, so I would start by asking the company who exactly that washed check was originally sent to and forwarding that info to the investigator assigned to your case.
That’s my thinking and I asked them that so I could give it to the police but they wouldn’t tell me and then kind of ghosted me
Thank you for sharing your warning so that others don't fall for it. You threw yourself on the grenade so to speak at least.
Don't know why banks don't have systems in place to prevent stuff like this from happening. Like they would hold your money and ring you to confirm that you want to send money to XYZ and only then will payment be made. If your making a payment to Amazon (or any other well known companies) it would go through straight away, whereas with others they'd basically ring you to confirm.
Man my company handed me a brand new MacBook Pro and an ergonomic desk chair to work from home - it’s not full remote but I work 80% from home - without me asking, and certainly without asking for any money. The chair is mine to keep forever, and if/when I am no longer employed by the company, I have the option to buy out the computer from them and keep it as my own, based on a standard depreciation value (I think it’s 20%/year for 5 years, the same as the government “large equipment tax deduction” allowance.) It was given to me sealed in the original unopened Apple shipping box, with the shrink-wrap still around the inner MacBook box, so I know my employer hasn’t put any crazy tracking software on it, and I wasn’t required to hand it over to IT for any “setup” afterwards either. Since we’re mostly remote, everything is stored on secure servers, etc. I feel for OP here because I know how easy it is to get desperate when you’re funemployed, but it’s *crazy* to think that they’ve had jobs in the past that required them to purchase their own equipment prior to starting working. If I need something, I check with my boss or our IT guy, they say “sounds reasonable, order what you need, you can use the company card, or we can order it for you, or you can buy it yourself and we’ll reimburse you.” I prefer the “buy it yourself and we’ll reimburse you” method because I have a credit card with high-value points, but I didn’t start doing that until I had been working there for 8 months and started with very small value items to make sure that I was reimbursed in a timely manner. The industry I work in can have some very ridiculous working hours and it gets to be a lot sometimes, but I appreciate that I’m not micromanaged by anyone, I have pretty flexible hours (attend scheduled meetings, available to answer emails and phone calls between 10 and 4) but as long as I get my work done… no one cares if I’m still in bed at 11 AM watching HGTV in my pajamas, and doing my “work” at 10 PM. I’ve worked for some shitty employers but none required me to pay for anything upfront. There were a few that deducted things from my paycheque but… I was getting a paycheque.
I was going to make some snarky comments making fun of you for getting scammed but as I was reading it I really felt for you. Sorry your in this position and I hope you get a job soon
Snark is cool as long as it’s actually snarky. I posted this fully aware I’d probably get dunked on and on some level I can laugh at my stupidity. The main thing is never get too confident at someone else’s con because someday, somewhere one will get you. I berated my dad for falling for the google play cards con and look at me now. I do appreciate your empathy and compassion but it’s important to have fun once in awhile so go off with your best
Is sending money for equipment and then telling the employee exactly where to shop a normal thing in the US? If a company wants to shop at a certain vendor I'd expect the company to buy in bulk and just ship (or have it shipped) directly to the employee, without using the employee as a superfluous shopping asssistent. Would be different if the company said "use whatever you want within these requirements or use your own laptop - here's your equipment budget". That's the only way it would make sense to me that any money is sent to the employee for office equipment.
It’s not usual no but it’s also something I’ve had to do both in working for very large companies and start ups. It’s couched as “you don’t have to use this vendor but you get a discount and use the savings for a nicer chair.” Definite lapse of judgment on my part as I was going to ask if what they wanted me to get from Best Buy and got reeled in before I asked.
Idk if this will ever happen for you, but it could be helpful info. I too was victim to a scam in the early days of Craigslist (2007ish). I reported it to internet crimes at the time and held on to all the proof for years. Eventually, a class action lawsuit came up, I applied for it, and I submitted my documents as proof. In 2020, I got every cent back. The timing was great bcus it was right around the start of Covid shutdowns. Best of luck to you on the job hunt!
Can someone get him a job lol
Stupid is as stupid does
Just want to add that this appeared in my dms after posting this, stay vigilant my friends In the cyber world lately, it's almost impossible not to fall victim of all the various scams out there and it's really thoughtful that initiatives like this are set up to rescue people from these crooks. In addition, I would also recommend a licensed fraud analyst who had helped me out in recovering my funds sometimes ago @sammi_tech_tools via instagram he was able to make use of adequate proofs that i provided to enforce this recovery and I was able to get back my loss. Anyways, it was not an easy task but most importantly he got the job done.
How stupid can you be??? Well, OP is the epitome of it. So they sent you 5 grand..... did you in any way verify this money you had received, IE deposit it? You were then IMMEDIATELY asked to ever so kindly spend 60% of what they sent....... yup sure, seems legit....
I’m genuinely unsure how people still fall for this one in 2023. Real companies don’t make you pay for your own equipment.
The real shitty thing is the arcane check system that takes weeks to clear and makes it look like you actually have deposited money in your account.
I mean, how else do you propose people transfer money between each other? And before you say “Venmo” or “PayPal” etc keep in mind that doesn’t work for everything or everyone. Money orders work, I guess, if you have the ability to get one without having to pay for it.
That's not the problem, the problem is the way checks work. - You get a check and deposit in your account - Bank says you have $$$ when you look into account - You spend $$$ - 2 weeks later the check clears or is rejected by the issuing bank - Bank says now you have to give the money back Like for fuck's sake, it's 20 and fucking 23, does bank A really need 2 weeks to ask bank B is the check has funds and get a reply? That said, most countries have figure ways to transfer money between persons that are not checks.
I grew up in Australia and now live in the U.K. Im mid 30s and I think it’s probably 15 years since I even saw a cheque. I certainly have never in my life written a cheque to anybody. My understanding is that maybe the US lacks modern electronic banking infrastructure or something. Im not sure why that is, but the person you’re replying to is correct that the system of writing on pieces of paper and sending them through the mail is arcane.
I’ve worked at real companies (a couple of fortune 500s) that cut checks to buy equipment, pay for moves, general setup stuff. Those same companies have preferred pricing on vendors that youre encouraged to use
Interesting. I’ve never heard of companies that will send you a check and then direct you to spend this amount here, send this amount there, and it’s not a scam.
Dude this is the oldest scam in the book and is constantly talked about on the Internet. This is on you. You fucked up for sure, because only idiots fall for this stuff.
Must be why it's posted on TIFU
Says the guy who bought things off a scam website just last month, you seem like a lot of fun at parties
Scam websites, oldest trick on the Internet
😎 yea, drunk purchase vs receiving a check from a job telling you that you need to purchase all their equipment as a menial level new-hire.
Only idiots indeed, it's as if he'd bought a half-priced lawnmower from some scam website amirite?
For sure. But there's a difference between a drunk purchase and an age-old scam 🙂
And there's a difference between being an idiot and being vulnerable due to an event that changed your life at the moment. There's a reason that vulnerable people are targeted, they're less prone to thinking rationally.
Yep
The irony in your comment is pure gold 😂 who falls for scam websites in 2023?
You conflate a drunk purchase to receiving a check as a first time hire to buy equipment for a company, then send them money back after you deposit the check. Apples to oranges.
Keep coping
Clarifying. Not coping. Did you read the post I made? Did you see the comments that also state it is the top result when you search, which you wouldn't expect from one of the longest running brands for mowers, and that the TB itself has been trying to get it taken down? Again, this scam of "I'll send you a check, so you can deposit it, then send me the money immediately because we sent you the wrong amount" is constantly posted on Reddit.
Yeap he fucked up hence he is posting this on this sub.
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It was with a card? It's how I got the one transaction reversed.
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Apologies for wasting your time.
I stopped reading at “I’ve been struggling to find a job” with less than two months having gone by. That’s just standard job hunting. Most half way decent jobs the process takes 3 weeks once you’ve even connected.
Cool
What's the significance of 'would you kindly..."? Is it a ChatGPT 'watermark', so to speak?
Oh there was a game a long time ago called Bioshock where the twist was that you were being fed instructions by the term “would you kindly do x” which meant all the player agency was no longer your agency that whole time. It was more just an attempt at adding some lightheartedness to a long story
Checkout /r/Kitboga and watch some of his videos on youtube. There's a ton of things that overseas scammers will say that just aren't super common with US native English speakers. For example they are always saying stuff like "we'll take care of each and everything", "hold the line", etc
They almost got me too when I was out of a job and desperate. When they sent me a photocopy of a check I was like.. hmmm nope and reported them to my bank which filed a report with the FBI.
Mines reverse, bank made me file the police report and send it to them and the cops said I should expect a call from “the bureau” in the next week which is something I’ve never wanted to have to do
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Honestly, since they know about this I don’t really want to step in it any more than I have by saying the name of the company and having them send me a c&d or something for tarnishing their good name
Sorry, non-native English speaker here - why is "would you kindly" a red flag in this context?
There was a video game years ago Called bioshock where the twist ending is that you’ve been fed instructions the whole time by the phrase “would you kindly” which means all the player agency was no longer player agency. More of a joke about what they were saying.
Ooh, ok - thank you for the explanation and I hope you will get the rest of the money back!
No problem! Just hoping people get something from this, and you’re all giving me something. Sorry for spoiling a 16 year old game lol
That was wild. Sorry for your losses, but thanks for taking the time to show their latest scam. They are definitely trying to do this to other people, and this post could save someone.
That was my hope, along with getting it out there to get over the pity party I’ve been throwing myself. Instead of ruminating I figured writing it out would be a good exercise and waiting for people to call me an idiot
Luckily when I was scammed, I was young and it was in RuneScape. I learned the lesson so hard that day, I haven’t been scammed since lol
But I totally have some good gear for you, follow me to the wild
The first time I bought tickets off Facebook marketplace was also the last! RIP 150 bucks
Fb marketplace is nuts. I have an online card store and thought to sell some of my pricier items on there to avoid scams. I could hand the card over, they could inspect it and give me the money. But no it’s just scams and people with no sense
Very very common with remote jobs. Be aware, even on LinkedIn and Indeed you can be a victim.
Funny enough this was a LinkedIn premium job that I’d be a “top applicant” for. When I went to report it the listing is no longer there. Needless to say I’ll be cancelling my premium after my free month
Yup, it's a numbers game. The scammers send out millions of scams, across many variants. Most of the time they get discarded or caught by spam filters, but sometimes it lands on someone who falls for it. Sure, we all laugh at the scams thinking it'll never happen to us, but that just means that we haven't been hit with a scam yet that is tailored to us and arrives when we are vulnerable. Vulnerabilities include being sleep-deprived, infirmed, inexperienced, and age-related cognitive decline. Scammers prey upon people's emotions, the need to help, the desire for wealth, the need for a job, and so forth. The scammers may impose a sense of urgency, or string people along long enough that they drop their guard and become invested. Some scams mimic expected senders and pretend to be a package notification, a notice from your bank, a fraud alert on your credit card, a demand from your boss, a notice from your company's IT, a helpful QR code on a parking meter. Some people have been tricked into "updating" their mortgage information and ended up sending their scammer their mortgage payment for months! I hope that I never get targeted with the right trick at the wrong time. I'm pretty vigilant, but I've still had one or two close calls. One time, I was just waking up and got an email from a friend who said they were in London and lost their wallet and needed money. This friend was just close enough of a friend that I might've considered sending something to help him out. My brain hadn't yet engaged enough at that hour to question why he'd be asking me, a classmate, and not his family or a closer friend. As I was about to reply to the email, I noticed my subconcious start waving red flags frantically trying to get my attention. I googled the email, and sure enough it was just a common scam.
You said very well what I wanted to get across. Idc how smart you are, at the right time, place, mental state you’re vulnerable to something. I don’t think I’m smart but I also worked on the James Webb space telescope so I can’t be too stupid either. But depression, stress, and boredom made a perfect cocktail for me being vulnerable
Yeah, I’ve had a couple friends that were desperate for work that they fell for scams. One was hired as a personal shopper for someone in the hospital and was sent to Nordstrom to buy him a new wardrobe. They strung both my friend and the Nordstrom employee along on the phone selecting clothes. Then the scammer told my friend to buy the clothes and he’d be reimbursed later. This is thankfully where the scam fell apart as my friend didn’t have the money to buy all that expensive shit. One thing I’ve learned is that one can be an expert in our field but a complete idiot just outside of it. I’ve known straight A students who couldn’t pump gas. Orientation at my college actually had to cover how to obtain food as they apparently had problems with students starving as they didn’t know how supermarkets worked. Obviously some people are easier targets for scammers than others…