Person Fails To See Red Flags That They Are Being Scammed For $2.2k With Fake Employment Scam
The online world is full of scams. It seems that wherever you go in the digital realm, at some point, there’s going to be someone trying to swindle money out of your pocket. The sad part about all this is that people keep falling for various scams all the time, and the scammers themselves keep getting better and better at it. Thankfully, the internet is also a great resource that informs people about scams and how to avoid them.
One online forum user recently posted about a scam they, thankfully enough, managed to dodge, but just barely. The user thought they were acing an interview process that could land them a remote job. At some point, however, the application process began to seem rather strange. Scroll down for the whole story.
More info: Reddit
There’s always people out there on the internet who just want to reach into your wallet
Image credits: Money Dollar
People fall for online scams every day. From the now-famous “Nigerian prince,” to more obscure occasions of digital trickery, all scams have some things in common, but the most important one is that they do real damage to real people. A couple of wrong clicks could easily lead to great losses. On the other hand, the internet—a tool used to distribute and execute these scams, is also the first line of defense against them. In the case of Reddit user al666in, they contributed to that line of defense by sharing their story on the r/Scams subreddit so that other people wouldn’t fall for it.
The Reddit user begins their story by pointing out that this was the most elaborate scam they had encountered
Image credits: al666in
The user describes how the scam started out, and comments on the “incompetence” of the “recruiter.” In reality, this “recruiter” was actually fairly competent, but not at the job the user thought they were doing. At this point, the fraudsters had the user in their grip, funneling them deeper into the expensive lie.
The forum user was convinced that everything was going according to plan
Image credits: al666in
The fraudster indirectly managed to convince the user that they were in control of the situation when, in reality, that wasn’t the case. The user was completely unaware of the multiple red flags that had appeared, and there were even more to come.
Now al666in begins to make fun of their own series of oversights
Image credits: al666in
Thankfully enough, this story has a happy ending. The scammers didn’t get their money, the user learned a lesson and shared their story on the internet so that others wouldn’t face the same situation. All’s well that ends well. But all of this goes to show that people should be on the lookout for online fraud, even if communication occurs on reputable channels and seems legitimate.
The comments were very supportive of and thankful to the user for sharing their story
Long story short, if some things go well, or even too well online when it comes to financial gain, you should definitely be at least slightly suspicious.
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At no point should you EVER give money to an employer. If there is a legit expense (which rarely is the case), they can deduct it from your paycheck.
This is a common scam, especially on Craigslist. People contact you to buy something from you or send you a check for something, you think everything's kosher. Well one of the reasons we don't use checks in the UK anymore is because it's so easy to commit fraud with them (Anna Sorokin for example). The scammer sends you a check for $2000, but the item cost is $1000, so they ask you to send a check back to them for the extra value. You send them a check/Venmo/Zelle, it clears, but their original check bounces. Congrats, you just lost $1000. This scam has been around for AGES. Can't believe OP hadn't heard of it yet, or figured out that an employee NEVER gives money to their employer...that's not how jobs work.
General rule of thumb - if someone asks for money, ask (to yourself if you feel uncomfortable confronting them in the moment) what are you getting in return? Is what you are getting a fair value exchange? Oh, and no job should EVER ask you to spend any of your own money at any point.
At no point should you EVER give money to an employer. If there is a legit expense (which rarely is the case), they can deduct it from your paycheck.
This is a common scam, especially on Craigslist. People contact you to buy something from you or send you a check for something, you think everything's kosher. Well one of the reasons we don't use checks in the UK anymore is because it's so easy to commit fraud with them (Anna Sorokin for example). The scammer sends you a check for $2000, but the item cost is $1000, so they ask you to send a check back to them for the extra value. You send them a check/Venmo/Zelle, it clears, but their original check bounces. Congrats, you just lost $1000. This scam has been around for AGES. Can't believe OP hadn't heard of it yet, or figured out that an employee NEVER gives money to their employer...that's not how jobs work.
General rule of thumb - if someone asks for money, ask (to yourself if you feel uncomfortable confronting them in the moment) what are you getting in return? Is what you are getting a fair value exchange? Oh, and no job should EVER ask you to spend any of your own money at any point.
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