I signed up for freelance sites that give me the opportunity
to submit proposals for projects that interest me. I was so excited because four
people contacted me almost immediately and wanted me to work for them.
The first thing they asked me to do was to contact them
through Google Hangouts. Once I set that up, they interviewed me through the
chat option. It all seemed very professional. The requirements for one of them is
that they would send me a check for about $2,000 and I was to deposit, it but
had to purchase software and a new computer with their "trusted
vendor." That seemed OK with me, but then one of them asked for my Social
Security number to do a background check.
I typed that I wasn't comfortable giving out that
information. They became irritated (used all caps) that this was necessary for
me to work for them. The kicker was when they asked me what my mother's name
was. What? I told them right away that I was leaving this chat and rejected
their "offer" of employment.
The second “employer” had the same spiel as the first but
said that they would email me a pdf check and I was to print it and deposit
with my bank app. I got the email and they had my name wrong and they also had
the bank address in Lasing, Michigan (not Lansing). I told them
that they got my name wrong and if this was an official bank, they wouldn't
issue checks with the wrong city name. I rejected their "offer" too.
The third “employer” asked me to set up a Skrill account,
which is similar to PayPal. I did this and then they asked that I deposit
$14.90 (except they typed 14.9$) into my account as a deposit to work for them.
What? I told them that I would not do that under any circumstance and rejected
their "offer."
The fourth "company" seemed legitimate. They had a
website that looked official. I was a little leery because of my previous scams,
so I tried to be aware of any schemes. They even emailed me an offer letter,
which I signed. All seemed to be above board except that the representative also
wanted to email me a check, which I was supposed to deposit through my bank app
and then purchase only from their trusted vendor. Sighing, because this one seemed
legit, I told him that I was not on board with this and if I truly had a
position, I wanted them to purchase the computer, install the software, and
ship it to my home. Guess what? Yes, I did not receive another chat from him.
So, this is what I learned:
1) Scammers issue bogus checks and ask you to deposit them.
They immediately want you to purchase the items through their vendor. They are
the vendor. They are stealing money while the bank is in the process of
reviewing the check.
2) Scammers will try to find out as much personal
information as possible during the fake interview. They use the chat on Google
Hangouts so they can use a fake photo and name.
3) For our protection, freelance sites want all
communication and payment to go through them. Usually, a scammer will only work
outside of this communication like Google Hangouts.
4) Look for poor grammar and punctuation. In regard to the
third scammer, he wrote 14.9$ (the $ is in the wrong place) as an amount to
deposit. If this is a scam and people fall for it, because it's not a large
amount of money, the scammer could make a lot of money if even 100 people pay.
