Recognising a Scam

Recently I was contacted through a reputable job site that a company wanted to interview me for a job. I was ecstatic to have this contact finally something was paying off! Well, the interview was conducted over Yahoo IM, which was weird, but some people aren’t comfortable with the computer and that is where I come in, so okay…

I was sent an employment letter from a company overseas, a legitimate company, I might add. Well, for training I was asked to write several articles about jobs and business, I figured they wanted to assess my written communication skills and my understanding of the duties of the job they wanted me to perform, so okay…

Then they sent me a check to buy equipment and pay me for my time thus far from a different company altogether in the USA but maybe this was a subcontracting situation sure it is, okay…

This is where the bad starts happening. Deposit it in your account and let me know when that is done, sure they want to know that their money is not lost in the mail, okay…

We found a good vendor for your equipment, but they need to send today, please go to the nearest MoneyGram location and sent through the most expedient means $XXXX.XX dollars so the equipment can be shipped to you.  Use your credit card and then pay it off with the money we sent you. This has to be done quickly, right away. Not okay…

This made what I thought was an odd situation ring fire bells in my ears.

I sent an email to the overseas company to inquiry after the legitimacy of this employment. I also called the construction company in the USA. They informed me that they had been investigating this scam for 2 months or more, so sorry but we know nothing of your situation except the fact that you are not the first to call us about this. I sent in a internet crimes report to the FBI and hopefully they will be able to prevent this from happening to another person.

The take home is, if it seems just a little off, do your homework and confirm with the company involved right away, do not wait.  I am sad that I do not have the fun job I thought I had, but I am now a better-informed person.