Hello everyone,
I was trying to figure out if I was going to post this. After thinking about it, I’ve decided I’m going to share it. On June 29th, I experienced the most awful thing ever! I was scammed for a job. So, here is how this happened. On June 22, 2022, I received an email from someone claiming to be a Human Resources Business Partner (not going to put the person’s name on here) from Fanatics. This person claimed to have seen my profile on Indeed and told me about an open position for an Illustrator with the company. The person gave me her work hours and her contact information on Skype for the “interview process.” I didn’t think anyone still used Skype, but we’re still in a pandemic, so I didn’t think anything of it. I contacted the person, and they told me the following about this Illustrator position:
Remote position
Pay was $60/hr, $25/hr for training
Excellent benefits
Health, dental, and visual insurance
Shares with the company
Maternity and Paternity leave
Life insurance
Short-term and long-term disability
Tuition reimbursement
Tuition discounts with the University of Phoenix
Employee discounts on auto, banking, etc.
Those are some of the things I remember about this position, and I was so happy about it. This was a text interview (no videos). I asked if this type of interview was normal, and the HRBP (Human Resources Business Partner) stated that it was. I had to answer several questions (I think it was 10 questions) about my experience, as well as why I felt I was the best candidate for this position. Now, as this “interview” was going on, I went on the Fanatics site and filled out the General Inquiry asking if there was someone with this person’s name who worked for the company. I was told there was. I also found the person’s LinkedIn page and sent a connection. I have yet to receive a connection from that person.
The next day, I was told that I had the job. Told my family and friends. Everyone was excited because I had been looking for a second job to keep myself afloat. Then, the onboarding process started. I had to sign the offer letter, and give my name, address, phone number, and the name of my emergency contact. All of this was in my offer letter. In addition to that, I also had to fill out my W-4 Form. I also had to attach a copy of either my driver’s license or my passport, social security card, ID card, etc. After I sent the information, I was told that I was going to be provided a MacBook Pro with the training software installed, a phone line, and a strong internet connection. Then, the HRBP told me they were emailing a check with my sign-on bonus and funds for me to deposit so I can get the supplies needed for my mini office. I asked if it was normal to email a check. Again, they said yes. Sadly, when I received the email with the copy of the check, I did an online deposit and received the message of a hold on the check. The next day, I saw the hold was going to be until July 7th. I called my bank to see what was going on, and they told me they were verifying to see if the funds are there. They also told me they are taking extra precautions to make sure the check was not fraudulent. This is where I became nervous. Nervous because I wanted this check to be real, and because I thought my offer letter was going to be rescinded (I was doing a lot of overthinking and worrying).
On June 30th, I checked my bank account and saw that my account had a negative balance in the same amount as the check. I washed my face/brushed my teeth, threw on clothes and a cap, and went to the bank. By the time I arrived, my account was back to normal. I spoke to a customer service representative who told me the check was returned for fraudulent activity. The customer service representative asked me if I had given my social security number and bank account number, and I told him I didn’t give that information. After speaking with the customer service representative, he assured me that I did the right thing and that as long as I didn’t give any important information, I was okay. I also contacted Fanatics and Indeed to let them know of this situation. Both companies have responded to me, and Indeed let me know that there was nothing on my account where someone from Fanatics tried to contact me regarding employment. I also researched and contacted a site where you can report job scams, so I reported everything that happened.
A friend of mine sent me a screenshot of a thread from Reddit where someone was almost scammed out of $3000 because of a job scam.
There are several scams, but these job scams are ridiculous! I was feeling so low because this happened to me, but now I see this is becoming a common thing. I’m sharing this because if this can happen to me, an adjunct professor and freelance fashion designer with years of experience, this can happen to anyone. Just imagine if a recent graduate was contacted by someone pretending to be an employer when the “employer” was a scammer. So, here are some things to look out for:
Look at the email address
make sure it has gmail.com, yahoo.com, or it is the email of an official website or company
Do not click on unfamiliar links
Scammers are known for sending phishing emails with links to try to get your personal information
If someone sent you an email from an unfamiliar address, you can report emails for phishing with Gmail. With Yahoo, you can put it in Spam and block the sender
If a potential job tries to get you to deposit a check into your account, or tries to get you to send money to them, don’t!
Look beyond just researching on LinkedIn. Find a way to see if a potential company is real. You may have to contact the future employer to see if everything is legit.
As for this situation, I’ve reported the person’s profile on Skype and reported the emails for phishing. They’ve been flagged. I’m very cautious when it comes to these things, but now I’m being extremely cautious because of this situation. As of 7/3/2022, my checking account is restricted because of all of this. Please be careful.
Until Next Time.