In January, the FBI warned criminals are spoofing real company websites, creating similar domain names and posting fake job openings on job boards. “Any company that's hiring should not be asking for you to make payments upfront or do unorthodox things with your bank account or deposit checks or anything like that,” said Wilshire. Wilshire said requests for advance fees or unusual banking transactions are signs of scam.
“Any one red flag really ought to raise a lot of skepticism and concern.” “The scammers have gotten really sophisticated,” said Federal Trade Commission Attorney Matthew Wilshire. Looking back, she said the scammers likely lifted publicly available information to impersonate actual employers. Alexis looked up her interviewer and the pharmaceutical company before sending any money. In both Rife and Alexis’ cases, the scammers spoofed real companies. Online and over-the-phone job interviews aren’t unheard of as employers try to limit in-person contact. Job scams have been around for years, but job seekers are especially vulnerable now.ĭuring the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are legitimately hiring people to work from home without meeting in person. So, it definitely has affected us buying formula and diapers,” Alexis said. Part of that money was unemployment benefits I was receiving. “I just had a newborn and there's a pandemic going on. The company tried to convince Alexis they would fix the problem and attempted to get her to send another $1,000.īy then, Alexis realized it was a scam and contacted Frisco Police, FedEx, her bank and Zelle. Once I sent it to their vendor, the money was out of my account and the check bounced three days later,” explained Alexis. “I deposited it and I was told to send it to their vendor through Zelle. “Buying the materials from their vendor would make it cheaper - was my thought.” They made it very believable,” said Alexis. “Because of the pandemic, they stated that this was a new, different way of doing things. The company sent two checks to Alexis with instructions to deposit them into her account, then use a cash app to transfer money to their chosen vendor for home office equipment. The new employer asked Alexis to undergo a job interview on Google Hangouts before offering her the position. “They knew they had a vulnerable target, somebody who was desperate for a job and just got out of school,” said Alexis. An offer to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic sounded ideal.
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Alexis, who asked NBC 5 Responds not to share her full name, jumped at the chance to work from home as an administrative assistant at a pharmaceutical company.Īlexis was a recent college graduate and a new mom to a preemie baby who’d spent 91 days in the NICU. In Frisco, another North Texan received a similar job offer in her email. “They're doing it and you're telling them everything because you want the job,” Rife added. She, like thousands of other North Texans looking for work in the pandemic, wanted the job to be real. Rife wasn’t out any money, but the experience left her feeling defeated. “I was humiliated and extremely upset,” said Rife. Rife reported the scam to Grapevine Police. The bank flagged the check and stopped Rife before she deposited it. Rife said the new employer told her to deposit the check into her bank account, then buy home office equipment from the company’s chosen vendor.Ĭowtown Marathon Brings Together People With All Different Reasons to Run Soon, she was offered the job and received a $7,400 check in the mail. Over an online chat, Rife answered typical interview questions about her experience and goals. The potential new employer asked Rife to log onto an online app called Wire for a job interview. “It sounded like a dream job,” said Rife. She would also be paid during a training period. Rife could work from home, making $30.55 an hour. “Immediately, I did because it sounded wonderful.” “I only had a certain amount of time to text them back,” said Rife. They turned out to be fake - costing some North Texans thousands of dollars.Īfter months of struggling to find a job, Angie Rife of Grapevine felt hopeful when an email, inviting her to apply for a position with an energy company, hit her inbox. Several viewers have reached out to NBC 5 Responds after they were hired from what appeared to be legitimate companies.
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