'I realized that not only was I getting scammed, but I was also out $3,000': Newly hired employee discovers his job was a scam posing as a legitimate company

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Nov 18, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Have you ever been so deep in the job search that you started applying for anything and everything that slightly piqued your interest? Especially with those "easy apply" buttons on job boards. It makes it way too easy. Well, you might want to think twice before you hit the panic-applying stage. So, the OP was right there with us, exhausted by his job search. When he got his first offer, he couldn't be more ecstatic. In my opinion, everything he described about the company and the offer seemed pretty legit. But when his "boss" started asking him to purchase equipment for his home office from their vendor, things started to turn south. Keep reading to see what went down and how our OP ended up out of $3,000. 

This guy might not have been so lucky, but check out this woman who was able to 'uno-reverse' her scammer: 'SHOW ME THE CODE': Woman trolls scammer for hours, turning away his request for gift cards with hilarious responses

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  • 01
    Posted by u/nilesthebrave 19 hours ago TIFU by falling for a fake job scam and losing $3000
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 02
    Obligatory "this has been the past two weeks" I got laid off from a job in the middle of September and have been struggling to find work. I've gotten my resume revamped and been working with career coaches but
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 03
    nothing seems to be helping with it. After my final resume was returned to me I began shooting applications off and within a day or two I got an email that a company wanted to interview me for a remote position! "Hyeah!" I thought to myself. "It looks like the
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 04
    service worked and I just needed to spiff up the resume!" For the past 5 years I've had an hour commute each way and then another 3 years doing 45 minutes before that. Remote work sounded like a dream come true.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 05
    A few days later they send me an interview packet. It's a questionnaire in lieu of a panel interview. A little strange but not unheard of. All the questions were legit questions and the technical ones were very technical.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 06
    Some companies get that asking someone to come up with an optimal solution on the spot and under pressure makes them miss out on good candidates that are just awkward in those situations. This was a mathematician role, so it goes doubly true.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 07
    I spent the next day working on the interview packet and forwarding drafts to my career coach to make sure I wasn't shooting myself in the foot by being too honest as I'm not a great salesman and am open about things I struggle with instead of claiming I was a "burrito rolling artisan and
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 08
    avocado processing manager at Qdoba." The coach said everything checked out and that after a few revisions I had a pretty good interview packet. I proceed to send it off.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 09
    A few days later I get the 'Congratulations!" email and I'm ecstatic! I finally have a job doing something I like and I get to do it in my pajamas. I accept the offer and the next day they send me the offer letter and ask me to sign.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 10
    I review the contract closely as I'm a paranoid person and so far it seemed a little strange that I haven't talked to anyone on the phone. The contract has all the right logos and address. The pay is well within the range for the job (albeit on the higher end), and
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 11
    everything passes the sniff check. I sign the document and send it back. The next day they send me a check for $5000 for work equipment and my "boss" gets into contact with me to set up
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 12
    my training and explaining the day to day to me and getting a feel for where my R and Python skills are at. Again, this is not out of the ordinary, I've had jobs that have sent me checks before for relocation and equipment but being paranoid I do some due
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 13
    diligence. The domain name of the email address for the HR person looks legit, no tricky characters or using two Ns to make an M. The person I'm emailing is the actual HR person at this company, my "boss" is an actual manager at
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 14
    the company, the check has the right watermarks and address on it, it's signed by the actual CEO of the company. Everything is checking out. My "boss" tells me I need to use their vendor to order the
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 15
    computer and HDDs and stuff. The first conscious red flag popped here for me, but the vendor site looked legit and it was a 10% discount off the MSRP for the equipment they wanted me to have so I sent $2000 to the "vendor." The
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 16
    order goes through and I breathe a bit easier now comfortably believing I have a job and that it's not a scam, which is where they wanted me, I'm buttered up and my brain is smoothed out. The location of the company
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 17
    was Eastern time zone and I live in Mountain time so the next morning I woke up at the respectable unemployed hour of 10 am to a series of texts and emails from 7am saying that they're trying to get ahold of me and need me to send $1000 to another vendor for
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 18
    some additional equipment. If you've ever been desperately unemployed then you know that occasionally you do dumb stuff in hopes of a job like accepting lower pay, taking something you're overqualified for, or in my
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 19
    case, worried they were going to fire me before I even started. So half asleep I send another $1000, but my dumb up now. can tell something is A couple of hours later they try to get me to send some
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 20
    more money and I tell them that I hit my card limit for the day and couldn't spend more. So they ask me to go to a friggin bitcoin ATM and send them bitcoin. My heart sank and I realized that not only was I getting scammed, but that I was also out $3000
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 21
    which is money I need to survive as an unemployed person. I start reviewing everything and notice that I've literally been getting "would you kindly'd" this whole time like it's f Bioshock. As I scrolled through messages
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 22
    the amount of time I got a "would you kindly" suddenly leapt out at me. How could I be so stupid?! I decided to keep these guys going for awhile instead of immediately calling them out. Figure if they're wasting time
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 23
    on me then they can't use it on someone else while I went on Linkedin and found the cybersecurity manager and hit him up and asking what's going on. End up talking to one of the managers that confirmed that it was indeed a scam, that I had a real check
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 24
    that belonged to the company and that all the documents were real, just that it wasn't real for me. Queue calling my bank and filing for fraud and making a police report. Obviously there isn't much they can do for me
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 25
    but there's always a chance that a scam this elaborate could be undone by them not using spoofed numbers. As we come to a close on my lengthy tale, I have some good news. I have gotten back the $1000 I sent out. No idea
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 26
    what happens to the other $2000 and I'm not holding my breath, but it's something. If you've never been scammed before I can now tell you that it is one of the worst feelings. You feel dumb, embarrassed,
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 27
    angry, ashamed, and afraid. My dad fell for the Google gift card scam and my mom often buys the weird health knicknacks. Like those stickers that improve your balance. I've always said "everybody is vulnerable to at least one
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 28
    scam," and I've finally found mine. I'm lucky to have a supportive wife who hasn't yelled at me yet somehow about being dumb and at least I could talk to my dad about how much it s since he understands it.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 29
    Moral of the story: Everyone is vulnerable to at least one kind of con. Person shaking your head at the screen right now thinking 'not me': ESPECIALLY YOU! Stay safe, stay smart, and thanks for reading.
    via u/nilesthebrave
  • 30
    XIXTE
    via LinkedIn Sales Navigator

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boss scammer workplace-stories employee toxic-workplace job work workplace scam tifu reddit thread Reddit
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