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:
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.