MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It sounded too good to be true, but it also sounded too good to pass up.
“I finally found a job that I was gonna be working at home,” said an anonymous job hunter who currently works for the government.
She found a job listing for a Canadian company called Intact Financial Corporation on Indeed.com. It allowed her to work from home earning $25 an hour doing data entry.
After messaging her a series of interview questions, they quickly hired her.
“Due to your level of experience and communication skills, the company has decided to give you a chance for you to work for the company and will like to see your diligence, Charisma, Commitment towards this job. Congratulations!” read a message the job hunter provided to WREG.
“You have a lengthy period of 3 months probation to display your intellectual prowess. I believe the company can ensure your full trust and commitment, right?”read another.
For a whole week she thought she had a real job, but soon started to grow suspicious.
“Checking in at 8 o’clock, talking to them every day,” she said.
Monday, she was sent a check for more than $2,600 which was to be used to purchase business supplies. But after she deposited the check, she said her so-called boss insisted on having her send a deposit slip.
“Of course, my deposit slip would have my personal information which would be my account number,” she said.
She also noticed that a Michigan-based company was listed on the check — not the Canadian-based company she thought she was working for.
She declined to send the deposit slip and now doesn’t believe the people who hired her actually work for Intact Financial.
Intact Financial sent WREG the following statement:
The job advertisement was not put up by Intact Financial Corporation and is a scam. We have confirmation from Indeed that the fraudulent posting is no longer live on the job site. Indeed has also put in additional checks to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. While we do use Indeed and other job sites for recruitment purposes, we will never ask potential candidates or employees to send us money and ask for their bank information after the fact. To protect yourself from fraud, never provide your personal information including banking details to anyone unless you are certain that the other party asking for it is who they say they are. Here are some tips when applying for jobs online:
- ensure that the person you are dealing with has an email address domain that reflects the company name
- research the company and the employee offering the job by calling the company directly to verify that there is indeed an employee by that name. Ask to speak to them to confirm that they are indeed the same person you have been liaising with
- check the company’s career site for the job posting as it is likely that the job will be posted there as well
The Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South said the victim was wise not to send her deposit slip and suggested the check was likely fraudulent.
“Probably the check is gonna bounce and then she’ll be out any money she spent,” Nancy Crawford said.
Crawford said that although some work-from-home job offers are legitimate, most are scams, and says some use the names of real companies.
“Oftentimes, the crooks put up a phony website that looks very much like the real website,” Crawford said.
WREG tried emailing and calling the alleged scammers, who utilized a Google Voice phone number, but never heard back.
“There are people out there who are trying to get information and they was almost successful,” said the victim.