If it looks too good to be true – it probably is - Part II

No matter how much information is available online, how many warnings are posted by numerous organizations on countless sites, scammers keep working. They never quit. Why? Because there are uninformed people out still. Those who mindlessly believe the generous advertised promises and consider themselves lucky to come across such sweet deal. Those who don’t do diligent search and don’t exercise some critical thinking. Those become victims of scammers.

In my first article I talked about scammers targeting those people who are looking for online jobs as freelancers or bidding for freelance projects. People Per Hour platform had been used as an example. Although similar platforms, like Upwork, have problems with scammers too.

Recently I’ve come across the same type of scam on Facebook aka Meta.

Oh Facebook, Facebook…Good social network for keeping in touch with friends, bringing together the kindred spirits, growing your business, attracting new customers. But sadly, known as a pasture for scammers of all kinds as well: online romance scammers, lottery scammers, donations to charity organizations scammers, you name it.

About romance scammers flooding the Facebook with fake profiles where photos of high ranked military men, writers, actors, politicians and many other world prominent people are used I talked in my other articles published on Vocal. It’s disturbing how Facebook administrators see nothing wrong with those profiles and do not delete them after they’ve been reported.

Here comes the description of job-related scam on Facebook.

Everyone knows of Facebook Marketplace, where people list the items for sale. There are also groups created with the same purpose, for folks to advertise what they want to sell or to buy.

One post caught my attention.

Of course, I checked the profile of the newest member of GTA Buy&Sell group. Really new, I must say. As well as the personal profile itself. Although there were some photos of a family. These photos might have been stolen from internet though or someone’s profile had been hacked.

How could I resist…I sent a message of course. The reply came two days later.

As expected, the conversation moved to Telegram. Very businesslike.

I had a job interview! The questions were copied from various sites with tips and helpful advice on preparation for a job interview: “Tell me about yourself and you would make a good Personal Assistant”.

Or “What are your main strength that you feel will benefit you in the role of PA?”.

Finally, “Well, you have done an impressive job with the Q&A process”. All I need to do now is to send my resume. Atta girl!

Within minutes I received Appointment Letter which I signed and returned. It was a Word document, not a Fill&Sign PDF. Imagine my struggle coming up with a fancy signature on a piece of paper, snapping it and pasting in right place. Well, I did a damn good job, matching what that person did with their signature.

My employer went silent after receiving my signed letter. No tasks or assignments or instructions what I need to do.

The next day around noon there’s a message on Telegram. First, I needed to open a new @gmail address, then I needed to create a Draft of Apology letter which would say: “My sincere apology for the delay in responding to your inquiries. You will receive an Amazon gift card as a token of appreciation for your patience. Due to overwhelming amount of work I had to hire a PA to help me with customer relations. All communication will go now through PA”.

Notice the mention of Amazon card. That’s where it goes to.

I got my new employer’s approval to send this letter of apology to ten email addresses. One replied, that we better hurry up with card sending. I cannot tell how many people work this scheme, but I am pretty sure that was the same person impersonating the employer.

My next task was to buy these cards at nearest to me store. In order to provide the funds for it, first, the employer demanded a screenshot from my bank account showing daily transaction and deposit limits. Then, a check arrived in my new email address, matching my daily deposit limits. I was ordered to deposit it this very minute and provide a screenshot with deposited check on my account transaction summary. And I better hurry.

This scheme is very similar to “online banking” scam. I would deposit this check which can be fake (and bank would reverse it) and I would be buying 10 Amazon gift cards and sending the codes to “dissatisfied customers”, loosing my own money to scam.

Or the check would be from a hacked account, with excess to be returned (money laundering). Part about buying 10 Amazon gift cards and sending the codes to “dissatisfied customers” applies here too.

Last few words. The job postings on Indeed, Jobbank and other official employment sites are from verified employers who would never think of recruiting on social networks.

Be aware, be careful, be informed.