TULSA, Okla. — The pandemic has made remote positions more common across dozens of industries.
You’ll find a large amount of remote positions online, but how do you know it’s legitimate?
FOX23 launched an investigation after learning about a sophisticated scheme that was stealing people’s identities.
As a single mother, Sonya Scott was excited for the work-from-home opportunity. “I was counting on that income,” said Scott.
Scott spent one month receiving packages, like iPads and computers. She repackaged the items and then shipped them.
However, she never received a paycheck.
When Scott asked about it, she was locked out of the computer portal, and the phones stopped working.
“It just really set me back. Bills are more behind than they were before, I don’t have anything to pay them with,” said Scott.
The U.S. Postal Inspector warns those products were likely purchased with stolen credit cards, or could be stolen themselves. In a video on their website, the inspector says you should always be skeptical of home shipping jobs.
What’s scary for Scott is that because she filed a W4, the fake company has her social security number and her banking information.
The Better Business Bureau says if a company is offering a work-from-home job, be on alert for a potential scam.
It often starts with a message that you get from someone interested in hiring you. They will say that they found your resume on a job site.
At first, it seems as if they are asking good questions. But, there’s some red flags you need to watch for. If they ask you to download a messaging app, or if they want personal information quickly.
Bryce Marshall with the BBB spoke more about how the scammer’s process works.
“They’re really quick to hire you. They’re saying it’s going to be a really large salary, but what they want you to do is start giving them a whole bunch of personal information way up front,” said Marshall. “They say we need to go ahead and get all your banking information, so we can get direct deposits started for you.”
Marshall said despite the quick action, none of the forms are official.
“You’ll go ahead and give them this banking information, and they’ll either use this to start drawing money out of your account, or they may even take it a step further and say that they’re going to help you start setting up a home office if it’s a remote job, and they’ll say that they’re going to send you a check for so much money, for either a laptop or a desk or something, and basically that check will either bounce because it’s fake, or whenever you try to get reimbursement for all the money that you spent that company is long gone,” said Marshall.
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