DON'T GET SCAMMED! A "Rubber Check Scam" Case Study.

Does it seem too good to be true? Then it probably is... we'll teach you how not to lose your hard earned money to a popular fake employment scam.

Most of our blog articles focus on how to make money on the road to financial freedom. This week, we're focusing on how to keep that hard earned cash by avoiding an employment scam that will leave you in the negative and potentially an accomplice to bank fraud.

Backstory

The story begins with a 27 year old in the United States referred to as "H" that was unemployed and looking for employment after going through some hard times and health problems to include a bout with COVID-19. In attempt to to get back on their feet, "H" applied to a job for Remote Data Entry Specialist that was posted on the reputable job site Indeed.com. The next day, "H" was contacted by the job poster and after some interaction, "H" participated in an hour long online job interview. After the interview, "H" was offered the job and "H" was accepted. As a condition of employment, "H" was required to procure some necessary materials for the job. "H" was informed that the company would send a check that "H" could use to purchase the materials, but could only purchase the materials from the companies approved vendor. The next day, "H" received a check for $2,990 and deposited the check via mobile banking then contacted the approved vendor for further instruction.

The vendor informed "H" that they were having troubles receiving the payment for the work materials and after suggesting that "H" pay the vendor in Apple Itunes cards using the money that was provided via the deposited check, "H" agreed. "H" finished procuring all of the Itunes cards to pay for the necessary work materials on Wednesday. Thursday, the $2990 check used to purchase the work materials bounced. The people "H" was previously in contact with would no longer respond. "H" was now responsible for paying back almost $3000 to the bank, and still had no employment.

Analysis

While this isn't the most sophisticated scam it was very effective here. There are a few important facts that contributed to that:

1. The job was posted on a reputable job board(Indeed.com)

2. It actually had an interview process that was lengthy(1 hour long)

3. They made promises and kept them (stated they would send the check to pay upfront and check arrived the next day) which gave the company more credibility

4. The life circumstances that "H" was dealing with that made "H" more likely to trust the employer and go along with whatever they asked.

Conclusion

As freelancers in current times, more often than not, receiving jobs online will be more common than not. It's important to realize that even receiving job offers from the reputable sites like Freelancer or Upwork, one has to be mindful that the opportunity to get scammed is still a possibility. To keep your hard earned money inn your pocket and not in that of scammers, here are some rules to follow:

• Any job that is asking you to purchase materials for the job, make sure that whatever contract you sign outlines how you will be reimbursed.

• Research the company ahead of time to assure that the company is legit.

• While it isn't strange for freelancers to take jobs and use their own materials, never deposit a check from an employer that is to be used to buy materials to do a job. What is to stop you from taking all the money and never fulfilling your job? Why do they trust you not to?

• A professional business will most likely NEVER ask you to reimburse them in gift cards of any type.

• Lastly if it seems too easy, too convenient, too good to be true... it generally is. In this case, you could end up being an accomplice to bank fraud or owing a bank large sums on money.

The true story we summarized can be seen in its totality here covered by the YouTuber Atomic Shrimp.

-TFF