Working in the hair salon is one of Stephanie Oliver's two jobs. A month ago, she picked up a third one.
"I found an ad on Indeed and it was for a work at home position. I already have a part-time job in the morning and a full-time job. So, I was trying to just make extra money," Oliver said.
Fake Check Scams and Work at home jobs
Oliver worked from home, inputting medical billing codes onto a website for The Good Feet Store in Texas. Or, so she thought.
"I talked to him on the phone. It seemed legit. It was Indeed, it wasn't Craigslist. I feel like it was a legit job," Oliver said.
Oliver was supposed to be paid three times by Paul Andersen, who claimed to work for The Good Feet Company.
She did receive two separate cash payments totaling $750. The last payment, a check for over $2,900, never cleared her bank account.
"I called the place, the Good Feet Store in Texas, asked for him. They said they did not know of him," Oliver said.
After paying for bills with the money she thought she had. Checks are bouncing, now she's out over $2,000.
"I'm just going to have some fun money for my kids. That's just why I did it. It's being returned and there's nothing I can do about it," Oliver said.
Andersen would not answer our calls, he blocked Oliver's number, his website has gone dark and the ad is gone.
Cherie Reese from the Better Business Bureau of Kansas City said things like this happen all the time.
"For scam artists, this is their job. They want to look as legitimate as possible. They're going to go through legitimate websites like Indeed. They'll have their own website that looks incredible," Reese said.
Beware of these common work-at-home scams
Reese said to protect yourself, you have to do your homework first. She suggests going to a company you know is real. If you have someone approaching you about working from home, say no.
No comments:
Post a Comment