This is going to sound like something I am sure you have heard a million times. I have been scammed and so far it has cost me $6311.48. Let me start at the beginning.
I am starting my own virtual office assistance business and did advertising on the internet. I received an e-mail, on June 10 from a Candy Thomas (I am sure fake name) stating that she went through my resume on JobPlanet.com. She said she was a financial consultant for an investment monitoring firm based in the UK. She said the company was looking for competent workers in the US. She said I would be performing cashier responsibilities from the comfort of my home and that it would not effect my current occupation.
I replied asking for more information (stupid meI should have just deleted it). She sent me a response that she was one of the company workers but was unable to perform effectively because of the increasing number of company clients and that the company service could not tolerate delays.
I would receive the payment form clients, cash the payments at my bank, deduct 10% (later it would go up to 12%) and then forward the balance via Western Union to the company in the UK.
She said if I was interested to e-mail her my contact information. I did, they had my name, address, phone number; e-mail address, present occupation, and age. She said she would send it to one of the company secretaries.
After providing a more information to her, I received another e-mail on June 11 from a Brenda Smith. It said that she received my fax from the consultant. She told me she was with H&S Financier Company which is an accounting body that does investment monitoring. She told me that the clients pay mostly by check but that American checks cannot be cashed in the United Kingdom. She said they tried to do bank to bank transfers but they charge 25% of the money sent to their bank. She said that if it was transferred by an individual, it would only cost them 7%. Being a business person myself, I could see where they would want to save money. The only catch was the individual had to be honest and trustworthy. She said my application had been approved by the personnel manager and to e-mail her back and let her know I received her e-mail.
I e-mailed her back. On June 15, I received another e-mail that said a payment would be sent to my home via UPS and should arrive on June 16th. It also had instructions on what I was to do with the payment once it was received. I was to send the funds minus my 10% and the fee charged by Western Union to a Jeanie Brister, 112 Strand, London, WC2R ORG United Kingdom. The e-mail also contained instructions on what to do when once I sent the transfer. I sent them my name, the receiver's name (she told me to put Sandra Bolton the company accountant instead of Jeanie Brister), the Transfer control number; the amount sent after transfer fee and the 10%; and the exact time.
I received the 1st check on June 18th when I got home from work. It came ups from WI but the check was on a FL account. I had heard of scams where they use bogus bank accounts or closed accounts. I decided to ask questions. The company the check was written from was a legitimate company (Land Star Title, Inc.) and the bank account was legitimate and had money it. So I deposited the check into my bank account, I couldn't get the cash immediately because it was on an out of state check, so I went back the next day (6/20/08) & got the cash and wired the money (minus the 10% they told me to keep) to the Jeanie Brister (I'm sure another fake name) in the UK. I sent them the information that it had been transferred. They sent me a response that because I handled that one so efficiently, they were sending another check (same sender and same company check). I received that check on 6/23/08. I deposited it, waited til the next day (6/24/08), I did the same thing.
I received a call from my bank (1st Federal) on the morning of 6/25/08 that the checks although on a good account were counterfeit checks. I am now indebted to my bank for $6311.48.
I sent an e-mail with all the e-mails I received as well as the UPS envelopes and Western Union transfer forms and a copy of the 1st check that was sent to me to my local police department as well as the consumer protection agency and the national check fraud center.
This would not have been something I would have done if my family hadn't needed the extra money. I am the mother of 5 children. My boyfriend has been out of work for a few months and just got a new job. We thought we were finally going to be able to get caught up. I beleive this happened to me so that I could help prevent this from happening to someone else.
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