South Florida job seeker scammed out of money while looking for employment
MIAMI -- A bogus job posting on a career website has left one South Florida man out of hundreds of dollars.
Edward Johnson said he went to CareerBuilder.com to find remote work In his quest for financial stability.
"This is Miami, if you want to live you have to have extra income," he said.
Johnson said he applied for an administrative assistant job at Consolidated Communications, a broadband company. He was given an official offer letter complete with compensation information, benefits and a seal of authenticity.
All the training Johnson underwent was virtual and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until they started asking for access to his bank to obtain equipment for his home office.
"It went from $1,000 and the $400 and it just kept decreasing," he said.
By the time Johnson realized he was being scammed, it was too late.
He had already provided his name, address, Social Security number and bank accounts to the company, allowing the scammers to steal a couple hundred dollars.
"I thought I was thorough," Johnson said. "it's a legitimate company but it was just an illegitimate person using their brand and using their name."
According to the Better Business Bureau, the type of scam that Johnson encountered is common.
Just last year, the agency reported that employment scams rose to the second riskiest type of scam.
To avoid being scammed, officials advise applicants to:
- Research who contacted you.
- Research the company.
- Guard your personal information.
- Watch out for overpayment scams.
- Don't fall for jobs that seem too good to be true.
Johnson said Career Builder apologized for the mishap and said they didn't verify the vendor.
CBS News Miami reached out to Career Builder for comment and did not immediately hear back.
We also reached out to Consolidated Communications, which said they had no record of Johnson's application, and said they don't use CareerBuilder.com to post job listings.
