Work From Home Scam Targeting North Texans
HALTOM CITY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The Haltom City Police Department has already taken reports from two different victims this new year who became victims of the same scam.
Police said it came in the form of a legitimate-sounding job offer for people who were looking at online job search sites, one of those being Indeed.com.
Police said they were sent some offers to work from home processing collections and other data entry work. After some emails, sending a resume, filling out a very convincing online application, our victims were "hired" and spoke with HR.
The Haltom City victims were sent checks to set up a home office including a specific laptop computer the victim would be allowed to keep.
The scammer then told the victims to send some of the funds via Zelle, Paypal, etc to various "clients."
They were then directed to go to physical stores and begin purchasing iTunes gift cards, Green Dot cards, etc.
That's around the time the victims were notified by their banks that the check they deposited to establish their home office was bogus, and now the victims are on the hook for thousands of dollars.
"The perpetrators of these crimes are rarely ever in the U.S. and their home countries do not allow for us to prosecute for these crimes so our only way to combat this billion-dollar scam industry is to train our citizens," Haltom City Police said on Facebook.
Here are some tips to recognize a scam:
* Being asked to provide your own money for a job, or you bank info to accept money into your account. This will usually involve bad checks, closed accounts or altered money orders.
* Being asked for personal information usually including your social and birth date. It takes just a little personal info to start setting up bogus accounts.
* BEING ASKED TO PURCHASE GIFT CARDS AND SEND THEM ELSEWHERE. These will always be scams.
*Getting unsolicited financial advice via emails.
Police remind the public, if you think something is off about the proposition, it most likely is.
