Description

I was contacted via text by a recruiter stating they were CarGurus and saw from a job board that I was looking for a remote job opportunity. It was explained this opportunity was simple and remote, basically that I would be boosting reviews for auto parts and given a slight commission on each set completed. Initially I did not really understand but I was looking for some additional income so confirmed my interest in learning more. I was then connected with my trainer, Emily, via WhatsApp. She had a very thick French accent, and was otherwise very professional. She said she was a single mom and her aunt (a shareholder) got her this job 7 years ago. She explained that for the next 14 days she was going to hold my hand step-by-step in learning the process. She walked me through setting up my user account on https://work.cargurusdata.com, which looked very professional and legitimate. She also explained that part of the review boosting process was making "promotional purchases" of said auto parts carried out through crypto. She walked me through setting up my crypto accounts and she made an initial deposit of $50 into my account to show me how to complete the job (the sets of 20). Essentially, make a purchase and receive a commission 20 times per set. While completing the set of 20, there would inevitably be an auto part that was more than the accumulated balance, so you would have to deposit your own money to make that purchase and complete that set of 20. The system assures you that once you complete this set of 20 your commission rate will be increased because you purchased this "high-value item" to complete your set of 20. Their https://work.cargurusdata.com platform is very sophisticated, I could track my transactions and it gave a running balance. I must have completed 2 sets of 20 and was able to make 2 withdrawals, not as much as I had deposited yet, but was reassured given the fact that I was able to make withdrawals with each set. While actively in the 3rd set of 20, I supposedly won a promotional Luck Car Grand Give Away totaling nearly $80,000. I asked Emily if this was a legit notification and she said to let her ask around, including her shareholder aunt. She confirmed that I was indeed a winner and just needed to complete my set of 20 to claim the prize. The only issue was that the set required a $3,000 deposit. I made that deposit. When I went to claim my prize money, I was given a set of withdrawal instructions. Due to some misleading wording, I did not follow the instructions to a T which caused my account to be flagged for risk. The solution to get out of risk was to deposit $28,000, being reassured that all deposits will be able to be withdrawn once the account was back in good standing. I made that deposit. Only to be told that although my account was in good standing, the algorithm would not allow them to generate new withdrawal instructions and I would need to switch my plan requiring a $50,000 deposit, again also able to be withdrawn once withdrawals were permitted on my account again. Unfortunately it took all that to realize, it was all one big scam. Today in my CarGurus account I have a $118,000 available balance (including commissions, the bonus, and my deposits), but I know that money is just gone. Can CarGurus do something legally to shut them down, it looks like their legit branding. They have the CarGurus Massachusetts Secretary of State Articles of Incorporation on their website.