Description

I applied to a Freelance Proofreader job posting on Friday, September 5, 2025 and on Monday the 8th, received a text response (from 833-464-0625), asking me to make contact on MS Teams, using a different phone number. Looking back, I feel like I should have known better, but so much is done electronically these days, I second-guessed myself. I searched the phone number (223-327-1761) and sent a message to someone supposedly named Emily Sisto. (who has a LinkedIn profile that seems legitimate). I was told that they "rely on a lot of text-based communication" for clarity and so they can see my writing in real time. I was promised a video interview and training later, which obviously never happened even though I was told they were being scheduled. Someone sent me an agreement (from [email protected]) and I had questions about it (e.g., probation, etc.); we had lots of back and forth and once my questions were answered, I sent it back signed with my license and W-4 (but not with my full SSN). I realized later that I never received a response, so I looked more closely at the email which was of course sent anonymously; of course, it's from Spain! Ugh! The initial huge red flag for me was last week when "Emily" instructed me to purchase a list of Apple equipment to use to start working; it seemed very odd that I should spend money to have a job. (I Inquired about payment and she said that I'd be fully reimbursed, which also sounded weird but I agreed). My sister told me that they'd have nothing to gain by getting me to buy equipment, so it was fine and I was worrying too much; I went against my better judgement and made the ridiculous purchase (on 9/11), to the tune of $5400+! The MacBook, iPad, etc. arrived on Sat., 9/13, which I informed "Emily" about, at which time she said that I'd need to ship everything to IT for setup; obviously that was another red flag and I requested payment. When she asked me "what Bank are we clearing the balance on?" that was just too much and I stopped responding. (I believe the intention was to keep the equipment and take money out of my bank too, if they could manage to talk me into providing my info). Instead, I reached out to the Apple Store to begin the return process....In the meantime, I contacted Scribe Media's listed email ([email protected]) to inquire about the scam and received a quick response confirming everything, including the fake name, "Emily Sisto." I was also informed of the following: "We never ask freelancers to pay for onboarding." "Report the post to the platform (Upwork, Fiverr, etc.)." "Do not send money or buy anything for them." Thank you very much for documenting this information/complaint.