Description

I applied for the Customer Agent Chat Email WFH $500 Sign-On Bonus at AppenUSATalent Position on October 13, 2025. I was invited to interview and I scheduled and ultimately rescheduled for November 7, 2025. I started the 'interview chat' which was a microsoft teams landing page inside of a chat, the chat read the following: "Hi there, I’m Carla Gutierrez, the HR Manager here at Appen USA. I hope you’re doing well. I’m sorry for the delay in reaching out—we’ve been managing a high volume of applications. To move you forward without further delays, please complete your interview through our secure HR Interview Assistant. This lets you complete your interview at your convenience while ensuring your information is securely linked to your application. How to Complete Your Interview - You can use your phone, tablet, or computer from anywhere. - The interview takes approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour. - Please use the same email address you applied with so we can match your answers to your application. Start your interview (choose ONE of the options below): 1) Messenger: https://www.messenger.com/t/AppenHire (send “Hi” to get started) 2) Applicant Portal: https://jobs.appenusatalent.com/portal/interview-bot (send “Hi” to get started) 3) Web Chat: https://bot.appenusatalent.com/chat If one option doesn’t work on your device or network, please try another from the list. Important Security Reminders - All official communication from Appen USA will only come from an @appenusatalent.com email address. - My official email is [email protected]. Need Help? If you experience any issues, reply to this message (a screenshot helps). Once you finish, let me know so I can confirm completion and guide you through the next steps. Looking forward to learning more about you! Best regards, Carla Gutierrez HR Manager, Appen USA [email protected]" I completed the chat with the interview assistant on option number 3.) Web Chat and answered all 18 questions. I received a response to await my decision and an hour later I had received an offer letter. I have had legitimate jobs move this quickly so I did not doubt it then. Of course now, I am wishing I never accepted the "job" letter. I do my due diligence and conduct research and in this case I did it after the fact as opposed to beforehand. Friday November 7, 2025 I submitted my onboarding information including images of the front and back of my drivers license and social security card, along with my baking information for the so called background check. Oh yes, they also requested utility information as proof of identity and address. The onboarding landing site looked authentic and I had no idea there was cause for pause. I'm really kicking myself right now. It baffles me how low people can and will go to steal, trick and disarm other people. Fast forward to Monday and Tuesday when I started to feel it was time to do more research. This is when I discovered I'd been part of this scam. I did not participate in the "courses" they required to complete onboarding. As soon as I learned of this, I closed my bank account that was provided and went back onto the Talent site (which is where they give you your very own fake employee ID) and signed back into the onboarding account where I then changed every possible entry to something completely different and uploaded new images stating " Not today, Satan" in place of what should have been the ID, SS card and utility bill proof. I reported all received emails as spam and fishing before blocking. I did send a final email stating I decline the offer. Not that it will do anything. I already utilize ID monitoring so my information will remain looked out for. What I hope is that these losers will be shutdown immediately with the help of the ACTUAL Appen company. My wish is that somehow these messages make it to the right people to protect them from falling into the same trap many of us unknowingly and temporarily fell into.