Description

I was initially contacted via email by Janyce Keiko. "Attorney at Law" Torrance, CA 90501 I posted my resume online in hope of acquiring a remote position as a transcriptionist. Her email states that there was a job opening in one of their affiliated firms, RJ PARKER PUBLISHING, as a transcriptionist. It stated that they were "Urgently hiring" They claimed to have gotten my resume via a candidate search on indeed, LinkedIn, we work remotely or zip recruiter. This made sense as I posted my resume directly to "weworkremotely.com" a couple of days prior. I was instructed to contact the hiring manager Howard Jaap via email: [email protected]. Upon contacting Mr. Jaap, I was instructed to download skype to connect and complete an interview. I was under the assumption this would be a video interview, but it was all done via messaging which I did think was odd. I completed the interview process and was told that my interview answers would be forwarded to HR and that I needed to be back online between 8am and 10am the next morning to receive my interview results. When I got online, I was told that due to my experience, I had gotten the job. Again, I thought this was odd because I made it clear that I had little experience. But they emailed me a job offer and told me to be sure to read over it carefully. Once I accepted the position, I was sent hiring paperwork via email. I received an I-9, direct deposit paperwork and several other official documents to complete. Once this was completed, I was told that they would be sending me a check to remote deposit to purchase specific equipment to perform my job remotely. When I asked why they wouldn't just purchase the equipment and have it sent to me, I was told that the funds came from a different company, so the check would be emailed to me. Upon receiving the check for $2450.00, I was told to deposit it via mobile deposit. At this point, I contacted my bank, showed them the check and they verified that it was a fraudulent check. I sent these people my bank account and routing number, my ss#, and a copy of my driver's license. I have since closed my bank account and put a freeze on my credit. They were unable to get any money from me directly, but my bank stated that this has happened in the past and it is a scam. These companies have you deposit the funds, buy the equipment, and then the check bounces and you are out the funds. When I told Howard Jaap that I knew this was a scam, I never heard back from him again. Go with your gut from the beginning. I wish I had. This could have been much worse.