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I applied online for a job, but my profile does not involve my qualifications, only my age and my name.

The next day an email was sent to me by a company based in Florida. I was hesitant at first to accept the employment, but due to the crisis happening today I had no other choice but to give it a try. As I got through the final step and I already signed my employee contract.

I got a little suspicious because before I even got to start the job, they asked for me to pay through bitcoin for supplies that I will be needing for the work. Also, I am suspicious about why they would hire someone with no qualifications like me. They tried to reassure me that they are not scamming me, but I am still a bit suspicious.

Should I just trust them and give them money for the "supplies"?

Also, I did not know why I must send it in a currency like bitcoin. BTW, I live in the Philippines.

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    What supplies are they buying? Can you not buy them yourself locally? There are many, many red flags that make this look incredibly risky. Don't send them anything that you can't afford to lose (because you likely will).
    – D Stanley
    Jun 11, 2020 at 13:41
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    Not only that, there is seldom if ever a reason for companies to require you to buy supplies from them, with cash (or bitcoin) up front. And NO ONE is going to admit that they're trying to scam you.
    – jamesqf
    Jun 11, 2020 at 16:14
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    Special company glue -- sounds like a joke I remember from my childhood.
    – mustaccio
    Jun 11, 2020 at 22:02
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    They tried to reassure me that it is not a scam. ----- Number 1 indicator it IS a scam.
    – Yu Zhang
    Jun 12, 2020 at 0:23
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    Even if this isn't a scam, any company that tries to get you to pay for every day things you need to have during the course of your employment is a company that should be walked away from. Company headed paper, envelopes etc should all be supplied and paid for by the company.
    – user45974
    Jun 12, 2020 at 0:29

2 Answers 2

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This is scam. Companies do not offer jobs without qualifications. Plus asking you to pay by bitcoin is scam and can't be traced. Even bank transactions are difficult to recover.

Don't transfer anything bitcoin or bank transactions or western union. Stop all communications before you give more information.

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    I am crying and so disgusted by that person right now. He takes advantage of other people's problem and used it for his gain. I am so angry I want him to go to jail
    – clefnote
    Jun 11, 2020 at 14:34
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    Bitcoin is easy to trace; the ledger containing all transactions is public. A bitcoin transaction is impossible to reverse which is the bigger issue in scams like this.
    – Doryx
    Jun 11, 2020 at 21:56
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    @Doryx the transactions are open. But the individuals are unknown untraceable.
    – Dheer
    Jun 12, 2020 at 0:18
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    I hate to say it, but everything about this screamed scam and should have been patently obvious. Unfortunately we don't always think clearly when we are in desperate situations. I hate that they prey on people in these situations, but it sounds like at least you learned a valuable lesson, whatever consolation that might be.
    – JohnFx ♦
    Jun 12, 2020 at 3:26
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    @JohnFx : for anyone saying "it should have been obvious", I would recommend checking out this: xkcd.com/1053 :)
    – vsz
    Jun 12, 2020 at 4:52
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I'm sorry to hear that someone took (or tried to take) advantage of your willingness to trust, but that's how scam artists like this work.

Your post doesn't say exactly WHAT "supplies" you were supposed to buy to do the job, but whatever they were doesn't change the fact this was simply a way to con money out of someone. And unfortunately they are successful with it often enough to make money at it, which is the worst part.

As an employer (and one who has a number of people working for me from home on a contract basis) I would NEVER, EVER ask them to pay money for whatever's required to perform their job duties.

That being said, I do require them to have specific things, such as a telephone, a computer, and so on, but those are not things they buy from me.

Until more conventional methods become mainstream for cryptocurrency transactions so that there can be some kind of "safety net" against fraud to some extent or another (although nothing comes to mind right now and probably never will, as far as I can think of), they will remain the "go-to" method for most scams to utilize. You can track transactions, but you can't know WHO is on the other end, and what would stop them from setting up accounts just long enough to pull off a scam like this for a little while, cashing out, and moving on to start all over again?

Again, I'm very sorry you had to deal with this, especially in light of your desire to work and develop the experience necessary to obtain employment with larger, more established companies. I hope it works out for you!

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