New answers tagged scams
3
You can only go to jail for doing something illegal, and then it typically has to be not your first offense, and you have to be unwilling to cooperate with authorities to catch "the bigger fish". Failing for a scam is not a crime. I would put your chances of going to jail, at zero, with the information you provided.
It is a bit unclear, from your post, ...
6
Ask yourself: Would you send a check to a random person you met on the internet? Why would you do that? You wouldn't. Unless this was part of some scheme to con the other person out of money.
Now ask yourself: Why would a random person that met you on the internet send you a check? Same reason.
Only ever accept checks from people when you know where they ...
9
Up to the point where he wants you to pay for things everything is highly unusual but not illegal in any way.
Then comes the point where he asks you to pay. Which you already did. If you still have the gift cards and didn't tell their numbers to anyone, then you haven't lost anything yet, you just bought gift cards. If you sent him the gift cards, or you ...
1
Am I missing an obvious point here? Assuming it's not a scam, the debt is real and these are the real debt collectors for this debt, why not call them, get their bank details and then do a credit transfer?
This way they can't take more than is owed, you're not handing over your bank details to someone else, etc.
3
It may not even be a scam, but an attempt at human trafficking.
Meeting at an apartment is an enormous red flag. Maybe the first job as an assistant is to fly on the company jet out of the country to never be seen again...
7
This sounds VERY similar to a known scam, where someone can "work from home" and is given an "expense account" to buy office supplies with. Here's how the scam typically works:
The fake company sends a check that they know will bounce to the victim, typically for more money than is reasonable (~$10,000 is common), and tells the victim to purchase office ...
3
This is quite what my emplyoer does. Stock compensation is very common among large (American) software companies. New hires usually get a large stock grant worth around $100k or even more. These stocks (called restricted stock units, RSUs) are meant to be vested, i.e. received by the employee, over a period of several years (usually around four). The base ...
5
There may be a couple more restrictions in there, but having been in a couple of companies with a similar employee share scheme it often goes like this.
You become eligible for the shares after being an employee for two years, you can start selling up to your limit after another year. So that's 3 years in the company before you get any of the share money, ...
3
That sounds like a very weird situation, but I wouldn't necessarily discard the opportunity that it's a legitimate business that is being run poorly just yet.
A lot of smaller companies don't see HR / recruiting as a priority, and can have some very wonky-feeling recruiting processes.
That said, I would never give notice without having seen a contract.
If ...
7
This happened to my wife. She was being interviewed for a position as a technician at a laboratory. That was what the ad was for. However, the person doing the hiring held the follow up or initial interview (don't recall) at a flat, and started presenting her with some pyramid/multi-level marketing scheme (something like Amway, but not Amway, something dodgy ...
5
I agree with all the other reasons why this doesn't sound legit, ranging from best case scam of some commission based sales job ('by selling X from home you get 2% commission so easy to earn up to a million a month!') to the much worse 'scam' possibilities. One 'scam' option that wasn't mentioned happend to a friend of a friend of mine: lots of detailed ...
6
It sounds like a scam, but apparently Riley doesn't want to hear it from you. If all else fails and you know Riley is about to quit her current job and accept the new one, unless you're worried that she could end up being harmed, perhaps you could propose this:
Riley accepts the new job offer and begins working.
She doesn't tell her current job she is ...
5
Everything moved very fast, the initial contact to job offer happened in a week.
This, to me, is beyond red flag territory and more like a blaring foghorn. Was the offer contingent on a background check? Because if it wasn't I cannot imagine any way for this to be a legitimate opportunity. No one hires an executive assistant without dotting i's and ...
13
None of these per se are red flags, but the combination of them seems odd.
No requirements is quite possible for an assistant whose job is basically to help out with everything that lands on his/her desk. Typically, job experience is requested, but very often chemistry between the assistant and the person he/she is assisting is the key, so they might have ...
27
I've heard about things like this before. The job itself was real enough, but the actual work turned out to be connecting calls for a black market network (i.e. drug runners, etc). It paid well enough, but then the person ended up going to jail for supporting the illegal activities (c.f. Alice Marie Johnson). My advice, if it sounds too good to be true, ...
132
That would likely be a startup.
So they need a developer who can ask for a good salary, but they don't have that much money. So instead they offer shares.
If the company is successful, due (in part) to the help of the developer, they make lots of money and the shares don't hurt much.
If the company fails and goes bankrupt, the shares are worthless and ...
88
An interview for a job as an Executive Assistant should be performed in an office.
Having it in an apartment is a big fat red flag.
32
The iron rule is: 1. Any scammer will at some point ask for money. 2. No real company that offers you a real job will ever ask you for money.
So as soon as they are asking for money, you know one hundred million billion percent sure it is a scam. We know 100% sure that it is a scam from your description, but Riley has his/her greedy little eyes on the ...
0
Assuming this is a legit debt and a legit debt collector, you shouldn't have anything to worry about using your banking information, as they won't steal your stuff. That's the whole thing about them being legitimate.
However, if you worry about someone hacking their database or the transaction, you can get a virtual credit card that still links to your bank ...
11
There is only one answer to this.
Wire the money. International transfer of money from Norway works very well and has decently low costs.
Any other transfer method will either make you lose money or get a visit from anti-money-laundering law enforcers.
-1
Often when a company (you owe money to) get a debt collection agency they have given up trying to collect the debt directly from you. This means you probably should be able to get a discount. If you're going to be paying them, they should not care how. They should accept PayPal. You need to verify that the debt collection agency is acting on behalf of the ...
4
This answer isn't going to tell you how to determine if this is a scam, and is assuming that your bank and the other bank can do this across borders and with different currencies.
In general one bank will need the routing number of the bank and the account number that is being linked. They then send one or more micro transactions to verify that the numbers ...
66
There is no banking process in the world which requires you to share your "security info" (passwords, PINs, TANs, mother's maiden name or other authentication factors) with a third party.
No bank anywhere in the world will tell you that there is any situation whatsoever where you are supposed to give those secrets to anyone but them.
No bank anywhere in ...
6
I can't really go into it due to NDA's, but I work in this industry and see people getting scammed all of the time for many different scenarios that rational people removed from the situation don't think they could ever fall for.
Please do not let yourself be scammed. If there is any doubt at all, there is a solution.
If you legitimately have a debt that ...
0
First off, be sure that this is not a scam, as others have suggested.
Similar to a cashier's check, you can also get a money order. These are often easier to obtain since they are available at many grocery stores and gas stations; you don't need to wait until your bank is open and wait in line there. A common brand is Western Union, and a sign will usually ...
18
This concerns me:
I should note I'm also trying to settle with them for a significantly lower sum. However, in order to do this I need to be able to pay soon with a card or bank account.
Debt collectors are notorious for using any and all tactics necessary to get money from you as quickly as possible. It is very well possible that even if you pay them ...
24
Even if they were legit, they won't file litigation (which is a lawsuit) because the overhead costs are considerable. But who cares? It's not a lawsuit until they serve you. Then it'll be a month + til the first hearing, and the suit will be extinguished once you pay them, which you're planning to do anyway. Ergo it's no threat at all.
Absolutely not. ...
answered Oct 27 at 5:29
Harper - Reinstate Monica
34.3k6 gold badges51 silver badges113 bronze badges
2
Physical cash is legal tender for all debts public and private. Someone can refuse to sell you a product or service for cash, but if you already owe them money, they are obligated to accept cash to clear the debt. If they don't take cash when you offer it, and you have evidence of this, they're not going to look good in court when they try to claim you ...
52
For the purposes of this answer I am assuming that this is not a scam, and that they are not the one who led you down the path of needing to use gift cards to make the payment. No legitimate business would insist on gift cards.
If you want to make sure that you are not providing them with any more banking details than is necessary, you should consider the ...
142
This sounds like a scam. The debt itself may be legitimate but the debt collector doesn’t sound legitimate.
Legitimate businesses would never need access to your bank account. If you have the funds ready to go, get their routing numbers and do a funds transfer from your own bank account to theirs.
Giving others access to your bank account (user name & ...
14
If you're really worried about the collections agency doing something bad like taking more money than agreed, then open a "burner" temporary bank account.
Transfer just enough to satisfy the debt, and then -- when the transaction posts to the account -- close it.
It'll take a few days for the money to be fully transferred to your new bank, though.
2
I would say: if you feel you have to ask then it almost certainly is a scam. You are almost certainly better off NOT doing it even if you can't quite work out what the angle is.
0
This is a variance of Advance-fee scam.
The scammer definitely going to ask the gullible(and greedy) victim for fees with absurd reasons (absurd to those rational people).
In fact, real money laundering is a professional task, which will not delegate to a John Doe or Janie Doe. Under international anti-money laundering rules and agreement, bank will ...
3
Two possibilities here, both very bad:
First, it's simply money laundering. When the government figures out what is going on who are they going to come for?
Second, the funds coming to her are stolen. She passes them on, the original transaction is discovered and reverted, she lost everything she passed on.
4
So then she really lays it on and starts sending me LOTS of pics (some would make a sailor blush)
That's the bait.
and asks if I can send her a google play card for her bday - another red flag.
They're testing your gullibility.
Well now her mother is dying but she has an inheritance her father left her. But there are conditions such as she has to be ...
2
"How does this scam work?"
Well you've hit the nail on the head that it is a scam. Regardless of how much you want it to not be (and I do sympathise), you've pointed out all the red flags. This scam works by you paying $15k and thats the end of it.
"Is it a bad idea to let her come? Should I let it continue on up until the moment and then fold or just back ...
11
She (and bear in mind “she” doesn’t really exist, so might be better to think of as “he” with a team of accomplices at least one of whom is female if you’ve spoken to a woman in the phone) will not turn up. There will be some problem with flights or transport and “she” will send a “courier” to pick up the money from you, or ask you to wire it somewhere. A ...
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