Scam Alert: Don't be a sucker like me

Part 1 of two-part series

I’m getting away from my normal content here, but I think this is important. I don’t want any of you to fall for any scams similar to what I recently encountered.

I used to consider myself as savvy or aware enough to be able to spot scams and crooks. I would never be victim to a scammer, or so I thought. I want to describe what recently happened to hopefully keep you from falling for same thing.

This began when I applied for a position on Upwork. In case you aren’t familiar with Upwork, it is a website companies and individuals use to post jobs and projects they need help with. Most of these are digital in some way, such as helping with software, presentations, writing. There are many more categories of available work on the site, and you can tailor your search to your interests and experience.

You basically create an account with your credentials and then scan the site to apply for projects in the hope that a company will offer you a position. Upwork is really a great resource with mostly legitimate, honest opportunities, however I feel it probably is quite crowded with applicants, which can make it difficult to get selected by a company. This may have led to me becoming a sucker for a scam.

Before I go on, I want to be clear that Upwork is a legitimate site to find work. I was selected for a few writing projects a few years ago, and everything went very well. I was promptly paid and even received very positive reviews for my work.

So this brings us to my recent experience, where I was a sucker and almost lost $4500. I had scanned Upwork and spotted an online job listing for an experienced beta reader and proofreader. As a longtime English teacher, journalist, and author, I feel I have a pretty good eye for writing and the ability to quickly analyze and make corrections to texts. I would imagine that many of us with similar experiences feel the same way about their qualifications.

After about a week, I was contacted by a “company” posing as a top publishing company in New York. They asked me to interview via text chat on Skype. That should have been alarm bell #1, but I agreed to do it. Looking back, I have never seen a company interview using such methods.

Anyway, I met for the “interview” and typed back and forth with somebody. I diligently talked about my experience and how I thought I could do a good job for them. He said it went very well and to expect an email form them shortly. I really did think the job sounded good and that I had done a fine job answering his questions.

As a recently retired teacher, I was looking forward to working part time doing something that matched my skills. How many of us don’t like the idea of working from home on our own schedule?

The next day, they emailed a contract and said I was selected. Congratulations, they said. You got the job! I was feeling good. They also asked me to contact someone else, again on Skype, who would be my supervisor. So went I went back on Skype and made contact with this person. More congratulations! I was feeling good!

He described a bit about the job, but only a little. He said there would be three days of training, which I would be paid for. At this point, I wasn’t hearing any alarm bells. I was looking forward to getting to work.

It all sounded good until it didn’t. Please trust your instincts. If something starts to smell, even a little, then there’s a reason. It’s probably rotten. Maybe I was holding my nose at that point, but I wasn’t smelling anything yet.

At this point, my “supervisor” asked if I had a certain computer and printer along with some software they required. I had some of it, but not all. He said it was not a problem and that they would send me what I needed. They would contact a local vendor and have it all shipped to me.

I admit I was a bit impressed, thinking this was a serious company with lots of resources, but I should have stopped holding my nose.

I’m almost at the end of this almost sad (for me) tale.

Next, the “supervisor” said they would send me a check to pay for the equipment from the vendor. This all sounded like a lot for a part time job, but I stayed with it, although my nose was starting to twitch. Sort of like when you smell something in your kitchen but can’t find the source.

Here comes the stink, so please follow along so you don’t get burned. This person then said they would send me a picture of a check for $4500 for the equipment. Then he wanted me to print the check from my email, and use the mobile app on my phone to deposit the check and then to send him a picture of the deposit slip.

My nose exploded. It was like opening a cooler that had been sitting for several days in your hot garage and finding a dead squid you had been using for bait. II know this from experience.)

Nothing about this sounded right. This isn’t how companies operate. I was not going to send them any information with my bank account information on it. My wife and I did some research, and found this type of scam is common. I’m not quite sure how they would have continued, but the bank would have found the check to be fraudulent and the scammers would have probably said I was liable for the $4500. Or, they would have done something else with my account once they had the basic information. Regardless, I stopped it all. I did not print out the check, nor did I give them any more information. I emailed them and said I was no longer participating and that I would not contact them anymore.

So I escaped with my $4500 still in my account. I really had thought I was not vulnerable to things like this, so how did it happen? Was it the fact that everyone likes to hear “Congratulations” if you think it is sincere? Or was it that being an author is not exactly profitable, and we jump at the chance to do some work that lets us use some of our skills? Maybe.

So, that’s it for me. At 62, I hope I’ve learned. I don’t want to say we shouldn’t trust anyone, but please be careful. An old saying in the Air Force was “Trust, but verify.” Please keep writing and working but with your eyes, and nose, wide open.

In my next issue, I’ll talk about another scam I fell for. Yes, there was another one…

Do you have your own story about being scammed or almost losing money to something like this? Please share it in the comments, and we have help people prevent this from happening to them.