How do you know recognize a scam? While keeping an eye out for a work from home job, I soon realized that it was more likely that I would end up in a phishing adventure, instead. I love staying home and homeschooling the kids, but some extra money coming in would be a good thing. I’ve been hesitant to apply to anything, though, because customer service is not particularly in my wheel house and that is primarily what you will find. And, again, is it a scam? Would I be walking straight into fraud?

WHO CAN YOU TRUST?

It really is hard to know what is safe on-line and I’m no stranger to the scam. (Check out this post for example of that —->The Buddy Bandana Is Perfect For Your Buddy (Or Not) So, the fact that I am in a facebook group that helps weed out the jobs that are not legit is great. Anyway, the other day, I was facebook scrolling and saw someone’s post about a work from home position with Kelly Services. I immediately was intrigued because Kelly Services is a popular topic in my facebook group and many have loved working there. I messaged the person who posted and was almost immediately invited for a virtual interview on google hangouts.

After putting on some lipstick and brushing my hair, I learned that it was a chat interview. Less stress but kind of weird. All of it was, but I was not looking for a reason to suspect that is was a scam. Having said that, I also knew enough to be Careful so while I wasn’t looking for a reason, I understood that there could be one.

AM I INTERVIEWING FOR A REAL JOB?

But, it’s Kelly Services! They’re not scammers. So, I went on to answer “Mrs. Dana Flamburis'” questions. I spent about 30 minutes answering questions about my experience and skills. At this point, I figured that a scammer wouldn’t bother with this whole process. (Or maybe they would.) While waiting for the next question, I went back to facebook and saw a couple people commenting that it’s a scam. Crap!

While I hadn’t given them any info that they couldn’t easily find, anyway, I was still freaked. I commented that I had gone through most of the interview and was panicking now. I thanked the person for commenting and went back to my possibly faux interview.

Minutes, later, some guy felt the need to comment and tell me that I’m an idiot. So rude! Never you mind, what I said back.Anyway, this really has nothing to do with anything, I just wanted to say that a stranger hurt my feelings.

Anyway, at this point, I had invested so much time in this thing, I wanted to see where it would go. I continued to discuss my qualifications, etc. While I sat on chat hold for a decision from her supervisor, I re-read the chat and it became more and more undeniable that it really wasn’t legit. But, still, I thanked her when she came back and officially offered me the job. I guess I still wanted the positive reinforcement. haha.

THEY WANT MY MONEY

As logistics were discussed, I was curious to see when and if (ok, I know, just when), she would ask for money or bank information. Finally, after telling me how I would get paid, after telling me that they would send me a laptop; she finally said that I would need to purchase the computer program to go with the laptop. She assured me that I would be reimbursed for it on the following day. (Aw, man! It is definitely a scam.)

That’s when I said no.

I told her I couldn’t afford it and did I have any other options? What can I say, I was just curious at this point. She said “It’s $200 only and you will be reimbursed tomorrow.” And I told her that if I had an extra $200 just laying around, I probably wouldn’t be looking for a job. Eventually, she started talking about giving me the money to buy it and wondering if I could be trusted. Can I be trusted?? I said that, of course, I could be trusted. Not surprisingly, this led to her asking for my banking info so they could make the deposit.

That’s when I said no.

I suggested cash app. After some time, she said that would work but she needed my cash app log-in info so that I could receive it immediately. To sweeten the deal, she said that I would also receive a $100 sign-on bonus. I explained that I couldn’t give her that info and that sending to the cash app was secure and instant. A couple times of going back and forth was enough to finally convince her that this phishing attempt would not work. For the night, anyway, because she then said that she would get in touch tomorrow so we could figure out how to handle it.

WILL I HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN?

I went to bed that night, curious if I would hear back. And I did!

I’m not sure what the purpose of that was because that was the last I heard from her but I guess I’m glad to know she is doing well!

WHAT NOW?

So, clearly, this was never Kelly Services. And I’m relieved that I didn’t fall for it; not to the point of having my bank account drained, anyway. But, I could have if I wasn’t staying aware, especially since I wanted so badly to believe it. And she was very convincing, they usually are.

The moral of this story is…be careful! Be very careful. Tell your kids to careful, tell your friends to be careful and tell your grandparents to be careful. The scammers are out there and they are relentless. This “chick” grilled me on my typing speed and customer service skills before getting anywhere near making the official scam attempt. It’s downright heartbreaking that you have to distrust before you can trust, isn’t it?

Oh, and also, after some googling, I have learned that a google hangout interview invite is a red flag. So, you know, don’t do that.