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Attorney General Mike DeWine
Ohioans Losing
Money to Job Scams
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today warned Ohioans
to be cautious of opportunities to make extra money this holiday
season. Some job offers and work-from-home opportunities are scams.
In 2014, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has received nearly 100
complaints involving job or business-opportunity potential scams. The
average reported loss is more than $1,300.
“It’s a time of year when many people could use extra cash, but if you
have to send money in order to make money, it’s probably a scam,”
Attorney General DeWine said. “We encourage Ohioans to research a job
opportunity before going on an interview or providing any personal
information.”
Examples of phony job opportunities can include:
Mystery shopping: A job seeker finds an offer to make money as a secret
shopper. The first assignment is to receive and deposit a check, and
then wire-transfer a portion of the funds to “evaluate” the transfer
service. In reality, the job seeker will be wiring his or her own money
to a con artist who has sent the job seeker a bad check.
Package processing: A job seeker finds an offer to work from home for a
logistics company by receiving and shipping packages, but the company
is bogus and the job seeker won’t make any money.
Vehicle advertising: An offer online claims individuals can make
hundreds of dollars a week by wrapping their car in an advertisement
for an energy drink or other product. The individuals are told they
need to provide payment before the ad can be placed on their vehicle,
but in truth it’s all a scam.
Babysitting: A babysitter receives an offer to work for a couple who
has not yet moved into town. The couple supposedly needs the babysitter
to check out their new apartment, so the couple sends the babysitter
payment in advance. They ask the babysitter to deposit the payment,
withdraw as much as possible, then purchase prepaid money cards and
provide the couple with the cards' numbers so they can provide the
money to the “rental agent.” In reality there is no couple or
babysitting job; it’s all a scam.
Regardless of the pitch, many of the scams follow a similar pattern.
First the scam artist sends a realistic-looking check and asks the
victim to deposit it. Once the check is deposited (but before it has
cleared), the victim is told to wire or otherwise send a portion of the
funds to someone else, possibly out of the country. Later, after the
victim has sent his or her own money, the victim finds out from the
bank that the deposited check was counterfeit.
To avoid scams, Attorney General DeWine encourages job seekers to
research the company offering the work by contacting the Ohio Attorney
General’s Office and the local Better Business Bureau. Job seekers also
can use a search engine to look up reviews by searching for the
company’s name along with terms such as “complaint,” “scam,” or
“review.”
Signs of a potential job scam include receiving a check before any work
is performed, claims about making hundreds or thousands of dollars
doing very little work, requests to wire transfer money or purchase
prepaid money cards, and interviews conducted strictly through a
messaging system.
To report a potential scam or to get help detecting a scam, individuals
should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or 800-282-0515.
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