Victim Location 97401
Total money lost $3,600
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
I had originally applied for an Office Assistant position with an insurance company. I received a response email saying that I did not get the position, but that they knew of someone who was in need of a personal assistant. The pay seemed good and the hours flexible. After directing me to email my resume to [email protected], I proceeded to converse with "Bruce" including electronically signing a contract. The idea was that I would be running errands for him as he was out of the country and would not have time to do them himself. With the promise of meeting him in a couple weeks to deliver the items that I had acquired, I awaited a list of things to do.
"Bruce" informed me that I would be receiving a package with further instructions and even provided a tracking number. The only item in the package was a check for the amount of $4,050. While the check seemed steep, I assumed that it would go towards to "book supplier" he said he was in contact with. I thought that I was being smart by opening a completely new account with KeyBank for this job specifically as to make sure the check was verified and not confuse it with my personal funds. Bruce gave me a number to contact him from here on out. We only texted from then on.
Fake Bruce became pushy and aggressive when it came to getting the money right away to purchase gift cards. I was nervous to do this, but knew that the money was real because I went to the bank to pull out the funds in cash before I spent anything. The bank approved of the check the following day of deposit. I thought it was quick, but if the bank said it was all good, then it must be.
In total, I spent $3,600 in gift cards and sent the redeeming codes (I was assuming the best and hoping that they were just for proof of purchase). After all, how could I say no to getting the cards after the check was already available and approved by my bank? It wasn’t a full week before the check was found to be a fraud, but the money was already spent. My account now shows a balance of -$3,600 that I owe to KeyBank.
After asking the bank why I was able to take out the money before the check was secured, they responded that one of their tellers had to override the initial hold on the account and that they would "have a serious conversation." Unfortunately, that doesn’t help me in my $3,600 debt.