Victim Location 84601
Type of a scam Employment
Yesterday morning (1/13/2020), I received a text message from somebody named Michael Williams from Realize Healthcare saying that they reviewed my resume and that I made it to the next step of the interview process for a work-from-home Data Entry position with their supposed company. I never sent them my resume or applied for a Data Entry position with that company. I had never even heard of it before. Michael then told me to invite "Mrs. Anamaria Jiles" on Google Hangout where I would have my "interview", providing her email address.
So I get on to Google Hangout and connect with this Mrs. AnaMaria Jiles character. She claimed to be 47 years old and the Personnel Manager at Realize Healthcare. We go through as if it’s a regular job interview. She explained the position I was "interviewing" for, but gave vague job requirements, work responsibilities that seemed legit, offered full-time benefits (health, 401k, PTO, Holiday Pay, signup bonus, etc.), and a salary of $27/hour (which after later talking with my aunt who is an HR guru, absolutely no company would pay that much for a data entry clerk position or offer those kinds of benefits, especially to a company that’s new). She asked questions that sounded like they were legit interview questions. For example, she asked about my experience with skills such as customer service, bookkeeping, auditing, and organization, why I should be hired, etc. She also said I would be provided a check to pay for the expenses for my work-from-home job (a brand new Apple laptop, iPhone X, an all-in-one printer/scanner/faxer, the software for the job, and office stationery) through their company vendor. I was also asked if my phone plan was prepaid or postpaid, and the name of my banking institution. I gave them the names of those companies, but I did not give them any more sensitive information (NEVER DO THAT!). She did ask for my name, address, phone number, and email address as well, which I was naive enough to give. A short time after completing this "interview" she gets back to me (still on Google Hangout) and says that I scored a 7.5/10 for the interview and that I was officially hired. She told me to come back the next morning (today) on Google Hangout where I would get connected with my training supervisor for a couple hours and that I would begin my training next week. I did not come back.
I was oblivious to the warning bells members of my immediate family were giving me, including the numerous spelling and grammar typos I noticed she had throughout our conversation. She also repeated some old information 2 or 3 times and got a bit frustrated, yet convincing at the same time. My mom got my aunt involved (the one I mentioned earlier of being an HR expert) and I explained my story to her. My aunt’s husband was listening in as well and they both agreed that this whole thing smelled extremely fishy. After my aunt explained her reasons why, she had me convinced her way and made me promise that I would never do business with these people ever again, which I promised I would.
The organization’s website (realizehealthcare.com) appears to be a legitimate website, but its content is very vague and it doesn’t go into any detail about products they’re selling, how they’re making money, what they’re specifically doing, etc. Their listed "relationship companies" do appear to be legit, but don’t let that convince you to think that this website is legitimate. I’m pretty certain that if you contact those listed companies, they’ve never heard of a company called "Realize Healthcare" before. Also the only way you could contact them on their website (besides their "contact" page) was through email. No phone number, no listed address, just an email address. They have a listed address on their LinkedIn page along with a couple managing partners on there as well. I decided it was best to take necessary precautions and re-secure my Google account (updated password and using two-step authentication) and changed all the passwords I had saved on there, and for good measure protected my bank account as well. Do your homework on these types of companies, and if you don’t feel good about what you’re finding, it’s probably a scam.
(Side note: I got an email from "Mrs Anamaria Jiles" early this morning saying she had an emergency and wanted me to proceed with her assistant by the name of Brenda Valentini [email address: [email protected]]). I am now done with these people. They are clearly a scam.