Complaint / Review
Optimus Group, Paris, France 'Newspaper Agent'
Money scam

I received an job offer from the careerbuilder website titled: 'Available Position Advertising Agent, $70K/year.' The company is calling iteself 'Optimus Group.' In the initial e-mail the link to 'Optimus Group' was given. I checked it out. There is such thing as an 'Optimus Group' but it's based out of San Diego, Ca not Paris, France.

Basically the position requires you to place advertisements in newspapers and tabloids around the United States. The company supplies you with all of the information you need... 1-800 numbers, names, addresses etc. So, I fell for it and signed up by giving them my address, telephone # and two e-mail addresses. About a week later, they sent me a cashiers check from Tracy A. Johnson located in Algona, Ia for the amount of $2,399. I was told that I didn't need to call and place any adds at this time but would need to the following week. The Optimus Group stated they had already placed the adds. I just needed to wire a payment through Western Union of $1,950 to an address in Austria within 48 hrs of receiving the check. They stated there would be a $145 dollar fee to wire the funds and that I was to keep $300 for my work.

I was e-mailed a copy of the adds as well as the company link of the person I was to wire the money to. I checked them out and still, everything looked legit. I went to my bank, cashed the check and needless to say, wired the money to the address in Austria.

Still a little hesitant about what I had just done, I decided to call the bank that was on the cashiers check. Northwest Federal Bank in Algona, Ia. The bank confirmed that they had no record of a Tracy A. Johnson.

Panicked, I called Western Union to immediately stop the money transfer. Luckily, the money had not been wired and it was all returned to me with the exception of the wire transfer fee of $145.

This is obviously a well thought out and clever scam!

I hope by writing this I have stopped anyone else from becoming a victim in this sick, twisted way of extracting money from innocent, hard-working people.