Brown Friedemann
Consumer Report

I replied to a Craigslist customer service employment posting in which I provided my resume and cover letter. I received a response from a real estate broker (Brown Friedemann) who was seeking a personal assistant to conduct a myriad of his tasks and errands. I accepted the position and, upon Brown Friedemann's request, provided my contact information, including the address in which I reside. I received a US Bank Cashier's Check for $2,700 in the mail with a letter that directed me to request further instructions from "my employer." Due to the informality and major grammatical errors on the letter, I asked Brown Friedemann to verify the legitimacy and legality of the business enterprise as a whole. Brown Friedemann provided me with verbal and written verification that it was legal and legitimate (he gave me "his word"). I received several relentless telephone correspondences from B. Friedemann throughout the course of these events. B. Friedemann then instructed me to deposit the cashier's check into my account, keep $450 for services rendered, and deduct $2,250 in order to wire transfer the funds through Western Union to two desired locations in the United Kingdom. I completed the transactions and sent the transfer information to B. Friedemann. The following day I received notification from Bank of America that the deposited cashier's check was counterfeit and the funds totaling $2,700 were deducted from the account, creating an overdraft of negative -$2,199. I attempted to file a claim with Bank of America, proving that I was a victim of this fraudulent scam, but I was informed that there wasn't a possibilty of a claim being filed because I made the deposit. I was therefore told that I was financially responsible for the inducted charges. I attempted to go after the scammer Brown Friedemann, to no avail. I then filed a claim with the Los Angeles division of the FBI, where I was told that Bank of America would be financially responsible for the loss, because the funds were made available for withdrawal without verifying the check. A week later I was falsely arrested and booked for check fraud, and shortly thereafter released, and all charges dropped due to a false arrest.

Company: Brown Friedemann
Country: USA

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