On October 16th I received a letter. Unpostmarked? Funny I thought, after all my father was in the US Postal Service for over 15 years. But the stamp was Canadian so I figured they must run their mail services differently.
I opened the letter and saw what I believed was a legitimate letter front and back along with a check. I received $3770.00 and I was "hired" as a "Customer Service Evaluator". I didn't remember filling out any applications, but then remembered that I had seen the advertisement/job posting on Career Builders. Must be on the up and up right? After all Career Builders wouldn't have let a company see my resume with my information on it unless they were indeed a bona fide company.
I called the number listed on the documents, and spoke with a very nice lady who assured me that this was a live check. She stated that this was a legitimate business and even went as far as to invite me to look them up on their website! So I researched the company, as well as the bank. After much deliberation I deposited the check. After all i knew all about "secret shoppers" as I had been in the retail industry for years and had been shopped myself many times. I looked closely at the check and it looked like a check that had been written/printed from this company. The paper was even perforated on the edges making me believe that this was a live check.
Once the check was deposited I withdrew the $100 ($90 there again I had known that Canadian money was always valued less than the US dollar so I thought nothing of it) as required and purchased the items. I called immediately and asked if they needed to be returned. I was told absolutely not this was an additional benefit that their company does so their shoppers aren't forced into lengthy stays at the stores. The same lady I had spoken with before stated I needed to let her know when the check cleared my bank and she would indeed give me the following directions for the Money gram/Western Union amount to be sent.
I called my bank 4 days later and my account was overdrawn but per the bank it was because the check had been placed on hold due to the amount and my savings account had only $5.00 to begin with. The bank released the funds but I was still leary about the entire situation. I again researched everything on line and found nothing negative about the company nor the bank it was drawn off of.
It was only today another week later when I went to check the balance of my savings account did I learn that the check was indeed fraudulent. I immediately called the number and talked with the receptionist, her claim was the lines were down and to call back within the next hour so the phone company could continue to trace the phone line problem. After the 1 hour wait I called back and talked with the same sweet natured lady I had talked with all along. I explained the situation where she then abruptly interrupted me stating that she was sending this to the tracing dept and I would be notified shortly, and hung up on me. I returned the call and advised her that my lawyers will be seeking damages and liabilities due to this fraud that they had "invented" to screw the hard working public out of money which is scarce these days.
Don't deposit anything from this company, turn it over to your bank and to the law enforcement agencies in your area. Lets put these criminals behind bars where they belong!!!
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