My niece, Anna, is a school teacher in the Birmingham Public School system.
Another teacher in the system got phished and the phisher sent an email to a bunch of other teachers, offering them a summer job as an administrative assistant, earning $500 weekly for working only 8 hours. Tempting?
The email had a link to a Google Form with the job application.
The form goes on to ask her Full Name, Email: [Not School Email!], Alternative Email, and Phone Number, as well as Current Occupation, Age, Sex, and Available Time.
Why does it say "Not School Email!" -- because this exact scam is being conducted by phishing people in schools all across the country!
Her new boss, Dr. Reinn, hit her up on text, from the phone number (904) 297-8521, got her resume, reviewed it, and offered her the job on the spot!
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She got hired and was EMAILED a set of duties and responsibilities.
Her duties were basically:
- DONATE to three foster homes a month
- book TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS for her boss and his associates
- manage RETURNS and errands such as shopping, POST OFFICE
- send birthday cards and GIFTS to clients, family, and friends
Her first assignment would be to make a donation to a local orphanage.
So he emails her an IMAGE of a check that she was supposed to mobile deposit to herself and then send $4800 of the $4950 via ZELLE to a second scammer email: lookatthepudding@gmail.com
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I'm not sure why she would think this check is not TOTALLY LEGITIMATE, right? And why wouldn't donations to an orphanage be sent to someone's Zelle account named "Look At The Pudding?"
Clearly Anna's name and the amount have been laid on top of the check on another piece of paper and then photographed. Who writes a check like that? Oh! Someone who has STOLEN a check and needs to re-use it but is too lazy or stupid to wash it properly.
She wisely did NOT deposit the check, which revealed that she knows this is a scam.
Unfortunately, during the job application process she was required to provide referrals. Now the scammer is calling and messaging her references asking for her whereabouts and claiming that she stole $4,950 from his company and he was trying to find her to have her arrested. He also called her current employer at least three times.
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