I'm an author, and I freelance as well. I love to write, and I do everything "writing" I can. I get a lot of my work from a site called
Upwork, a
great site by the way! I highly recommend it!
Ten days or so ago, I applied for an hourly writing job for a company called Pharma Waldhof. Seven days ago, they contacted me, telling me they'd like an interview on Google Hangouts. I called Upwork to make sure that was kosher. It was within policy and pretty standard. I agreed to the interview. They set the interview and briefing (should the interview proceed well) for 9-3 the next day.
I was going to have a steady, real, stay-at-home writing job?! It all seemed too good to be true! No more freelancing and piecing jobs together? This was going to be great! But, what if it was too good to be true? Be careful of things that sound too good to be true, ladies and gents!! Sometimes they are!
In the meantime, I researched the company. They appeared to be an outstanding company! I called the US government to see how I would work taxes since they were based out of Germany and found the IRS had a contract with them, so all was well at that end. I studied up on the company's policies and their self-proclaimed strengths, expertise, and ambitions so I'd be able to wow them with my knowledge--the first rule of a good interview ;).
The interview went very well. The briefing was quick. They told me they offered benefits (Dental, Medical, 401K, and more)! ...Then they told me I'd be self-employed. My husband and I didn't think much about it except that it was odd that they would be able to offer those benefits without my being an employee. But then we thought maybe it was a business thing we just didn't know about. I'd be getting $20 an hour during the week of training on their programs and $30 an hour when I started working. I'd be setting my own hours.
They said they'd be buying me a business computer (sounds reasonable) and a business phone. They'd be paying the bill (also sounds reasonable since I'd be calling Germany). Then they said I'd need the receipt in order to claim the laptop and cell phone when they were shipped to me, so they'd send me a cashier's check. I'd use that money to purchase the computer and phone from their vendor and, therefore, have the receipt. --Okay...
I deposited the cashier's check, waited for it to completely clear into my account and let them know I was ready for the ordering information. Instead of a website, they gave me the information to wire money to the vendor. I asked if I could pay it via credit card or electronic check. They told me, "no," that they needed me to start immediately and that wiring the money was the only way we could get the money to the vendor in time to get the computer out by the next day so I could start work. They said I could only work on that computer because it would have the programs I needed. --Sounded reasonable.
I called my bank and asked them to wire the money. Our bank, which is an online bank, only wires money to title companies, not to people--THANK GOD! Unfortunately, the "company" came up with a different way for me to get the money to them--Amazon cards. I went to the store and bought $2,400 in Amazon cards, scratched the backs off, took pictures of them and of their receipts and emailed the photos to the provided website. NEVER DO THAT!
The next day, they sent me a second cashier's check. They said this was the last of the money the vendor needed and that they needed to be sure they could trust me with the first half before they gave me the rest to send to the vendor. They had told me the day before that the computer would arrive that day before 1 pm, which was when my first day of training was supposed to take place. The vendor, however, needed the payment before the computer would be delivered or it couldn't be delivered.
Since I needed it by 1 pm and didn't know what time it was scheduled to arrive, I woke the kids at 7 am, ordered an
Uber (taxi) and went to Walmart for Amazon cards. Would you believe the Walmart here doesn't carry Amazon cards?! We went to the store we got the cards the day prior; they didn't open until 8 am, and I hadn't wanted to wait that late. The store wouldn't sell me any more since I'd bought so many the day before. They said they'd have to fill out money laundering paperwork.
To make a long story short, we were out until lunch, visiting several stores, calling several banks, and visiting one bank to see if they would be a middleman for a wire transfer. I couldn't find anyone. The last bank I went to said that they thought I was being scammed. Little did I know they were right! God had kept me so safe that day! We went back home. I had already spent $75 in Uber just in that one day alone, and the kids were spent.
When we got home, I called my bank and asked to talk to the security department. Sure enough, the cashier's checks were fake. We were taken for $2,400, but it would have been $6,000 if I had found someone to wire the money for me or to sell me the Amazon cards! God sure is great, isn't He!
My husband and I let the real
Pharma Waldhof know someone is impersonating them and stealing people's money. We alerted the police and gave them the packet of information I had obtained--I keep records of everything. The police said this will be a long, drawn-out process. Our bank security is conducting their own research. The thieves will probably never be caught, and we'll most likely never get our money back, but it's an excellent opportunity for others to learn from! That's why I shared our story with you. Please don't make the same mistake we did!
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
There's only one thing I know of that really is true even though it sounds so good! That's the story of Christ. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a horrible, undeserving death just. for. you, and rose again three days later!
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
