‘Take this as a warning’: Job seeker gets scammed out of $2,400 after receiving fake LinkedIn job offer
In a viral video, a recent college graduate explained how she got scammed via LinkedIn after receiving what she thought was her "big break" job opportunity.
In the video, Jenn (@lolleavemyspamalone) has visibly been crying and is in tears throughout the entire 5-minute TikTok. She says she wanted to share her recent scam experience to raise awareness and hopefully prevent other job seekers from getting scammed the way she did.
"I literally unprivated my TikTok account so I can share this with you guys," Jenn says.
In her public service announcement, Jenn explains that as a recent college graduate, she's been diligently looking and applying for jobs, but it's been difficult to land a gig.
@lolleavemyspamalone If anyone is hiring for a marketing position in Atlanta or remote please let me know. If anyone wants to bless a poor college graduate $jenncher @jenncher
♬ original sound - JENN
Before launching into how she got scammed by people pretending to work for Bold Business, Jenn gave a preface saying that she knows she should have caught on to signs that she was getting scammed.
"Disclaimer, I know. Don't even say in the comments saying, like, 'You should know.' I know. I got a whole college degree. I know," she prefaces. "I'm just sharing my truth so y'all don't fall for the same thing."
She explained that she was going through an interview process, and there were a few things off with the process. Instead of doing the interview by phone or through common video call systems like Zoom or Google Chat, they used one called Wired. When Jenn asked about it, they explained it away as a tool they use because it's an international remote company.
The interview process was simple and short, and Jenn ended up getting a "really, really good offer." She looked into the company and its employees on LinkedIn, and it seemed like a legit company. Plus, like other jobs, she had a written offer and a contract, and she even signed a non-disclosure agreement. Given that, Jenn was excited to accept the position and saw it as her "big break" in a difficult hiring market.
As she did the onboarding process for the social media specialist role, the company let her know they'd send her a check for her to buy herself a work laptop, phone, and printer and instructed her to deposit the check and then Zelle their equipment person the money.
"I feel so stupid now just saying this out loud," Jenn says.
Jenn noticed the ordeal was a scam when she got an email from her bank alerting her that the account had insufficient funds. Jenn added that while the check with $2,400 initially went through, it appears to have bounced later, so the money that was sent was her own.
She reported the business as a scam to LinkedIn, asked that the person who she Zelled send her the money back, and told her followers to watch out for Bold Business recruiters since some don't actually work for the company.
"LinkedIn is full of scams. Please be careful. Take this as a warning," Jenn says.
The video hit a nerve with viewers, gaining nearly 6 million views and over 13,900 comments as of Monday morning.
"If anyone is hiring for a marketing position in Atlanta or remote please let me know. If anyone wants to bless a poor college graduate $jenncher," Jenn wrote in the caption.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jenn via TikTok comment and to Bold Business via email.
In an email reply, Bold Business gave the following statement:
"The sole employment pipeline for Bold Business LLC originates with the Bold Business Career Page (https://boldbusiness.applytojob.com/apply). That is our live job openings page, and the links found on that page are the only path to employment screening for career opportunities
with Bold Business."
"Any other links, or emails originating from anyone claiming to be an employee of Bold Business LLC, are fraudulent. (This includes emails with the words “apply within” in the address.)"
"If you believe you may be the victim of employment-related identity theft, the Internal Revenue Services outlines steps you can take. They can be found here: Employment-Related Identity Theft | Internal Revenue Service (https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/employment-related-identity-theft)."
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The post ‘Take this as a warning’: Job seeker gets scammed out of $2,400 after receiving fake LinkedIn job offer appeared first on The Daily Dot.