You just unexpectedly received a check in the mail for $4,000.
You are told to keep $450 of it and the rest goes to an orphanage in Malaysia.
Sound familiar?
If it does, then you might be involved in a scam.
A job ad on the website www.craigslist.org has caused a headache for both job seekers and a Philadelphia area employer.
And now the scam has hit the region.
Laura Riolo, of Lake Ariel, was looking for a job so she applied for a personal assistant position found on the Craig's List website.
She found the job under the “admin/office” category in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre job market list.
The ad itself is for a legitimate company, Roberts Filter Group, based in Darby, which sells water treatment supplies.
Riolo even received e-mails which seemed to be sent by the company’s CEO, Lee Roberts. She sent in her name, address and phone number, as requested, so she could start the job.
She was told she would be paid $450 a week for running errands, organizing a schedule and other clerical activities.
Riolo was hired immediately without any interview or even a phone conversation.
She was a little suspicious, but really needed a job.
She was told her first task would involve cashing a check for about $3,942, keeping $450 of the funds and mailing the rest to an orphanage in Malaysia.
This is where the suspicion really set in.
After receiving the check, she was instructed to cash it, deduct her weekly pay and transfer the funds to the orphanage.
She received the check through the U.S. Postal Service, with the return address listed to Niantic, CT. The postage stamp on the envelope was from N. Hollywood, CA.
The print on the check was tilted slightly and the text on the check was incorrect. It said the bank where the check was written from was a “Member FDC” instead of FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp).
Also, the remitter name on the check was fake, according to the Security National Bank fraud investigator Ryan Brown. The bank has received over 40 complaints about the scam.
“We have our investigation looking into it,” Brown said.
Roberts Filter Group CEO Lee Roberts said he has received numerous calls about the scam.
“Somebody hijacked the ad and turned it into a scam,” he said.
Roberts made calls to many federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI-Philadelphia branch. Craig's List has even put a scam alert on “admin/office” jobs listed in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre job market.
