A remote job sent a $4,000 check for office equipment after one email interview — experts explain how the scam works
Around 26% of workers in remote-capable jobs are exclusively remote, but many more want to work from home. Unfortunately, with high demand for jobs that avoid the morning commute, scams involving remote employment have become more common.
“Scammers often target job seekers with fraudulent job offers,” Darius Kingsley, Head of Consumer Fraud and Scam Prevention at Chase, told Moneywise. “Victims often receive an unsolicited text message or email offering a job opportunity that seems too good to pass up.”
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Remote job seekers must be aware of these risks, but it’s often hard to tell if an offer is legit. For example, let’s pretend that Clara was offered a remote job paying $6,000 per month. She was hired after a short email interview, and her boss even sent her a $4,000 check to buy office equipment from the company’s preferred vendor within 24 hours.
However, while Clara was excited to add a standing desk and a computer to her cart, her husband warned it may be a scam, and now she’s concerned. But is he right? Should Clara deposit the check and buy the equipment? How can she tell if the opportunity is legit?
Is Clara’s work-from-home job a scam?
Unfortunately for Clara, experts agree that her job offer is almost certainly a scam.
“Employers don’t generally hire after one short interview, and they are highly unlikely to send a substantial check to a new hire to buy their own equipment,” Jeffrey Nadrich, an attorney who regularly represents scam victims at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers, told Moneywise.
<a href="https://franciswest.co.uk/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Francis West, founder of Security Everywhere, agreed.
“This is almost certainly a scam,” West said. “‘They hired me fast, then sent me money’ is one of the oldest and most reliable red flags there is. Legitimate employers don’t fill roles after one short interview, and they never ask a brand-new hire to receive a check and spend it on their behalf before day one,” West told Moneywise.
How does the scam work?
Not only is Clara’s job offer likely a scam, but it’s actually a classic one that follows a common playbook.
