‘Really Ruined My Life’: North Carolina Woman Falls Prey to Common Employment Scam, Putting Her $60,000 In Credit Card Debt
Employment scams are surging as criminals tap AI to create phony job listings and steal money. One North Carolina woman learned the hard way. Rebecca Adami from Fayetteville was caught up in a scheme that cost her an eye-popping $60,000.
Job scams skyrocketed 118 percent in 2023 over the previous year, according to a recent report by the Identify Theft Resource Center. The thieves typically pose as recruiters and ask for sensitive personal and financial information during the interview process or as a requirement for the job.
That’s exactly what happened to Adami, who was lured in by a man she had been exchanging romantic texts with. When he learned she was seeking employment, he offered to connect her with a job opportunity, reported ABC11.
“He knew I wanted the job, so he put me in touch with this man,” she told local reporters.
The so-called recruiter sent her the paperwork for a position overseeing the finances of a charity, and to Adami, it all seemed legit. She accepted the offer and was instructed by her new boss to set up bank accounts for the job.
“I set up a bank checking and savings in my name, but a separate one to keep their money straight,” she told ABC11. Unfortunately, Adami says she shared all of her bank and credit card numbers with her boss, who then went on a buying spree, assuring Adami the charges would be reimbursed.
“He had all my information, so he started charging on all my cards. Any equipment, anything shipped here, it would be shipped here. Then I would ship it overseas,” she said.
The charges quickly surged into the thousands, and Adami, feeling uneasy, demanded that her boss pay them off. The fake charity did indeed wipe out all the debt, bringing her balance back down to zero. But that was just part of the scheme to get more money out of Adami. Days later, her “boss” ran up her credit card again, and even worse, the previous payments he made were reversed. She was suddenly in an enormous amount of debt.
She also received checks from her boss that were made out in her name, one for $32,000 and another for $35,000. She was instructed to deposit them in her account and then forward the money to someone else. When her bank informed her the checks were bad, a light bulb finally went off, and she realized she was the victim of a scam.
“If I had put that in my account and sent any money off of that, I would have been liable for all that, too,” she stated.
Though she reported the fraudulent charges, she claimed her credit card company told her their hands were tied because she personally made all the charges in her name. “I have no money to do anything, no money to go anywhere. No money. It’s really ruined my life,” she told reporters.
The typical victim of an employment scam loses $2,000, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Though Adami’s case is extreme, the chances of getting duped by a job listing are growing. Consumers reported losing $367 million to employment scams in 2022, up 76 percent year over year, making it one of the top ten frauds reported to the FTC. In addition to scams like the one Adami experienced, criminals are also leveraging reputable job search sites like LinkedIn and other platforms to find victims, often offering pay and work flexibility that are too good to be true.
The FTC recommends always doing independent research on the hiring company. Reach out to them directly through contact information that is legitimate, and search on their names with the word “scam,” “review”, or “complaint.” Importantly, never front money for a new employer.
“No honest employer will ever send you a check and then tell you to buy supplies, gift cards, or something else and send back whatever money is left,” they advise.