THIS is what a scam looks like

I fell victim to a scam this week. Several days ago I responded to an ad on Indeed.com, as I have been doing since being laid off in August. The company I thought I'd applied to responded back, saying I was "shortlisted" for the position and that I should forward my resume and contact information to someone named George Crockett. Well, the "crock" part was right...

Mr. Crockett responded with a friendly email, describing himself as "53 years young" and with a hearing impairment, which necessitated him communicating by email and text. He was traveling extensively and did not yet have an office, so all my assignments would be long-distance until he had an office to work from.

This should have been a red flag and will be from now on, even though I've pretty much declared myself retired and stopped actively searching for work. 

He said my weekly pay for the "odd jobs" he'd require would be $500. Good enough, I thought. He mentioned buying toys for orphans -- the original job was supposed to have been with an animal-welfare type organization, but I thought orphans sort of tied in with the whole charitable theme, so what the heck.

He sent me my first check this morning, and the BIG RED FLAG that I should have seen, heard, and felt was the fact that it wasn't for $500. It was for over seven and a half times that much. My "instructions" for my "first assignment" were to deposit the check in my bank. Then I was told to go to Walmart and take out over $3000 in money orders, which were to be sent to a lady named Eloisa. Every step of the way I was asked to take a picture and send it back to Mr. Crocka$&!+  As I was handwriting the name of the recipient, I asked what should go in the "sender" and address spaces. My own name would do, he said, but the address should be Park Avenue in Manhattan. Okayyyy, I'm thinking, the original company is in Pennsylvania, the check is drawn from Austin, Texas, and now this is coming from the Big Apple. He then "instructed" me to deposit the money orders at a Chase bank. There doesn't happen to be one within 150 miles of where I live. When I told him that, he said "Oh, no problem. Use Bank of America but you'll have to change the recipient to a woman named Charmaine F."

It was at that point that this "job" upgraded from "unusual" to "sketchy." I contacted someone I knew well, who was a bit more street-smart than I, and described what my day had been like so far. Before that, however, I stalled Mr. Crocka by saying I'd blown a tire and was waiting for a tow. My friend inquired at the company that the check had been drawn on. They'd never heard of Mr. Crocka and furthermore said the check was suspicious. So then it was time to notify law enforcement. I visited the local sheriff's office; the deputy phoned my bank and we eventually got transferred to the fraud division. The manager there said that if possible, I should try to have the money orders reversed. If that were done, and the money were put back into the bank, the suspicious funds could be sent back to the issuing back and I'd only be on the hook for the $500 that was supposed to be my "pay." It took longer to get all of that done because first the line where I'd gotten the money orders was a mile long. I called a number I saw on the information board and reached Moneygram, which eventually got me to a website, which ultimately told me to go back to Walmart and get the money orders refunded, since they had not been used. Very fortunately, Walmart was able to do that, and I got back to the bank minutes before closing and put the money back in.

Mr. Crocka sent me one more communication, demanding to know why I had not completed my "assigned tasks" and threatening to turn everything over to his "friend in the FBI." I offered to introduce his friend to the sheriff, and at that point, the communications ceased.

I wish him and his "orphans" all the luck, especially when the cartel catches up with him. I watch Ozark, you see...