Missed It by That Much: How I Didn't Lose Money to an Online Scam

Recently, I answered an online ad for a data entry job that could be done from home. I looked up the furniture company I was applying to (I thought), exercising what I thought was due diligence. Sure enough, they had a Web site with lots of furniture.

• First mistake: I didn't check their Careers tab. I might have noticed that they weren't advertising online jobs.
  
  I corresponded with the advertiser, who asked me to set up a Yahoo Instant Messaging account and add him as a friend. I did so, carefully making note of how to save conversations. Originally, I did it so I wouldn't forget any instructions. It turned out to be a very good thing.

• Second mistake: He asked for my address and I gave it to him. It seemed like such a normal thing to do.
  
  He kept putting off the day I was to start, finally deciding it should be a Monday “to make it easier to track your hours.” By this time, I was getting suspicious, but he kept reassuring me that this was just an accounting delay.

• Third mistake: I really should have stopped the whole thing the second time he delayed. I just really wanted this to be a real opportunity, so I kept playing into his hands.
  
  Monday morning, I received a Federal Express envelope with three money orders, each for $870.30 , in it, supposedly to pay for the software and equipment I needed. The amount, however, was awfully large. I deposited them in my bank account, although the person online wanted me to “cash them out.”

• Lucky chance number one: I could have cashed them at a check-cashing store close to my house. I chose not to do this because the amount was large enough that I didn't want to carry it around.
  
• Fourth mistake: Cashing those money orders in any way

When I returned from my bank, I got back online with the guy. He instructed me to spend $600 on software and equipment, take $80 for gas, save $300 for “future expenses,” and send $1,700 to a Nigerian address. My self-defense alarms finally went off in a big way. He had just asked me to spend more than he had sent. I asked about it. He revised the number to transfer to $1,550.

I finally listened to the alarmed inner me. Something really didn't seem right. I jumped in my car and drove to the police station. A very nice policeperson took my report, looked at the saved IM conversations, and explained to me that nothing bad had actually happened because I had not spent any of the money. We called my bank and stopped the deposit. I sent the guy an IM complaining about fraudulent money orders and deleted him from my Friends list.

If I had gone one step further, I would have been undone by this guy. You see, the money orders were fakes. If I had spent one dime, it would have been out of my own real money. Not only that, if I had transferred money to this guy, I would have been out quire a lot of my own money. Luckily, I finally listened to my own concerns before anything bad happened.

I was very fortunate. My bank and the police officer both assured me that many people they see lose thousands before realizing they've been taken to the cleaners.

So how do you protect yourself from such a scam?

1. Check with the personnel department of the company you think your are applying to. That would have saved me quite a lot of time and some gas!
2. Avoid giving out your address. I'm still upset that this guy has mine. The police officer reassured me that he almost certainly will not come after me, but it bugs me anyway.
3. Pay attention, both to the person and to yourself. Try not to delude yourself-if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
4. Don't cash the money orders. When they are proven fraudulent, YOU are the person whom the bank or check cashing service will go after. If you have spent any of the bogus money, your purchases will come out of your pocket, plus you may incur extra charges and penalties for depositing the money orders.
5. Do not every, under any circumstances, transfer money to someone you don't know. Again, if I had sent the money, it would have come from my savings. In addition, this person would have benefited from my hard work.

Most importantly, listen to those inner alarms. You really do know when something isn't quite right. Have faith in yourself and keep your money out of the hands of these scumbags!