Job Scams (license, interview, company, compensation)

[Coney]

I just wanted to warn everyone about a job scam, which I fell for.

I was recruited online for a job. It sounded legit, but I was mildly suspicious, since they approached me, not the other way around. It was a job to be performed remotely at home via computer. I even wrote back to them to verify this was an offer for a real job. I checked out the company online, including the name of the 2 people who had contacted me. It all fit. Real company. Real names with real titles. I agreed to the interview which was via one of the internet messaging services. There was no visual or voice contact. At first, it seemed above board, with a description of the company, a description of the job, description of the compensation. But as the interview progressed, the "recruiter" took longer and longer to respond until the whole thing was really dragging on. Gradually, the language of the recruiter started to sound more like Nigerian Prince language. He claimed that I got the job and emailed me a written offer, a contract, and a W-4 form. By that time, I already had seen too many red flags. The written offer and contract looked real, but some of the language was Nigerian Prince language. The W-4 was totally bogus. He never asked for me to send a copy of my driver's license or SS. card. But of course the W-4 had a space for my SS number. Unfortunately, he now has my name, address, and email address, but no SS number, bank account numbers, etc. Not that stupid, but feel stupid enough. Also, the soliciting emails used the company's domain in their email address. I wrote to the legit company and told them about it.