How I Was Elaborately Scammed Out Of $1.8K+ And It Can Happen To You
This is a real recent incident that happened to me about a few weeks ago. It’s one of the most elaborate, complex and somewhat thrilling email scheme I’ve seen that involves a few legitimate companies, a fraud check and a name, Anton Kuzmin, from Warsaw, Poland.
I’ve been desperately looking for remote jobs recently, and I got really excited when someone reached out from a Danish travel agency, Stjernegaard Rejser, to do remote work. I was suspicious, so I generally inquired for more info. The person gave me all the details and sent me an employment package. I filled out my info and sent it back eagerly. The next day it was approved by the HR team, and they sent me a copy of the approval. I went out to celebrate a little with a nice dinner. Feeling pretty high on the pie. I was employed! Woot! I will be working as a remote Travel Consultant helping out US customers for this Danish travel agency. Aron Johansen, who’s supposed to be my Supervising Manager called me a few times the next day. We spoke briefly about my resume, and answered some interview questions. He followed up with an email a few days later, and gave me my first assignment as a trial.
I was to process a prepayment from a customer. I was to look for a check of $2100 USD with an invoice to be overnight via USPS. At this point, I was cautious. Lo, and behold I received it the next day and made a deposit into my TD Bank account.
I also set up another bank account just in case everything was compromised but still feeling elated from landing this gig. My cautious self, I asked the bank teller how long did it take for a check to be verified. I was told one-business day with the current technology. I waited a day and a half. I saw the bank credited me the $2100 USD amount. I was also given a remuneration fee of 5% of the total payment in addition to the bonus. I knew this was kinda sketchy but I had the reliability of my bank’s ability and integrity to verify the check instantly or so I thought. I proceeded to Western Union (like an idiot but still I had no idea about what they call a checking “float”) to send the $1875 USD (after the 5% remuneration + the $120 bonus on how fast the payment was processed, definitely an oversight on my end and my naiveness) to a man in Warsaw, Poland who was a branch manager for Stjernegaard-Rejser; Anton Kuzmin.
The next day I go to buy something and my card got declined…that’s when I knew everything that happened for the past few week was a fraud. I called my bank and they told me the check bounced. The bank had issued me a credit of $2100 USD and because I sent the $1875 thru Western Union, I owed the bank that amount where if the check wasn’t a fake would of cover that transaction.
I went to a local TD Bank to request the copy of the check and saw that it was a fake check. I reached out to an actual employee of the Danish travel agency and confirmed to me that Aron Johansen doesn’t exist and did nothing to help me out. Aron was impersonating an employee, and he somehow obtained company documents. I told them that they were pointing a domain name to their website to make it look like it was legitimate. They have yet to respond.
And who is Anton Kuzmin? It’s likely he’s the mastermind of this elaborate scheme. I was able to track down some info of the domain name that was used to point to the actual website. This is where my trails end and I’m sharing this because I need help.
I want to bring accountability to TD Bank for issuing credit without fully verifying the check. We’re in 2016. This is why I’m glad PayPal and Square exist, and they need to shake down these incumbent banking institutions.
To the Danish travel agency, Stjernegaard Rejser A/S, your company might be compromised. You guys are also a victim, and I hope we can work together somehow.
To my loss $1800+, I’ll make it back again in a few months.
I’m sharing my story to inform everyone seeking a job to beware. I was vulnerable because I wanted to do great work in customer experience and thought I finally found employment.
This was beyond that…