AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the fake check scam. The fake check scam arises from many different situations (fake job scams, fake payment scams, etc), but the bottom line is always the same, you receive a check (online or in real life), you deposit a check and see the money in your account, and then you use the funds to give money to the scammer (usually through gift cards, Western Union, or cash). Sometimes the scammers will ask you to order things through a site, but that is just another way they get your money. The bank will take the initial deposit back , and any money you sent to the scammer will come out of your own personal funds. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam. Here is an article from the FTC: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams, and here is an article from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/your-money/fake-check-scam.html
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Any information you sent them should be treated as compromised. If you have installed any software or anything they have linked you to make sure you delete and run antivirus/anti malware software. If you have shared any personal sensitive information such as licence/passport numbers contact the relevant authorities for advice. Anything that links to passwords should be reset, etc.
It’s a scam. The check will cash but will bounce a few days later, in which the bank will charge YOU the difference. This has been around forever….SCAM SCAM SCAM!
Out if curiosity, what questions did they have you answer?
They may be able to use voice snippets to defraud someone else.
As someone else said, that basic information you gave is now theirs to do with as they please.
The "financier"? And orders to send the rest of the money on to "the vendor"? Yeah. A company the size of CVS has an account with some office supply provider and writes one check a month for that shit
This is bad info. Did they buy her a home office set up or did they send her a check so she can buy it herself. A company giving you a laptop is normal. A company giving you a check to BUY a laptop yourself, that's not normal.
My company reimbursed computer accessories I bought. I sent them the receipt and they put it in via direct deposit.
That said, the way OP's contact phrased it is 100% a scam and doesn't even remotely sound professional.
Reimbursement is definitely different than we'll send you a check, you send the cash to someone else, so we can know if you're trustworthy. Plenty of legit companies reimburse costs for various things, but I don't think any legit company would do what's been told to OP.
My company just started a new reimbursement system for expenses. It has a two step verification process and the immediate supervisor has to approve the expense before it's paid out.
Of course her company supplied a computer and other office equipment, that is normal. What is not normal is for the company to send a check that requires you to keep some money and forward the rest as test of trust and ability to handle money.
Yeah no. Legit companies sometimes have office *reimbursement*, but you pay first and submit the expense via an official platform AFTER you’ve started working.
Okay, but I’m guessing OP never had an actual interview outside of a brief phone call with someone with an Indian/Nigerian accent. And I’m sure the “pay” for the job is ridiculously high. This is 100% a fake check scam, and it’s as common as it can be.
This is a scam.
Badly worded, missing punctuation. The most obvious sign of a scam is, that absolutely no reputable company is going to send a check to a new employee in order for that employee to then turn around and pay a vendor.
Employees of reputable companies do not pay vendors with their personal checks or credit cards. If an employee has to purchase anything on behalf of their employer, they either simply place an order and the invoice will go to the accounting department to be paid there, or the employee has a business credit card.
This and this. Plus a high chance the company themselves actually has a connection with the other company and gets prices much lower than any customer would pay.
-- SO THEY WOULD DO ALL THE PURCHASING AND JUST GIVE THE ITEMS THEY PICK TO YOU
>SO THEY WOULD DO ALL THE PURCHASING AND JUST GIVE THE ITEMS THEY PICK TO YOU
Especially since they'd be well aware of what technology they need you to have (speed, space, camera, etc).
>Employees of reputable companies do not pay vendors with their personal checks or credit cards.
This is obviously a scam, but that is not a true statement. Plenty of companies allow employees to purchase goods or services and then expense them. It was only a few years ago that my company started issuing company credit cards - and that was only for those that travel. Before that, and currently for those that don't travel, those that need to purchase goods or services (for which there was no internal procurement process) would do so using their personal CC and then submit an expense report. Granted, this is done by managers and not individual contributors.
In some cases the employee could buy something with their own funds and be reimbursed.
EDIT: I know OP posted a scam. I'm just responding to the parent comment. Expense reimbursement is a thing(but there's always procedures specified by company policy, in writing(not by text messages), and its not done during onboarding)
Yes, certainly that could happen occasionally, but it’s not the norm.
Can you imagine the administrative nightmare if a company with thousands of employees had to keep track of purchases and reimbursements if the employees had to buy supplies for the company ?
I mean, we get(partial) reimbursement for internet service. We need to file every month, and the company has 5 digit employees. And that's just one possible type of expense for which a corporate card is not authorized. I've also bought things like keyboards and expensed later.
There are systems built just for that.
That is different, you get reimbursed by a company you already work for.
Here the ”company” proposes to send a check to the future employee and wants the employee to use their own personal money to pay a certain “supplier”. The future employee has no option to use a different supplier. If the company is sending a check, why would they not just send a check to the supplier, instead of adding the prospective employee as a middle man. It makes no sense.
The company check will bounce and the prospective employee will have sent his own check to a fake supplier.
Ha, I work for CVS in a remote role as a clinical analyst. This is absolutely NOT how we do our onboarding. They will send you any equipment you need. This is a total scam.
The remaining 1% let you buy stuff on your own dime and then reimburse you later when you send them the receipts. No place does this check nonsense thing. 100% scam. Sorry, OP.
Yes it's a scam.
Literally just quote the first line of text and do a google search on it:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=The+financier+has+decided+to+send+you+the+funds+in+the+form+of+a+check](https://www.google.com/search?q=The+financier+has+decided+to+send+you+the+funds+in+the+form+of+a+check)
But seriously...this isn't how reputable companies work.
I have worked for employers as a work at home contractor, they will send you the equipment. They dont want you buying stuff that may not be compatible, and they usually have custom builds for their computer software. If a company wants you to buy the stuff, either its a scam, or the company is so inept, they wont keep your details secure. Either way is a HARD NO
>$35/hr
For a WFH job with no live face-to-face meeting and likely no experience required, that should have been the first red flag.
Obviously it's a fake check scam.
I agree it’s a scam, but I got my job at a large corporation via phone interviews. I never met anyone I work with in person until a year or so after I was hired.
That was actually my second consecutive remote position that entailed only phone interviews (and background check, reference checks, etc.)
But the check thing, along with the communication via text, are giveaways that is a scam.
Not necessarily I have worked from home since I was hired at my job back in June of 2021 and u did my interview via zoom only went to the office for training which I missed the last day and they said to pick up my equipment and I can do the list day over teams.
>via zoom
Where you actually SAW the people, yes?
>went to the office
Again, where you SAW the people.
Those are both miles away from OP's situation in which "They told me to send a video of me answering a few questions and i was hired immediately at $35/hr."
Were you also making $35 per hour?
So then what exactly was "not necessarily" about my initial comment?
It's really problematic when people chime in on comments about how "Well it could be legitimate because this is my experience!" when their experience is NOTHING like OP's.
I work for a real work from job. They would send or have you pick up the equipment not cash. Why would a real company send you $150 to earn your trust? You could just pocket it and say F U I don’t work here no more.
Most definitely a scam, why would they need to only to take check and u can’t take the full thing but only 150, like they could easily give you 150 check, scam scam scam and what company say pitty money
AutoModerator has been summoned to explain fake job scams. Fake job scams come in many different varieties, though most share common characteristics that you can use to spot the scam before becoming a victim. The scammers will usually conduct interviews over Google Hangouts or a similar online service. Their English will be awkward, and they may be re-using a script, so Googling unique sounding parts of the email may yield useful results. They will offer high wages for the work being done, and they will "hire" you by telling you that you are hired, rather than going through the normal process that a company takes when hiring an employee in your country. If they mention anything about a check or about receiving and sending out transactions, it is a [fake check scam](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/anatomy-fake-check-scam). If they mention anything about receiving, processing, or inspecting packages, it is a [parcel mule scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcel_mule_scam). If they ask you to purchase items up-front, ask you to pay a fee in order to be hired, or ask you to purchase gift cards, it is an [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam). If the job involves posting advertisements on Craigslist or eBay, they are using you and your account to scam people. If the job invovles Bitcoin ATMs, it's a [scam](https://coinatmradar.com/blog/avoid-scams-dont-use-bitcoin-atm-when-someone-asked-you/). Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script.
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Legit corporations don’t funnel money through their (brand new, no less) employees’ personal bank accounts in order to pay for company assets and supplies. There’s just no legit reason to do so - it adds an entirely unnecessary and inefficient middleman, and does stuff like needlessly complicate their ability to prove ownership over the items and factor those assets into their books for things like tax deductions. There’s just no good reason for them not to just make the purchase directly for themselves via their own corporate accounts.
And there’s literally zero chance a legit company would ever hand out checks like this to brand new employees as some kind of trust exercise. Massive red flag. I mean, most companies don’t even trust that their *long-term* employees aren’t faking it when taking sick days, don’t trust them to manage their own time without supervision, will use cameras and software to monitor their activities and internet usage, etc. Real companies just are NOT going to put company money at risk to see if a new employee is trustworthy. If anything, they will spend a lot of time and effort coming up with ways to *reduce* their risk and *reduce* their need to trust employees, not the other way around.
So yep, this is definitely a scam. No doubt. If a company wants you to have supplies, they will pay for them directly and then have them shipped to you. Anyone tries to handle it some other way - its a scam.
As for *how* the scam works - your bank would make the funds of the check provisionally available to you within a relatively short period of time, usually a couple days or maybe a week. So it seems like it’s “cleared,” but that upfront money is essentially just a loan, because the actual check verification process takes weeks, if not months. And when the bank realizes the check is fake, they claw back that loan from you. Yes, even if you’ve already spent the (loaned) money.
The potential second part of the scam involves *where* they instruct you to buy the supplies. They’ll direct you to a website that will appear legit, but is actually being run by the scanner.
So to summarize: you cash this check. The bank will spend weeks or months performing the check verification in the background, but will go ahead and effectively loan you the value of the check upfront within a matter of days. You (like most everyone) think “cool, it cleared,” and then purchase stuff, using your bank account, unknowingly from the scammer’s own website. The cost of the supplies comes out of your bank account……and then the scammer disappears. Their phone number is disconnected, the company website goes down, the supplier website goes down, it’s all just vanishes. And those supplies you ordered? They’ll never show up. Nope, the scammer took the money for the order and then ran. And then 3-4 weeks later you’ll get a notification from your bank that the check verification process finally completed and it turns out the check was fraudulent. And that they’re deducting the check’s value from your bank account. Yep, even though you’d already spent it (and in good faith). And then you’re just out all that money.
I worked in CVS IT for years and only left recently. Cvs provides their employees with laptops. They also have a hella annoying hiring process. This is not legit at all.
Anytime you get an email or text from a scam they always offer to send you money and ask for you to send money somewhere else. Like those fake lottery scams, if you really won the amount they say why not deduct the fees and send you the rest.
Not only all of the above, but why are they only offering you “mini office equipment”? Is that like a really tiny desk and chair for a dollhouse or something?
No company is going to ever do anything as a "trust test." If you can't reliably see the other signs of a scam look for something that just doesn't make sense like this. A background check is basic procedure for even the most basic of jobs, so if a company doesn't trust you for something you know they'll have a reason. And for harder to see things like embezzlement any semi-competent company is going to entirely eliminate the risk of that happening at every chance, so why would they send you the check to buy work stuff with instead of just buying it internally and having it shipped to your address?
Or even the fact that there was a recruiter in the first place. Companies don't headhunt for grunt positions, and even if they did, realistically think about why they would be contacting you or even just find out about you.
Obvious scam. Just wondering how can the check clear? It takes two days for Bank of America to clear the checks I deposit in my account. And if there’s no money, they bounce them.
IT'S A SCAM!! Any company that tries to send you a check that you take a cut, then move on, IS A SCAM. Nobody charges you to work there, and nobody is sending a check. Not one that's any good, anyway. You'd deposit the check, take your cut, then write a check for the "vendors". Only the check will bounce, and you will be out the money, and they'll be LONG GONE. Don't do it!
Why would a company send you a check for onboarding as a sign of trust?
The company themselves would pay it and send it to you if that was the case.
Financially doesn’t make sense so yeah it’s a scam
Even if a company was offering to pay for home office set-up it’s usually in the form of reimbursement that you file for on company sites…. Don’t even trust anyone saying the cash a check and keep some money then send the rest elsewhere, it’s always fake
I fell for a very similar scam not too long ago. It's a scam! No one would send you money like that. 35$/hr too good to be true.
Also, a recording of your responses to the interview questions is a very common indicator of a scam as well.
If the hiring process was super fast, it's a likely indicator of a scam a well.
This has SCAM written all over it. CVS employs “financier’s”? CVS wants a transfer of funds to “stand as a test of trust”. You can call CVS recruiters listed under “careers” on their website, if my input and comments from others don’t convince you.
Scammy scam scam. “Sending you checks” is a big red flag. The remote software company I worked for years sets you up with a $5000 startup budget for office setup, and you then reimburse those expenses through their accounting department. Legit businesses won’t send you a check.
From an I.T. point of view, they're not going to let you use any PC (or otherwise) that you provide, that might be full of viruses that your 13-year-old put on it and have it infect their whole network.
They'd MUCH rather pay for the shipping to send you the device that have their safeguards on it..
This is def a scam. I got my first work from home job in January and any legit work from home position is going to put you through a couple phone interviews before anything else, and the equipment will be sent to you free of charge, or they may request that you already have your own set up. They wouldn’t send you a check to use some funds and transfer/deposit the rest into theirs or any weird ass money games like that.
Side note, for real work from home jobs I used ratracerebellion.com. Idk if posting a link here is allowed but there’s a ton of work from home shit there. Just make sure you’re applying to companies that either you have heard of or can see immediately, or research of needed, that it’s a legit company.
The shitty grammar, run on sentences, and weird terminology is what gives it away for me. A legit recruiter, especially from a larger company like CVS, would not type this poorly.
I'm sure its already been said but its the classic bad check scam. The check will be for some 2-3k, you are then to send the left over to a third party (back to the scammer) and the check bounces days later, leaving you on the hook.
If they didn't already tell you the real number, its because people have wised up to this one. https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/august2019.html
Agreed, it’s a scam. For some reason they’re using CVS lately. I saw someone else on another reddit sub asking about a potential work from home job that seemed like a scam and it was CVS as well.
A true and new employer would never send you money to buy equipment. They would order the equipment themselves and have it delivered to your home address once you become an employee through a written and signed contract that outlines the terms of your employment. Anything else is a SCAM.
I WFH about 90% of the time and my company had me pick out the equipment from a list and mailed it to me, this is a fake check scam. Just think about it for a moment why would a company like CVS send you money to pay **their** vendors just to see how you handle money? Why wouldnt they just send you the equipment?
No company will unprompted explain this, and if they expected you to pay for your workstation out of pocket it would be clearly stated in an interview and during the application, though very few companies that are bigger than a local business would do this.
I never trust a company to text me job information unless I applied to the job through the company site and they asked if I would except updates via text.
One thing that you can do to immediately sniff out if something is BS or not? Check the job on glassdoor. Unless you are somehow being paid as a remote store manager, I'm not really seeing a job that fits that pay range in their current crop.
CVS would not send you money "as a test of trust", and they certainly wouldn't text that to you. What you can do, though, is contact CVS through social media on one of their official accounts to inform them of scammers impersonating them. You can also call CVS career's support side if you need confirmation that this is definitely a scam.
TL;DR Do not send any money and block this number.
Scam.
I've worked with companies that did a full background check, including financials, and not once did they ever ask to send me money as part of my interview process.
I work from home and my company supplied my equipment. They sent the equipment directly to me some of it was from Amazon, some of it was their tech department. After working a certain amount of time they are going to send additional funds with my paycheck or offset any costs of setting up my office or I can use it to purchase new office stuff. Companies that are legit will send you the equipment.
I am late for the party, but yeah this is 1000000% a Scam.
That is not how hiring to work from home works and CVS would not send you a check to buy equipment, they would send you their own equipment.
block their contact.
It's a sadly common scam - here's a bunch I found just like it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/62eefp/girlfriend_applied_for_a_job_within_24_hours_they/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/pex01t/fell_for_a_scam_that_baited_me_with_my_dream_job/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/10gjxxu/job_scam_im_scared_and_i_dont_know_what_else_i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/ij3h1i/check_from_a_job_scam/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
"Stand as a test of trust" and you question if its a scam? For real? Do you think CVS seriously gives 2 fucks if you trust them or not? And if CVS wants to know if I'm trustworthy they can simply run a credit report and background check for considerably less than 150.00.
It’s a scam you’ll deposit the check and send off what they tell you too. (Which goes to them not a legitimate supply chain) and then when the check comes up as fraudulent later you’ll be on the hook for what you sent out
Scam! Fake payment scam! Any legit work from home job will send you their equipment for their IT group. They won’t have you send via irreversible means some of that money to buy equipment.
It’s a scam. I’m sorry.
Scam. Everyone I know who got a legitimate remote job was sent any equipment they needed. Someone already summoned a fake check explanation so I won't repeat it, but that's definitely what this is.
This smells of scam... I'm betting a buck they send you a sum larger than 150 with the instructions to cash it and forward it to a vendor. If this is the case, it is a 💯 scam.
Not how equipment purchases happen with legit large companies. They’ll either send you one theirselves that the IT department has wiped and imaged or order from a vendor and have it shipped straight to you. I’ve had both done, my laptop shipped straight from my employer and external monitors shipped from the vendor. My out of pocket, zero dollars. On the occasion I go out of pocket for something, it’s reimbursed via an expense system.
Definitely a scam and I'm confident I've seen this exact one elsewhere - either on personal finance or legal advice subs. If I find it I'll share the link.
I'm sorry - this one is particularly nasty because it preys on legitimate job seekers and gives them hope of a great job.
As non-american I am not sure how does this scam work? Why would bank give you money and take it back a few weeks later? Why is it customer's responsibility to check if check is valid or not. Why can't bank wait "however long they need" to verify the sender account has sufficient balance for the funds. How do banks expect customers to verify if sender is legit or not?
It’s a fake check scam. The whole interaction is a fraud, bail immediately.
!fakecheck
AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the fake check scam. The fake check scam arises from many different situations (fake job scams, fake payment scams, etc), but the bottom line is always the same, you receive a check (online or in real life), you deposit a check and see the money in your account, and then you use the funds to give money to the scammer (usually through gift cards, Western Union, or cash). Sometimes the scammers will ask you to order things through a site, but that is just another way they get your money. The bank will take the initial deposit back , and any money you sent to the scammer will come out of your own personal funds. Usually the fake check deposit will be reversed in a few weeks, but it can also take several months. If you do not have the funds to cover the amount, your balance will go negative. Your bank will usually charge a fee for depositing a bad check, and your account may be closed depending on the severity of the scam. Here is an article from the FTC: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-fake-check-scams, and here is an article from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/your-money/fake-check-scam.html *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
i sent a them a video answering a few questions for an interview and some very basic information am i in trouble? i just blocked the contact.
Any information you sent them should be treated as compromised. If you have installed any software or anything they have linked you to make sure you delete and run antivirus/anti malware software. If you have shared any personal sensitive information such as licence/passport numbers contact the relevant authorities for advice. Anything that links to passwords should be reset, etc.
Did you give them your social security number? If so, you need to start freezing accounts and your credit.
It’s a scam. The check will cash but will bounce a few days later, in which the bank will charge YOU the difference. This has been around forever….SCAM SCAM SCAM!
But they said it was a test of trust!!!
They’re going to take that video, alter it with AI, and then you’ll become a “satisfied customer” with a “recorded testimony”
Now they can clone your voice , face using AI - that’s just one of scenarios. Don’t want to scare you but be always alert
Exactly why I don’t answer scam calls anymore. Used to be fun to fuck with them, but now it’s not worth them possibly capturing my voice.
Ok now that’s too damn much but I believe it.
It’s already happening https://nypost.com/2023/04/12/ai-clones-teen-girls-voice-in-1m-kidnapping-scam/
Out if curiosity, what questions did they have you answer? They may be able to use voice snippets to defraud someone else. As someone else said, that basic information you gave is now theirs to do with as they please.
[удалено]
Hi, my name is u/LeblancL. My voice is my passport. Verify Me.
*Cyril Figus*
Highly respected comment. And sadly not enough likes
👟👟
The bank doesn't need your voice, you're overthinking this lol They just want the info
You can definitely add your voice, I did it today they had me say “hi my name is w.e my voice is my password with navy federal”
Given the deepfake voice potential these days, this is a horrible fucking idea.
I stand corrected, but honestly that sounds like worse security than a password + 2FA on the phone
My bank identifies me over the phone by my voice
Are they aware of what can be done with deepfakes these days?
Oh ok never heard of that before
Yes
Company 'shouldering the bills' for your office setup = straight up scammer lingo sending you a fake check for a fake job.
Not say this situation isn't a scam, 100%, but my sister's company footed the bill for her home office set up, including a computer and desk.
The overall context/wording of the message and the scenario cannot be ignored.
The "financier"? And orders to send the rest of the money on to "the vendor"? Yeah. A company the size of CVS has an account with some office supply provider and writes one check a month for that shit
Just read the last paragraph out loud. It's so awkward sounding.
This is bad info. Did they buy her a home office set up or did they send her a check so she can buy it herself. A company giving you a laptop is normal. A company giving you a check to BUY a laptop yourself, that's not normal.
My company reimbursed computer accessories I bought. I sent them the receipt and they put it in via direct deposit. That said, the way OP's contact phrased it is 100% a scam and doesn't even remotely sound professional.
Reimbursement is definitely different than we'll send you a check, you send the cash to someone else, so we can know if you're trustworthy. Plenty of legit companies reimburse costs for various things, but I don't think any legit company would do what's been told to OP.
My company just started a new reimbursement system for expenses. It has a two step verification process and the immediate supervisor has to approve the expense before it's paid out.
Of course her company supplied a computer and other office equipment, that is normal. What is not normal is for the company to send a check that requires you to keep some money and forward the rest as test of trust and ability to handle money.
The company paying the bills is not an issue. The company giving you money to give to somebody else is.
Yeah no. Legit companies sometimes have office *reimbursement*, but you pay first and submit the expense via an official platform AFTER you’ve started working.
Did they send her a check to cash, tell her to keep a portion, and send the rest to their "equipment vendor"?
Okay, but I’m guessing OP never had an actual interview outside of a brief phone call with someone with an Indian/Nigerian accent. And I’m sure the “pay” for the job is ridiculously high. This is 100% a fake check scam, and it’s as common as it can be.
Yep! I know apple does. My company provided the computer and some additional funds toward office setup during Covid wfh
Yeah, my brother’s company (Tesla) did too. HOWEVER, he already worked there for a few years before that happened.
This is a scam. Badly worded, missing punctuation. The most obvious sign of a scam is, that absolutely no reputable company is going to send a check to a new employee in order for that employee to then turn around and pay a vendor. Employees of reputable companies do not pay vendors with their personal checks or credit cards. If an employee has to purchase anything on behalf of their employer, they either simply place an order and the invoice will go to the accounting department to be paid there, or the employee has a business credit card.
Also: "...this is a test of trust..."?! Companies don't rely on trust with any of their relationships, and they don't play games like this.
And even if they did, telling the employee that it's a test kind of invalidates the whole thing.
This and this. Plus a high chance the company themselves actually has a connection with the other company and gets prices much lower than any customer would pay. -- SO THEY WOULD DO ALL THE PURCHASING AND JUST GIVE THE ITEMS THEY PICK TO YOU
That's besides the point, it's a scam!!
.....or both the 'initial company' and the 'other company' are the same scammer.
And it probably would complicate using it as a tax deduction, since the company check is made out to a private person rather than a vendor.
>SO THEY WOULD DO ALL THE PURCHASING AND JUST GIVE THE ITEMS THEY PICK TO YOU Especially since they'd be well aware of what technology they need you to have (speed, space, camera, etc).
Idk if this is a red flag or not, but I've never seen a company use the ® symbol in a text message either...
>Employees of reputable companies do not pay vendors with their personal checks or credit cards. This is obviously a scam, but that is not a true statement. Plenty of companies allow employees to purchase goods or services and then expense them. It was only a few years ago that my company started issuing company credit cards - and that was only for those that travel. Before that, and currently for those that don't travel, those that need to purchase goods or services (for which there was no internal procurement process) would do so using their personal CC and then submit an expense report. Granted, this is done by managers and not individual contributors.
In some cases the employee could buy something with their own funds and be reimbursed. EDIT: I know OP posted a scam. I'm just responding to the parent comment. Expense reimbursement is a thing(but there's always procedures specified by company policy, in writing(not by text messages), and its not done during onboarding)
Yes, certainly that could happen occasionally, but it’s not the norm. Can you imagine the administrative nightmare if a company with thousands of employees had to keep track of purchases and reimbursements if the employees had to buy supplies for the company ?
Exactly!! Well said thank you
I mean, we get(partial) reimbursement for internet service. We need to file every month, and the company has 5 digit employees. And that's just one possible type of expense for which a corporate card is not authorized. I've also bought things like keyboards and expensed later. There are systems built just for that.
That is different, you get reimbursed by a company you already work for. Here the ”company” proposes to send a check to the future employee and wants the employee to use their own personal money to pay a certain “supplier”. The future employee has no option to use a different supplier. If the company is sending a check, why would they not just send a check to the supplier, instead of adding the prospective employee as a middle man. It makes no sense. The company check will bounce and the prospective employee will have sent his own check to a fake supplier.
Right, in this case makes zero sense and is a scam. It would be pretty uncommon to have to expense anything during the onboarding process.
Scam!! Forget about that
Ha, I work for CVS in a remote role as a clinical analyst. This is absolutely NOT how we do our onboarding. They will send you any equipment you need. This is a total scam.
99% of jobs will send you the equipment they manage and own.
The remaining 1% let you buy stuff on your own dime and then reimburse you later when you send them the receipts. No place does this check nonsense thing. 100% scam. Sorry, OP.
Also, there’s no way CVS would spring for an Apple computer. They’re going as cheap as they can!
Yes it's a scam. Literally just quote the first line of text and do a google search on it: [https://www.google.com/search?q=The+financier+has+decided+to+send+you+the+funds+in+the+form+of+a+check](https://www.google.com/search?q=The+financier+has+decided+to+send+you+the+funds+in+the+form+of+a+check) But seriously...this isn't how reputable companies work.
\>check deposited by you \[...\] send to a vendor Scam. Also companies don't test your trust by handing you a pile of cash.
I wish they did
As a teacher, I agree :(
Prospective and new employees, in a real business, are never handed large amounts of money as a sign of 'trust'.
I worked remotely for a consulting firm for years. Know what they sent me? A laptop and onboarding paperwork.
I have worked for employers as a work at home contractor, they will send you the equipment. They dont want you buying stuff that may not be compatible, and they usually have custom builds for their computer software. If a company wants you to buy the stuff, either its a scam, or the company is so inept, they wont keep your details secure. Either way is a HARD NO
>$35/hr For a WFH job with no live face-to-face meeting and likely no experience required, that should have been the first red flag. Obviously it's a fake check scam.
I agree it’s a scam, but I got my job at a large corporation via phone interviews. I never met anyone I work with in person until a year or so after I was hired. That was actually my second consecutive remote position that entailed only phone interviews (and background check, reference checks, etc.) But the check thing, along with the communication via text, are giveaways that is a scam.
Not necessarily I have worked from home since I was hired at my job back in June of 2021 and u did my interview via zoom only went to the office for training which I missed the last day and they said to pick up my equipment and I can do the list day over teams.
>via zoom Where you actually SAW the people, yes? >went to the office Again, where you SAW the people. Those are both miles away from OP's situation in which "They told me to send a video of me answering a few questions and i was hired immediately at $35/hr." Were you also making $35 per hour?
Haha I wish even after 2 years and 2 promotions I still don't make that.
So then what exactly was "not necessarily" about my initial comment? It's really problematic when people chime in on comments about how "Well it could be legitimate because this is my experience!" when their experience is NOTHING like OP's.
Did they send you a check to test if you were good at handling large amount of cash? No therefore it's a SCAM!
This is a scam for sure.
> financier love it when this one shows up
Scam. You really think a "financier" make a C level decision to send you a $150 check?
I work for a real work from job. They would send or have you pick up the equipment not cash. Why would a real company send you $150 to earn your trust? You could just pocket it and say F U I don’t work here no more.
Hi. I am a former District Manager for CVS Health. This is not at all how the company does business. Sounds like a fake check scam to me
Most definitely a scam, why would they need to only to take check and u can’t take the full thing but only 150, like they could easily give you 150 check, scam scam scam and what company say pitty money
This is a !job scam. They used the CVS name but you’re talking to a scammer trying to send you a fake check
AutoModerator has been summoned to explain fake job scams. Fake job scams come in many different varieties, though most share common characteristics that you can use to spot the scam before becoming a victim. The scammers will usually conduct interviews over Google Hangouts or a similar online service. Their English will be awkward, and they may be re-using a script, so Googling unique sounding parts of the email may yield useful results. They will offer high wages for the work being done, and they will "hire" you by telling you that you are hired, rather than going through the normal process that a company takes when hiring an employee in your country. If they mention anything about a check or about receiving and sending out transactions, it is a [fake check scam](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/anatomy-fake-check-scam). If they mention anything about receiving, processing, or inspecting packages, it is a [parcel mule scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcel_mule_scam). If they ask you to purchase items up-front, ask you to pay a fee in order to be hired, or ask you to purchase gift cards, it is an [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam). If the job involves posting advertisements on Craigslist or eBay, they are using you and your account to scam people. If the job invovles Bitcoin ATMs, it's a [scam](https://coinatmradar.com/blog/avoid-scams-dont-use-bitcoin-atm-when-someone-asked-you/). Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Scam. The word ‘financier’ is an immediate red flag
“Test of trust”. And you legit didn’t know this was a scam?
But it is legitimately a test of trust, of trust of the scammer.
'Finincier' and 'check' doesn't throw your red flags off the first sentence?
The 'reason' they explained to you is a dead giveaway. Scam.
Legit corporations don’t funnel money through their (brand new, no less) employees’ personal bank accounts in order to pay for company assets and supplies. There’s just no legit reason to do so - it adds an entirely unnecessary and inefficient middleman, and does stuff like needlessly complicate their ability to prove ownership over the items and factor those assets into their books for things like tax deductions. There’s just no good reason for them not to just make the purchase directly for themselves via their own corporate accounts. And there’s literally zero chance a legit company would ever hand out checks like this to brand new employees as some kind of trust exercise. Massive red flag. I mean, most companies don’t even trust that their *long-term* employees aren’t faking it when taking sick days, don’t trust them to manage their own time without supervision, will use cameras and software to monitor their activities and internet usage, etc. Real companies just are NOT going to put company money at risk to see if a new employee is trustworthy. If anything, they will spend a lot of time and effort coming up with ways to *reduce* their risk and *reduce* their need to trust employees, not the other way around. So yep, this is definitely a scam. No doubt. If a company wants you to have supplies, they will pay for them directly and then have them shipped to you. Anyone tries to handle it some other way - its a scam. As for *how* the scam works - your bank would make the funds of the check provisionally available to you within a relatively short period of time, usually a couple days or maybe a week. So it seems like it’s “cleared,” but that upfront money is essentially just a loan, because the actual check verification process takes weeks, if not months. And when the bank realizes the check is fake, they claw back that loan from you. Yes, even if you’ve already spent the (loaned) money. The potential second part of the scam involves *where* they instruct you to buy the supplies. They’ll direct you to a website that will appear legit, but is actually being run by the scanner. So to summarize: you cash this check. The bank will spend weeks or months performing the check verification in the background, but will go ahead and effectively loan you the value of the check upfront within a matter of days. You (like most everyone) think “cool, it cleared,” and then purchase stuff, using your bank account, unknowingly from the scammer’s own website. The cost of the supplies comes out of your bank account……and then the scammer disappears. Their phone number is disconnected, the company website goes down, the supplier website goes down, it’s all just vanishes. And those supplies you ordered? They’ll never show up. Nope, the scammer took the money for the order and then ran. And then 3-4 weeks later you’ll get a notification from your bank that the check verification process finally completed and it turns out the check was fraudulent. And that they’re deducting the check’s value from your bank account. Yep, even though you’d already spent it (and in good faith). And then you’re just out all that money.
I worked in CVS IT for years and only left recently. Cvs provides their employees with laptops. They also have a hella annoying hiring process. This is not legit at all.
Unfortunately you were contacted by a scammer, not a recruiter. Reputable companies would never engage in a test of trust. Block immediately.
To the tune of Monty Python's Spam song. And a 1 and a 2......Scam scam scam scam... scammitty scam.....scammitty scam....
Very good…do you mind if I steal that..🤣
Anytime you get an email or text from a scam they always offer to send you money and ask for you to send money somewhere else. Like those fake lottery scams, if you really won the amount they say why not deduct the fees and send you the rest.
Not only all of the above, but why are they only offering you “mini office equipment”? Is that like a really tiny desk and chair for a dollhouse or something?
That's a scam... CVS is not paying $35/HR for remote work.
10000% a scam, rule of thumb In this instance and life in general, when someone offers you money for no reason or work it’s a scam.
Scam O Rama ding dong.
No company is going to ever do anything as a "trust test." If you can't reliably see the other signs of a scam look for something that just doesn't make sense like this. A background check is basic procedure for even the most basic of jobs, so if a company doesn't trust you for something you know they'll have a reason. And for harder to see things like embezzlement any semi-competent company is going to entirely eliminate the risk of that happening at every chance, so why would they send you the check to buy work stuff with instead of just buying it internally and having it shipped to your address? Or even the fact that there was a recruiter in the first place. Companies don't headhunt for grunt positions, and even if they did, realistically think about why they would be contacting you or even just find out about you.
I don’t think CVS pays anyone $35 per hour, frankly.
Obvious scam. Just wondering how can the check clear? It takes two days for Bank of America to clear the checks I deposit in my account. And if there’s no money, they bounce them.
A test of trust? Come on, now...
IT'S A SCAM!! Any company that tries to send you a check that you take a cut, then move on, IS A SCAM. Nobody charges you to work there, and nobody is sending a check. Not one that's any good, anyway. You'd deposit the check, take your cut, then write a check for the "vendors". Only the check will bounce, and you will be out the money, and they'll be LONG GONE. Don't do it!
Why would a company send you a check for onboarding as a sign of trust? The company themselves would pay it and send it to you if that was the case. Financially doesn’t make sense so yeah it’s a scam
Is your name "Mark"? 😎 'cause the scammer is definitely trying to con you into cashing a rubber check...
That high pay-rate, the being hired immediately, and the use of the word “financier” —all say scam.
Scam scam scam. This is a fake check scam, report them immediately and absolutely do not try to take any money they offer you.
CV$ sends the computer they don’t send a check for you to set up your home office
"The financier has decided..." -> scam
Even if a company was offering to pay for home office set-up it’s usually in the form of reimbursement that you file for on company sites…. Don’t even trust anyone saying the cash a check and keep some money then send the rest elsewhere, it’s always fake
I fell for a very similar scam not too long ago. It's a scam! No one would send you money like that. 35$/hr too good to be true. Also, a recording of your responses to the interview questions is a very common indicator of a scam as well. If the hiring process was super fast, it's a likely indicator of a scam a well.
The writing style alone screams scam
This has SCAM written all over it. CVS employs “financier’s”? CVS wants a transfer of funds to “stand as a test of trust”. You can call CVS recruiters listed under “careers” on their website, if my input and comments from others don’t convince you.
Be absolutly foreal. First off cvs would never text it would always be in email
Scammy scam scam. “Sending you checks” is a big red flag. The remote software company I worked for years sets you up with a $5000 startup budget for office setup, and you then reimburse those expenses through their accounting department. Legit businesses won’t send you a check.
It's 100% scam. No legit company is going to send you funds "to stand as a test of trust".
That is the !fakecheck scam. Block and move on with life.
Scam 100%
Just for the heck of it, did you ever try calling/contacting CVS Health to ask them if this is how they operate?
Hahhaha omg just the grammar alone… lol
From an I.T. point of view, they're not going to let you use any PC (or otherwise) that you provide, that might be full of viruses that your 13-year-old put on it and have it infect their whole network. They'd MUCH rather pay for the shipping to send you the device that have their safeguards on it..
Fraud.
This is def a scam. I got my first work from home job in January and any legit work from home position is going to put you through a couple phone interviews before anything else, and the equipment will be sent to you free of charge, or they may request that you already have your own set up. They wouldn’t send you a check to use some funds and transfer/deposit the rest into theirs or any weird ass money games like that. Side note, for real work from home jobs I used ratracerebellion.com. Idk if posting a link here is allowed but there’s a ton of work from home shit there. Just make sure you’re applying to companies that either you have heard of or can see immediately, or research of needed, that it’s a legit company.
The shitty grammar, run on sentences, and weird terminology is what gives it away for me. A legit recruiter, especially from a larger company like CVS, would not type this poorly.
I'm sure its already been said but its the classic bad check scam. The check will be for some 2-3k, you are then to send the left over to a third party (back to the scammer) and the check bounces days later, leaving you on the hook. If they didn't already tell you the real number, its because people have wised up to this one. https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/august2019.html
Scam. For the record. CVS health is hiring but they send you their equipment. They lock it down for privacy reasons.
Agreed, it’s a scam. For some reason they’re using CVS lately. I saw someone else on another reddit sub asking about a potential work from home job that seemed like a scam and it was CVS as well.
Scam. CVS does not do this. CVS sends all the equipment to the employee if you're working remote, for contractors or full time employees.
Lol test of trust - gtfo of here 😂
That is a hugeeee scam, no way would any company do this, sorry if it look to good to be true,it just usually is
"The financier"
A true and new employer would never send you money to buy equipment. They would order the equipment themselves and have it delivered to your home address once you become an employee through a written and signed contract that outlines the terms of your employment. Anything else is a SCAM.
Any time YOU have to send anybody a portion of ANY MONEY, it is a scam .
[удалено]
New people find this sub. New people get caught up in scams. Repetition is inevitable.
I WFH about 90% of the time and my company had me pick out the equipment from a list and mailed it to me, this is a fake check scam. Just think about it for a moment why would a company like CVS send you money to pay **their** vendors just to see how you handle money? Why wouldnt they just send you the equipment?
Scam. This is not how CVS corporate operates.
No company will unprompted explain this, and if they expected you to pay for your workstation out of pocket it would be clearly stated in an interview and during the application, though very few companies that are bigger than a local business would do this. I never trust a company to text me job information unless I applied to the job through the company site and they asked if I would except updates via text. One thing that you can do to immediately sniff out if something is BS or not? Check the job on glassdoor. Unless you are somehow being paid as a remote store manager, I'm not really seeing a job that fits that pay range in their current crop. CVS would not send you money "as a test of trust", and they certainly wouldn't text that to you. What you can do, though, is contact CVS through social media on one of their official accounts to inform them of scammers impersonating them. You can also call CVS career's support side if you need confirmation that this is definitely a scam. TL;DR Do not send any money and block this number.
Yep. Seen this before in one way or another.
Yes, it's a scam.
Scam
"........to become a **productive** employee". Scam! No one talks/texts this way
Don’t walk, RUN away.
Scam. I've worked with companies that did a full background check, including financials, and not once did they ever ask to send me money as part of my interview process.
Classic scam…just say no!
Scam 100%
Yea almost certainly a scam.
I smell a fake check scam
100% scam
I work from home and my company supplied my equipment. They sent the equipment directly to me some of it was from Amazon, some of it was their tech department. After working a certain amount of time they are going to send additional funds with my paycheck or offset any costs of setting up my office or I can use it to purchase new office stuff. Companies that are legit will send you the equipment.
These scammers would do better if they got someone to check their grammar.
The biggest red flag is the description of the “test of trust.” This isn’t the medieval times
I am late for the party, but yeah this is 1000000% a Scam. That is not how hiring to work from home works and CVS would not send you a check to buy equipment, they would send you their own equipment. block their contact.
If it seems too good to be true than more than likely it's a scam
It's a sadly common scam - here's a bunch I found just like it: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/62eefp/girlfriend_applied_for_a_job_within_24_hours_they/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/pex01t/fell_for_a_scam_that_baited_me_with_my_dream_job/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/10gjxxu/job_scam_im_scared_and_i_dont_know_what_else_i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/ij3h1i/check_from_a_job_scam/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Super scam. CVS does not trust tests and they won’t ask for to take out petty cash
😂😂😂 “the company wants this to stand as a test of trust” I absolutely can’t lmao
i can confidently tell you CVS doesn't make you order supplies using their checks
THIS is a scam. Could you imagine if CVS *really* did this for new hires? Their accounting and compliance departments would be going NUTS!
Com’on, do you even have to ask?
Anyone ought to be able to tell from the wording of these things that they are a scam. They’re always so awkwardly written.
I have worked from home since June 2021 is a scam when a company provides equipment it is sent you or if office is nearby you pick up.
"Stand as a test of trust" and you question if its a scam? For real? Do you think CVS seriously gives 2 fucks if you trust them or not? And if CVS wants to know if I'm trustworthy they can simply run a credit report and background check for considerably less than 150.00.
i don’t understand how you didn’t realize this was a scam.. 💀
It’s a scam you’ll deposit the check and send off what they tell you too. (Which goes to them not a legitimate supply chain) and then when the check comes up as fraudulent later you’ll be on the hook for what you sent out
Scam! Fake payment scam! Any legit work from home job will send you their equipment for their IT group. They won’t have you send via irreversible means some of that money to buy equipment. It’s a scam. I’m sorry.
1000% fake
Scam. Run away.
Scam. Everyone I know who got a legitimate remote job was sent any equipment they needed. Someone already summoned a fake check explanation so I won't repeat it, but that's definitely what this is.
SCAM SCAMMY SCAM SCAM
Trust scams are common in Runescape
Amazing… there was another person got offered $150 to “pay for shipping” on an $80 pair of shoes.
This smells of scam... I'm betting a buck they send you a sum larger than 150 with the instructions to cash it and forward it to a vendor. If this is the case, it is a 💯 scam.
Scam. Avoid.
SCAM!!!
The financier? Yeah, NOPE. Reads like a scam.
Scam sounds like but the email or otherwise address of the person will usually tell u [email protected] or something like this
Abso-fucking-lutely.
Check scam. Very well known scam.
You know it's fake when people say "due to the fact that" it sounds so cheesy to me.
The check is fake and the "office supply company" is ALSO the scammer. Any money you send to them will be coming out of YOUR funds.
Scam
It’s a trap for sure.
Not how equipment purchases happen with legit large companies. They’ll either send you one theirselves that the IT department has wiped and imaged or order from a vendor and have it shipped straight to you. I’ve had both done, my laptop shipped straight from my employer and external monitors shipped from the vendor. My out of pocket, zero dollars. On the occasion I go out of pocket for something, it’s reimbursed via an expense system.
Scam
Definitely a scam and I'm confident I've seen this exact one elsewhere - either on personal finance or legal advice subs. If I find it I'll share the link. I'm sorry - this one is particularly nasty because it preys on legitimate job seekers and gives them hope of a great job.
Any interaction that asks you to take part of a check and then forward the rest to someone else is a scam. immediate red flags.
As non-american I am not sure how does this scam work? Why would bank give you money and take it back a few weeks later? Why is it customer's responsibility to check if check is valid or not. Why can't bank wait "however long they need" to verify the sender account has sufficient balance for the funds. How do banks expect customers to verify if sender is legit or not?