Scammers try to trick people into spilling personal information and money to work at home

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Many people love the idea of working from home, especially if it’s just part-time to bring in a little extra money. There are many scammers out there using social media to trick people into revealing information that might be profitable for them.

Kristen Shuff no longer has a Facebook because a scammer hijacked her account, impersonated her and invited her friends to apply for a work-from-home job.

“As far as I know they didn’t take any money from me personally, but a lot of these people, my friends, were being messaged, and people that I know, and I don’t know if they took money from them, I’m not sure,” she said.

The scammer purports to do a job interview through texting but eventually tries to get you to spill personal information. Better Business Bureau for SWLA President Angela Guth said the scammer asked for her banking information before even asking her name.

“Once you get further into it, they start asking for banking information. And that banking information, they’re asking you way before you’ve even had an opportunity to send in a resume, send in any kind of information about yourself. So that again is another red flag,” said Guth.

Luckily, Shuff didn’t fall for it. Though after they overload you with information, they tell you you need to purchase equipment to do the work.

“They wanted me to go to Walgreens and get a card and pay for some equipment and all kind of stuff because they said I’ll start working once this happens. And once I confronted him about why are you asking for money if I’m supposed to be working for you, I haven’t heard from him since,” said Shuff.

Guth said to check out the business and don’t give personal information unless you know who you are dealing with.

“Doing a job interview over a third-party app or doing a job interview over Facebook messenger is not a good indication that you’re dealing with a legitimate company,” said Guth.

A quick internet or Facebook search using the first sentence of the fake offer reveals it has spread all over the country.

Guth says the BBB learned of the fraud when local callers contacted them because the bad actors were claiming to have an A-plus rating with the BBB. They lied.

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