COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Every year, imposter scams, online shopping scams, and investment scams involving cryptocurrency are consistently among the most common when it comes to fraud, according to agencies like the Better Business Bureau and Federal Trade Commission.  

So are job scams. 

Those typically come in two forms — fake postings on legitimate job search websites or text messages. 

That’s how it all started for a central Ohio woman who called Better Call 4 to anonymously share her cautionary tale. 

“I got a text from this lady,” she said.  

The sender claimed to be from a legitimate staffing agency.  

“Asking if we, if I’m interested in any, any online jobs, part-time or full-time,” the scam victim said. 

Thinking she could make some extra money, she replied asking for more information. She was then offered a digital marketing position for a company base in Australia. A few days later, someone saying they were from the company’s human resources department reached out through WhatsApp. 

“And then she said, I will make $500 salary from the company in 10 days… $1,500 in 20 days… and $3,000 in a month,” the victim said. “Which really happened in the first five days, I made $1,500 and they transferred all the money to my account.” 

Not to her bank account, though, but to a digital wallet, meaning all the payments came in the form of cryptocurrency. 

“I asked, ‘Why are you using cryptocurrency?’” the victim said. “She said, ‘We have users from all over the world, so each country has their own, you know, currencies. It’s more convenient for everyone.’ And I said ‘Okay.'”  

But without a complete understanding of how it all worked, and believing what the company told her, before she knew it, she was $80,000 in the hole. 

“With crypto, the thing is that you can’t reverse your money back,” the scam victim said. “Yeah, it’s gone.” 

Still, she filed a police report, hired an attorney, contacted the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the FBI. Then, called Better Call 4 to warn other job seekers. 

If you get a text like this:  

• Do your research first; look into the company and reach out on your own.
• Don’t click on links you think could be legitimate.
• Simply ignore the message and don’t respond.

“They’ve been trying to get money from people like this, you know, it’s just it’s a new era for a scam,” the victim said.

If you spot a text scam, tell the FTC and forward it to 7726 (SPAM), or use your phone’s report “junk” option to delete and report it.