A fake job offer gone wrong • Hacker News Board

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#291

Post by baking » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

jestarray wrote: post #69

baking wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The twist was the check was to cover his purchase of computer and supplies for his home office and after he deposits it he is told to wire $8,000 to a vendor for the equipment. Implied threat is that he is stealing from them if he doesn't wire the money. Of course even if he waits for the check to clear, the bank will still come after him for the money in a couple of weeks which is usually how long it takes for these…

Actually I was not threatened that I was stealing if I didn't wire! I wish I was though because that would have definitely given it away. The receipt of my bank deposit they asked me to take a picture of just had more than enough to pay! I remember double checking the receipt in-case it had too much personal information and even was aware that I didn't want to show my balance but something in my brain just didn't com…

I got you. I said "implied threat" meaning that someone who was having second thoughts before wiring the money is thinking about what could go wrong if they didn't wire the money, and not what could go wrong if they did. As others have mentioned there is also the whole sunk cost fallacy. This whole story is a great example of social engineering and it's the first time I've heard of it. Good for you to take the effort to post it. It's just long and could use a quick summary of the actual scam upfront for people with short attention spans.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#292

Post by simne » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:24 PM UTC

jaclaz wrote: post #190

jestarray wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I was not threatened that I was stealing if I didn't wire! I wish I was though because that would have definitely given it away. The receipt of my bank deposit they asked me to take a picture of just had more than enough to pay! I remember double checking the receipt in-case it had too much personal information and even was aware that I didn't want to show my balance but something in my brain just didn't com…

Besides all the other red flags, what would have (probably) triggered an alarm would have been the actual list of equipment (and its generic content). Set of furniture? Copiers ? Graphics generator and software? Data storage and Microfiche ? High speed Internet access? All coming from a same supplier, the same that provides the Mac and the "Dual Monitors", maybe it is "normal" in US, but elsewhere there would be seve…

This named cross-selling in scientific marketing, when somebody sell to customer related items, even far related.

Best example, when You will buy auto, good seller will try to sell items for tourists, picnic items, spinning, and even bait (sure, will include regulated items in base, like insurance, fire-extinguisher).

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#293

Post by ghaff » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

IshKebab wrote: post #248

alanfranz wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ this. I was scammed about EUR 1500 some 7 years ago. It didn’t seem a scam: the price for an item was low but not too low, the identity of the seller I could verify. But the item ultimately didn’t arrive, and I didn’t know that for italian law it’s considered an “unfulfilled contract” rather than fraud, and requires a civil rather than a criminal case, which would turn out far too costly. But the point is: I didn’t…

That's what small claims court is for. Hopefully it doesn't happen to you again but if it does you can take them to small claims court. You don't need to pay a lawyer. It costs far less than €1500. That's what it's called in the UK anyway. I assume Italy has something equivalent.

All that does though is maybe get you a judgment. It doesn't put the money in your hands.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#294

Post by nkohari » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

chrisbaker98 wrote: post #288

jjav wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are cheques even used for anything except for fraud anymore? Based on the cheques spelling I guess you're not in the US. Checks are very common here, I write them every month. In theory I could pay my water bill by credit card but their payment portal is so randomly broken that I save a ton of headache by writing a check and dropping it off at their payment box. My office lease only takes checks. Various other rent…

Is "direct debit" not a thing in the US? All of my regular bills in the UK (mortgage, energy, water, internet, insurance, debt, probably some others I'm forgetting) are deducted automatically from my bank account every month. I don't have to think about it all - and there's zero possibility of nuking my credit score by accidentally missing a payment. Having to remember to write a check for each bill every month sound…

Direct debit is available (and is very common) but not all vendors support it. Anecdotally most younger people use automatic methods for recurring payments whenever possible, and write checks for one-off purchases, like paying repairpeople. Older folks write checks for everything because that's what they're used to.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#295

Post by felideon » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:32 PM UTC

nigamanth wrote: post #6

To be honest, one can easily realize that this "Marc Cannon" is a fake with the amount of spelling and grammatical errors he makes. Real professionals do not make spelling and grammar errors such as: "Do you have any other question ?" "Good morning how are you this morning." "I will send you later" "Good morning, How are you doing today ?" "This is very disrespectful and all director are to meet you for training on m…

No post body was provided.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#296

Post by somrand0 » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:33 PM UTC

sltkr wrote: post #215

somrand0 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is not victims, the problem is scammers but the solution isn't on the scammers side only, there are a series of circumstances on both sides involved that cause these things to happen. if people weren't desperate for money, running out of alternatives, they wouldn't need to perpetrate these crimes, nor would they fall for them as often.

> if people weren't desperate for money, running out of alternatives, they wouldn't need to perpetrate these crimes, nor would they fall for them as often. It's naive to think only the destitute perpetrate or fall victim to scams. By that logic, people like Bernie Maddoff or (allegedly) Sam Bankman-Fried wouldn't exist.

there's always the romanticized idea of the 'cat burglar' who spends more money trying to steal something that the actual pay off from the heist...

that's fraud like an art form... maybe mr. bankster-"cooked in oil" should play that defense: "It was an art project that got out of hand"...

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#297

Post by jostiniane » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:35 PM UTC

I got scammed twice in my life by people from the same country (will let you guess the country). What bugs me the most is the people blaming the victims (oh how can you fall for that..) which gives some sense that scammers are "smart", when they actually exploited/abused the most valuable thing in a functioning society: Trust, that would drag the society way back because now you can't have nice things, you have to doubt, distrust everything you deal with.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#298

Post by cmckn » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:57 PM UTC

mdturnerphys wrote: post #83

They have my drivers license which contains a lot personal information but eh... proably somewhere based in india or something, I dunno. Freeze your credit reports with all 3 credit reporting companies. Last year someone flew into Seattle from out of state with a driver license with their photo but my info, including an old driver license number. They got a bunch of cell phones and attempted to open a number of store…

I’m mostly shocked that you can spend $64,000 on a Dodge Challenger.

Sorry you had to deal with that, sounds like a nightmare.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#299

Post by ghaff » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 4:57 PM UTC

baking wrote: post #291

jestarray wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I was not threatened that I was stealing if I didn't wire! I wish I was though because that would have definitely given it away. The receipt of my bank deposit they asked me to take a picture of just had more than enough to pay! I remember double checking the receipt in-case it had too much personal information and even was aware that I didn't want to show my balance but something in my brain just didn't com…

I got you. I said "implied threat" meaning that someone who was having second thoughts before wiring the money is thinking about what could go wrong if they didn't wire the money, and not what could go wrong if they did. As others have mentioned there is also the whole sunk cost fallacy. This whole story is a great example of social engineering and it's the first time I've heard of it. Good for you to take the effort…

Absent all the red flags, the basic form of the scam is pretty sophisticated. Here's a check to get yourself setup from our preferred supplier and expense it when you start probably should set off alarms to the degree that other things seemed off. But it's not by itself something a legit company would likely never do.

Re: A fake job offer gone wrong

#300

Post by jspash » Sat, Dec 10, 2022, 5:01 PM UTC

nigamanth wrote: post #6

To be honest, one can easily realize that this "Marc Cannon" is a fake with the amount of spelling and grammatical errors he makes. Real professionals do not make spelling and grammar errors such as: "Do you have any other question ?" "Good morning how are you this morning." "I will send you later" "Good morning, How are you doing today ?" "This is very disrespectful and all director are to meet you for training on m…

"Good morning, How are you doing today ?"

Except for the unnecessarily uppercased H and the extraneous space before the question mark, this is a perfectly fine English sentence, no?