Woman Gets Scammed With Fake LinkedIn Job Posting -- Here Are the Red Flags One woman is going viral after accidentally sending her personal information to scammers posing to be a high-profile tech company.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Since the pandemic, remote work has become increasingly common, especially for tech jobs where in-person work isn't necessary in order to be successful at the job.
But as one prospective employee learned the hard way, scammers are taking advantage of the influx of remote jobs by pretending to be big tech companies and hustling interviewees out of personal information, including their bank accounts.
TIkToker Callie Heim was applying for a job at what she thought was Waymo, the autonomous car driving company that was originally dubbed the Google self-driving project — a reputable company with a reputable name.
Heim says she applied for the job via LinkedIn easy apply and received an email a few days later telling her that they wanted to proceed with her application, but she was told that she had to download an external messaging app called Wire to conduct the interview, something she likened to using Microsoft Teams.
It wasn't a red flag because the company was very "futuristic," she said.
@callieheim truly a humbling experience #scam #linkedin #linkedinscam #wire #fakejobposting #beware ♬ original sound - Callie Heim
"At the time, I didn't realize it was a red flag, but like looking back, yes, it was a red flag," she told followers before explaining that the interviewer asked her very specific marketing questions. "They pretty much gave me the job like after a day of talking to them further, which again is a red flag … everything seemed like so awesome. But of course, if it seems too good to be true, it's too good to be true."
Heim's boyfriend was the first to point out that something seemed off, and she didn't agree until she realized she had made a horrible mistake.
The company had asked her to purchase a laptop and mobile device that she would be reimbursed for, and to do that, she had sent them all of her personal information including routing and bank account number to set up the "direct deposit" that would not be coming. She said she noticed this when the company sent her a fake check that was "obviously photoshopped."
@callieheim Part 2 of how I got scammed (emotionally and ALMOST financially) from a fake LinkedIn job posting. #linkedin #jobposting #wireapp #scam ♬ original sound - Callie Heim
Upon research, Heim found out that the Wire app is known to be used for job scammers and that what happened to her is unfortunately a common occurrence.
"I learned some lessons here about being naive on the Internet and other things, like probably don't post about getting a new job on LinkedIn until you actually started working. I just was excited," she lamented.
@callieheim the scammers are getting smarter (or we are getting dumber idk) #linkedin #scam #waymo ♬ original sound - Callie Heim
Heim was able to get to the bank and shut down her account before the money was withdrawn but still said she is devastated about being "emotionally scammed" by the whole experience.
"Just be aware and be vigilant, kind of know that if a job is asking for you to do too much during the interview process, it's probably not good," she said.
Many commenters warned Heim to freeze her credit accounts so that the scammers wouldn't be able to open up cards in her name.
Entrepreneur has reached out to Waymo for comment.
