BENSON – A Benson-area resident searching for a job lost more than $22,000 in a scam. The 49 year-old victim had placed her resume on several job listing websites in search of work from home employment.
The victim received a response to one of her job listings from a individual claiming they were a human resource manager for a company. They reportedly hired the victim to purchase Bitcoin.
The victim said the scammer sent approximately 35 checks over a period of several days. The victim was instructed to deposit the checks in their personal banking account, purchase Bitcoin with funds in their account, then immediately transfer the cryptocurrency to the company.
The victim realized it was a scam when they were contacted by their bank a few days later alerting them the checks being deposited were fraudulent. By that time, the victim had purchased over $22,000 for Bitcoin they had already transferred out of their name to the scammer.
Authorities are investigating the incident. It appears unlikely the victim will be able to recover any of the money.
Some people have more money than smarts.