the hyped up kid in the corner

YOU CANT JUST CASUALLY LEAVE THIS IN THE REPLIES AS IF THIS ISNT A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF THIS HARROWING STORY

and while it was thoroughly humiliating and i’d much rather forget about my moment of poor judgment entirely, i’m posting about it in the hopes that someone out there can learn from my mistake and save themselves a lot of trouble and money.

like millions of u.s. americans, i found myself unemployed due to the pandemic and have been searching extensively for a new job. i was recently contacted by a hiring consultant on behalf of a prospective employer, who had seen my resume listed on indeed.  as directed, i contacted the employer and set up an interview. the questions were standard, and the only thing that was strange was that it was conducted over whatsapp. since i’ve worked with startups before and had some unusual but ultimately harmless experiences, i didn’t think too much about this, but in hindsight, these were red flags. after being offered the job, i was sent the offer letter, which looked official, to sign and return. the name was of an existing company, and it had good reviews on both indeed and glassdoor, as well as a website.  then i was sent a check, instructed to deposit it, and then contact a third-party vendor to pay for necessary work materials. i didn’t know it at the time, but this is a huge red flag.  the materials never came, the checks the “company” sent bounced, and the funds i paid to the vendors ended up being taken from my own checking account. i was also liable for the chargeback of the bounced check, and in less than a week lost all my meager savings.  by the time i realized something was wrong and contacted my credit union, it was too late for them to halt any payments or refund any of my money.

no one ever warned me about this, and i was raised to be obedient, and not to ask too many questions or challenge authority figures, and that really bit me in the ass. so please be careful, and if you have any doubts about a company, ask questions, do all you due diligence, and never send any money on behalf of an employer. 

please boost this so others whose mamas didn’t teach them this can learn from me