Callie Heim was overjoyed to begin her marketing position with Waymo, the popular self-driving car firm, early this summer. Her mother had recently gone away, she had recently moved back home, and she was getting used to life after college. It had been a difficult year for her.
But joy was short-lived when she received a letter from her new employer: Prior to starting, she would need to purchase her own laptop and work phone from a company site, and they would send her a check to pay the costs. Alarm bells went out when the check showed up in the mail.
A false job posting had conned Heim.
Heim describes how she used LinkedIn’s “Easy Apply” feature to apply for the position and went through what seemed like a routine, even hopeful, interview process in a series of TikTok videos that have now gone viral. She first responded to a few inquiries about her prior experience in marketing using Wire, an encrypted messaging software that she was requested to download (a red flag, she now says).
@callieheim truly a humbling experience #scam #linkedin #linkedinscam #wire #fakejobposting #beware
♬ original sound – Callie Heim
The following day, she received a phone interview invitation; the interviewer informed her that the position required having a phone and computer so she could work remotely. After that, she received a call the following day with an offer (red flag No. 2, Heim says).
After a few more chats, Heim filled out the necessary paperwork for her employment, scanned her license, and provided her bank information to set up direct deposit. Then it was explained to her that she would have to pay for her household goods up front before receiving a reimbursement.
Actually, the scammers are hoping you’ll pay them money so they can “reimburse” you with a bogus check. This is what is known as a phony check scam. Sometimes they will send you a check first, instruct you to deposit it, and then they will wait for you to buy your equipment (in actuality, send them money) before the check bounces.
Thankfully, Heim identified the scam when the check arrived (“it looked so manipulated,” she recalls) and before she actually transmitted any money to the con artists. Nevertheless, she was forced to quickly terminate the compromised bank account and lock the credit line.
Heim calls the event embarrassing and a blow to her self-confidence. She was also ashamed that the information she had been anticipating and had spread extensively among her loved ones was false. I went from being thrilled to being devastated in a month, Heim claims.
Heim feels herself fortunate that she did not lose any money as a result of the event, which has been, to put it mildly, emotionally demanding.
@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
@callieheim the scammers are getting smarter (or we are getting dumber idk) #linkedin #scam #waymo
♬ original sound – Callie Heim
