My 18 year old was scammed out of 3K on her first day as intern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That the scam occurred within the first HOUR of her onboarding makes me suspect this was an inside job

Absolutely.

[Anonymous]

My first reaction is how in today's world does anybody fall for the use your own money to buy gift cards scam? There is no legitimate anything that requires you to buy gift cards with your own cash for any reason. If someone, especially someone you don't know and have never spoken to before, is asking you to buy gift cards I'm telling you right now...IT'S A SCAM. Always. Everyone can start by telling their children that and then tell all your adult friends and relatives too.

[Anonymous]

So sorry OP. If she worked to earn this money herself, I'd try my best to give her some of it back. My son is 18 and has around $3k in his bank account. He has worked three summers to earn it and he's be devastated by being completely wiped out before college. I'd just reassure her that she was a victim and not the only one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for replying.
To those who wondered where I was, I was at work.
And yes, it's a legit internship. The person who hired her is another school mom. My son's friend is also an intern at the company. That kid is still in high school.
This happened yesterday morning amid the flurry of setting her up on her first day. The hiring manager was asking about setting up payment, instructing her on invoicing the company as an independent contractor (because it's a short summer job), all the usual private info one relinquishes to a company when setting up for work. Amidst this first hour, she gets an email from the company "president" asking for her phone number to discuss a special project. That is where the texting scam began. He told her these gift cards would be distributed to the company employees and it was supposed to be a surprise.

On the one hand, I wish I had been around. But on the other, I can't hand hold her for the rest of her life.

People have lost entire retirement investments to such scams so I feel this has a positive life lesson outcome in these early years of building her net worth.

What “summer internship” starts on a Friday in mid-August. In some places, the 2023-2024 school year has already begun; in others it will begin imminently. Most “summer” internships will run from June-August or maybe c

Has it occurred to you that this other “school mom” might not be legitimate?

I would have your daughter contact the police and file a report

[Anonymous]

School mom is on her way to Gucci to buy a tote bag with OP daughter’s money.

OP’s daughter should definitely file a police report and let school mom and her admin know a police report is incoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all for replying.
To those who wondered where I was, I was at work.
And yes, it's a legit internship. The person who hired her is another school mom. My son's friend is also an intern at the company. That kid is still in high school.
This happened yesterday morning amid the flurry of setting her up on her first day. The hiring manager was asking about setting up payment, instructing her on invoicing the company as an independent contractor (because it's a short summer job), all the usual private info one relinquishes to a company when setting up for work. Amidst this first hour, she gets an email from the company "president" asking for her phone number to discuss a special project. That is where the texting scam began. He told her these gift cards would be distributed to the company employees and it was supposed to be a surprise.

On the one hand, I wish I had been around. But on the other, I can't hand hold her for the rest of her life.

People have lost entire retirement investments to such scams so I feel this has a positive life lesson outcome in these early years of building her net worth.

“School mom” — like she goes to your school and have met her? Or she claims to be a mom?

Just because you friend has been scammed, er, working there is no guarantee. Maybe he didn’t fall for the first scam and they are keeping him on the hooks. Since e-mail was from another domain, they just waive it away as spam — despite company and scammers are all in it together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School mom is on her way to Gucci to buy a tote bag with OP daughter’s money.

OP’s daughter should definitely file a police report and let school mom and her admin know a police report is incoming.

More likely she's betting big on the ponies or getting high at OP's kid's expense.

My mother and my step-father both -- separately -- fell for phone scams. My stepfather truly believed he was paying the taxes on the big screen TV he won using Visa gift cards. My mother ended up wire transferring $50,000 to some woman in China to "reimburse" Amazon.

Those of you who think this only happens to stupid people do not know how incredibly convincing these scammers can be. I hope you never find out.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry this happened, OP. That wasn’t a legitimate internship. If she gave them bank info and her SSN and other info, you should take steps to protect those accounts and her identity. I’m sorry.

[Anonymous]

Be concerned OP she should have known better at 18. Come on. I think you know this. She doesn't sound very bright.

[Anonymous]

Only on DCUM would there be this much conversation and no one even mentions the ability of a hs student to just drop 3k.

Sorry this happened, OP. So many scammers out there.

[Anonymous]

You know this school mom personally or is this someone from a school Facebook group for parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School mom is on her way to Gucci to buy a tote bag with OP daughter’s money.

OP’s daughter should definitely file a police report and let school mom and her admin know a police report is incoming.

More likely she's betting big on the ponies or getting high at OP's kid's expense.

My mother and my step-father both -- separately -- fell for phone scams. My stepfather truly believed he was paying the taxes on the big screen TV he won using Visa gift cards. My mother ended up wire transferring $50,000 to some woman in China to "reimburse" Amazon.

Those of you who think this only happens to stupid people do not know how incredibly convincing these scammers can be. I hope you never find out.

I don't know that I would have used the word stupid but there is no way any reasonably savvy person wires 50K to someone in China to reimburse Amazon. Reimburse them for what??? And how does any functioning adult think that anyone pays taxes on anything with gift cards??? Are these older relatives of yours suffering from dementia?

[Anonymous]

OP: Your kid is stupid & naive.

[Anonymous]

Why is this being called an internship? It's some sort of dubious job, not an internship.

[Anonymous]

OP, thank you for sharing this story. I’m sorry for all the unsolicited criticism and ridiculous advice about identity theft that you’re getting from people who aren’t willing or able to accurately read or understand what you shared. I and everyone who did take the time to actually listen to you understands and agrees that you are handling this well. Your kid has nothing to be ashamed of - they were victimized and like you said, it’s a good lesson to learn. Ignore the rest - they’re just the usual crowd on DCUM who smell blood whenever they detect any sort of vulnerability and can’t wait to lecture others when they are the ones who need to learn something.