(SPANISH FORT, Ala.) We have a warning tonight about a scam that has popped up in Baldwin County. A woman who was looking for a job, applied for an executive assistant opening online. She says she ended up losing thousands of dollars.
Our call came from Spanish Fort. The victim here called us because she wants to warn others. It's an online scam that's drained her bank account. Ann Dipple found the job online and says she was hoping to be someone's executive assistant. "I mean I did the research but I found these companies are actual companies they are actual people, but it's someone pretending to be this person, " said Dipole.
Her contact person asked for a resume and kept in touch with Dipple via emails and texts. All updates and encouragement that seemed all too real. Then came a big check - for $2,240. "From the security features to the check itself they had a routing number. They had a legitimate company. They had a legitimate bank, " said Dipple.
Looking back she says she should have waited for the check to clear, because her "fake employer" asked her to make a withdrawal - $2,200 supposedly money to buy gifts for orphans in Nigeria.
"The signal you get is in the broken English and telling you they are going to respond and they want you to respond to them right away and they don't get back to you for two or three days, " said Dipple. She realizes the bad guys preyed on her good nature and her trust and her desire to work from home. "They give to others and I still wanted to believe that there was still some good and that this person was actually sweet enough, kind enough to give funds and take care of kids in need and that tugged at me so much I said I can't say no, " said Dipple.
The fake employer was traced to the U.K. and Ann Dipple's bank is doing what it can to get her money back, but that's unlikely. If you'd like to protect yourself from future scams we've created a link to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Click on the "Find It" section.
