Google Hangouts interview scam explained Thread poster: Kevin Fulton
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Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 20:20
German to English
According to the following article, the Google Hangouts interview scam involves the bogus provision of funds to cover the cost of office equipment required in the course of "employment" with the publisher, pharmaceutical company, food packaging company, etc. Of course, the check sent via FedEx is bogus. Unfortunately the article doesn't fully explain how the fraudster gets the money, since the victim had the good sense to ascertain the validity of the check she received.
(clicking the "X" ... See more According to the following article, the Google Hangouts interview scam involves the bogus provision of funds to cover the cost of office equipment required in the course of "employment" with the publisher, pharmaceutical company, food packaging company, etc. Of course, the check sent via FedEx is bogus. Unfortunately the article doesn't fully explain how the fraudster gets the money, since the victim had the good sense to ascertain the validity of the check she received.
(clicking the "X" will dismiss the nag)
https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2019/10/09/millennials-job-scam-google-hangouts-interview/3896459002/ ▲ Collapse
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 19:20
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| Victims are asked to purchase (fake) software | Oct 9, 2019 |
Among the generic office supplies there will be a big-ticket item like specialized software the company uses for training or something else related to the job, or perhaps even a laptop preloaded with the software, which, because the software is customized for the company, can only be purchased from one particular vendor they deal with.
The software of course never materializes once the victim sends the money (presumably by cashier's check, MO or WU). Supposedly the scammers are quite persi... See more Among the generic office supplies there will be a big-ticket item like specialized software the company uses for training or something else related to the job, or perhaps even a laptop preloaded with the software, which, because the software is customized for the company, can only be purchased from one particular vendor they deal with.
The software of course never materializes once the victim sends the money (presumably by cashier's check, MO or WU). Supposedly the scammers are quite persistent in checking in with the victims daily to the see if the fake check has arrived, so we can assume that victims are pressured to part with their own money and make the purchases quickly.
[Edited at 2019-10-09 22:13 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 02:20
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Yes, it's odd | Oct 10, 2019 |
Kevin Fulton wrote:
Unfortunately the article doesn't fully explain how the fraudster gets the money, since the victim had the good sense to ascertain the validity of the check she received.
Yes, it's odd, because the cheque is for less than what the office supplies would have cost. But it is possible that the scammer was trying to get the victim to spend some of their own money so that they are "invested" in the scam, i.e. they are more of an incentive to continue with the scam even after they begin to suspect that it is a scam, because they don't want to have spent money for nothing. This is similar to the sunk cost fallacy. Some scammers try to get long-term cooperation from their victims.
https://www.freep.com/ ... /millennials-job-scam-google-hangouts-interview/3896459002/
What an unfortunate URL that is! The report consists of an introductory story (that Kevin is talking about), plus a rehashing of various scam warnings and vague results from studies, one of which relates to "millennials", but the introductory story has nothing to do with millennials (nor does this thread).
| | | | | now post-Google hangouts | Oct 11, 2019 |
Just noting that Google hangouts as a means of communication got discontinued about a month ago. i was meeting regularly with someone outside of translation and we had to switch systems when the did that. So I'm imagining this scam might migrate to Skype, Zoom, or elsewhere.
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