I recently answered some questions on an Internet survey concerning part-time work on the Internet. I barely remember it because it was a few months ago and it was when I was trying to figure out how to buy and sell on E-bay. I had also seen some ads for “secret shoppers” which intrigued me. I don’t know where the survey originated, but it was a few general questions which at the time seemed harmless. I never heard anything more, so forgot about it.

In early November, I was contacted about the part time work and told them I was no longer interested. Then, a man called from Phoenix, Ariz., giving me the name of his company, his name and an 800 number. He told me what the earning potential was and what the time commitment would be if I would work from home ... after the advertisement program was set up with skilled tech support people from his company. He said it would be the ideal time to get in just before the holidays and it only cost $199 to enroll for the training. He would drop that to $149 until the first $2,000 earned, then I could pay the remaining $50. I said I was uncomfortable with that and would be happier if they could call me after the first of the year. He insisted that it was best to get started now, so under pressure (which I should have known better), I gave him my Visa number for the $149 charge. He said he would send forms and a receipt to sign and would send an E-mail with a password to get into the company site, plus the program booklet so I could get started right.

I received the E-mail the next day. I couldn’t use the password to get very far into the company site. When someone called, I asked why, and they said it was because they had not received any paper work back from me yet. I did receive a W-9 form to fill out which included giving them my Social Security number so I could get paid. There was a receipt form to show that I had paid XXX amount of money. They wanted to have the copy of it on file. I sent it in because I wanted to get started with the part-time work so I could earn money. So far, I thought it was a legitimate offer.

More money wanted

Just before Thanksgiving, “Rebecca” called to help set up advertising for my business from home. She asked how many people I wanted contact with and suggested 70,000 people and said that would cost about $7,000 to set up. I asked how do you generate that money before the fact? She said that I would have to pay for the advertising, but she would set it all up so people would contact my site and buy. I said that I did not have that kind of money for advertisement and did not realize that was part of the deal. She asked about charging it to my Visa card and I said that we did not have that kind of a limit and could not do it. Then, she asked how much money I had in savings that I could free up for the costs involved and where did I bank. By this time, I was getting nervous, as I was trying to prepare food for Thanksgiving and off hand said that we did not bank, but used the Ottumwa School Credit Union, where my savings account and checking account was.

She lowered the number of people to be contacted to 25,000 and said she could do the advertising for $4,000, and asked for the number of my next check and my account number. By then, I was getting frantic to get off the phone and I gave it to her. But I knew as soon as I did it that it was wrong! It was 4:45 p.m. and the school credit union closed at 4:30 p.m. Finally, I was able to hang up from the call.

Rectifying a mistake

I went to the Credit Union before 8 a.m. and was there when they opened the doors to make sure the company in Phoenix had not tried to cash a check for $4,000. They hadn’t. We closed that checking account. I also had a savings account, but they would not be able to get to that money through the checking account. I opened a new checking account.

The Credit Union officers looked up the company information and it showed “Scam.” They gave me a name of a company to contact to help check that I did not become a victim of identity theft since the company has my Social Security number and my Visa card number. The company is www.LifeLock.com and the cost is $10 per person per month. I enrolled myself and my husband. Credit Union officers suggested contacting the Iowa Attorney General’s office to alert them of the scam so they can warn other Iowans.

On Dec. 2, there was a call from the credit union that the company had indeed tried to cash an unsigned check for the $4,000 and was unable to as the account had been closed.

We have closed our Visa account and have filed a fraud statement.

They charged me for “joining the company” and charged $199 instead of $149 as they said they would. I am not sure I will get that back, but closed that account so they would not try to charge the $4,000.

It is difficult for me to write this article because I have trouble thinking the way the scammers do and feel that I should be more sophisticated and educated on their well planned approaches.