In three viral videos, TikToker Callie Heim (@callieheim) shares her experience of being scammed by a simple LinkedIn job posting. After applying for a series of different marketing jobs, she started the interview process for the driving technology company Waymo.
"It was humbling and really embarrassing," she said in the clip. "I've always wanted to make a video about it...I decided to do it now to spread awareness so it doesn't happen to anyone else."
Really a humbling experience for @callieheim #scam #linkedin #linkedinscam #wire #fakejobposting #beware ♬ Soundtrack - Callie Heim
Heim explained that the company asked her to download the messaging platform Wire. Looking back, the creators now realize this was the first red flag. She added that after two interviews, one via a "futuristic" messaging app and a phone, the company said she would be given a phone, printer and laptop to work on.
"I was excited," recalls Heim. "A day after talking to them further, they almost offered me the job, which was another red flag, but I didn't realise it at the time."
In the comments section, users shared their thoughts on the situation.
"I wouldn't even have thought it was a well-known scam," said one user.
"Thank you for sharing! This feels/sounds very legit, especially for a remote position at a tech company," another commented.
"Why are there so many different types of scams now?" a third user questioned.
In her first follow-up video, Heim explained how she and her boyfriend realized the whole thing might have been a hoax.
"It's not LinkedIn's fault," she said. "Someone was impersonating HR for a company that had a job posting on LinkedIn, so they did make their account look exactly like that one, so it looked very legitimate."
@callieheim Part 2 of how I got scammed (emotionally and almost financially) from a fake LinkedIn job posting. #linkedin #jobposting #wireapp #scam ♬ Soundtrack – Callie Heim
Salary, hours and benefits appear to be good, Heim said. "Of course, if it looks too good to be true, it's too good to be true," she added.
Another member of the company reached out to her and lifted the laptop again, she said. They told the creator that after she bought the laptop herself, Waymo would reimburse her.
"The alarm bells started ringing right away. However, I was so excited about the job that I was like 'Well, let me see through it,'" Heim explained. However, she asked her boyfriend who works in cybersecurity because at this point, things looked suspicious.
After some loose digging, her boyfriend discovered a well-known scam using the Wire platform.
"The most common scam we know of involving Wire is a job application scam," the Wire website reads. “Fraudsters pose as large organizations and offer jobs or interviews through messaging platforms like Wire. Most of the time, the victims are people who will be remote workers. They get the job and are then asked to buy through a portal set up by the fraudster Laptops and mobile phones, with the promise of compensation when they join the company. The reality is that there are no jobs, respondents never received laptops or mobile phones, and fraudsters have taken money and closed their Wire accounts.”
Haim said she had posted about the new job on LinkedIn.
"It's absolutely humbling because I've posted on LinkedIn and said, 'Oh, this is my new job.' All my old colleagues and everyone was like 'Oh, congratulations!'" she said. Say. "Yes. It's very embarrassing."
In the final video of the series, Heim adds some clarity to the story.
"Liars are getting smarter (or we are getting dumber)," the caption said.
@callieheim crooks are getting smarter (or we are getting dumber idk) #linkedin #scam #waymo ♬ Soundtrack – Callie Heim
Haim had given all her bank information and onboarding documents to the scammers, so Haim closed her bank account as soon as she realized the problem.
"They definitely didn't cheat me financially, but they did cheat me emotionally," she claimed. "I was so excited about that job...the best thing I could have was that I had a job right out of college."
In the comments section, Haim clarified that she did not send her Social Security number to the scammer.
The Daily Dot reached out to Heim via Instagram direct message.
*First published: September 5, 2022 1:02pm CDT
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