Holidays scams rise this time of year, warn officials Photo: Shutterstock
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — A Salt Lake City woman is warning others about an employment scam that she says cost her $5,000.
Ivy Nelson Baker says her troubles started with a phone call about a personal assistant position. According to Baker, she was contacted by someone under the name Dr. Amy Abraham, M.D. about the job. She didn’t remember applying for that position specifically, but it fit the description of other jobs she was actively pursuing, so it didn’t raise any red flags.
Baker accepted the position and received a check for close to $5,000.
She cashed the check at her bank, but was quickly notified by the “employer” that plans had changed and she was now to re-direct that money to a foster home to help pay for medical bills.
Baker did as she was instructed, but problems soon started to pop-up.
“About six days later, over the holiday weekend, the check came back as a bad check,” she said.
At that time, it was too late to stop the money order she had sent out.
“All of that money that I had cashed through my bank was then taken out of my bank account,” Baker said.
As it turns out, she wasn’t alone. Baker called her bank in an attempt to rectify the problem and found out the scammer had similar success with two other people in the Salt Lake Valley.
“She had just helped somebody else with the same exact problem earlier that day,” she said.
Looking back at the ordeal, Baker says she regrets acting impulsively on her own.
She had accepted the position and re-directed the funds all without counseling her husband or any third-party.
In an effort to get her money back, Baker says she’s filed complaints with the FBI, USPS, and Fraud.gov.
Her personal blog post about the incident can be found here.