Was roped in by a facebook marketplace job ad.
The ad was too good to be true, but curiosity got the best of me.
I messaged the individual asking for more info about the 'work from home' position.
Was then instantly processed for the interview process and accepted. I was given a list of programs to download and they would be sending a macbook air work laptop (they even sent a photo of the laptop, trying to reassure me that this is 'real'.) Then, the interviewer/'hiring manager' had me go to mycardsupply.com website to purchase a $50 steam card (red flag, why a steam GAMING card?) I asked them, why do I need to buy a STEAM GC? They said it was just part of the process, a small fee to send the laptop, as a way to show the company that I am committed to the job, and that I would be reimbursed once completed. I purchased it with PAYPAL. I was alarmed when I received an email stating that I needed to take a photo with me government I.D... I have bought gift cards before and it never involved any form of I.D. I was very skeptical. My response was delayed then the interviewer started getting on my $#*! - did you buy it yet? Did you go through the email steps yet? Why aren't you responding? Sending me photos of their office station where they work, and photos of a bible just to reassure me that it was a 'legitimate' job and not a scam. This is not the way to get my information for a job, via a giftcard website. So I ghosted her. At this point, she had sent me 5 more messages and even sent me a personal text message on my cell phone - hello? Are you there? Hello? Why aren't you responding?
It sounded pretty desperate to me... And I should have known, no proper company would hire you on the spot and sound urgent/desperate. They usually would say, they would review the application and get back to you right? What was even scarier was that I messaged the girl who I originally contacted on facebook. She had a photo of herself with her kids…looked trusting... She was also trying to reassure that it was not a scam... she also started getting on my $#*! about finished the application... realized she probably also created a fake profile to attract customers too, probably stole the photo of someone else. I ghosted them, made a dispute on paypal.
BECAREFUL!