WEST CHARLESTON, Vt. -
Kimberly Bombria is legally blind. Finding work is tough. So she was relieved when she took a job as a mystery shopper. She thought she'd been hired by a California marketing company to evaluate the services of her local Western Union.
"I went to one of our grocery stores that had the Western Union and I did exactly what they told me to," she said.
The seemingly legitimate company instructed her to deposit its $2,500 check into her own account and when the funds became available, wire the money back, and then rate the process. In return she would earn $300; money she needed to fix up her home. But a few days later she discovered her bank account had been wiped out.
"I was more than a mark. I was a major sucker with this and I'm usually smarter than that," Bombria said.
Despite researching the company before she took the job, Bombria still fell prey to a mystery shopper scam-- a common wire transfer fraud scheme creeping into Vermont.
"They're very convincing," said Jason Duquette-Hoffman, who runs the Vt. Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program. Duquette-Hoffman says the office is seeing a spike in these types of scams. And there's little legal recourse for the victims.
"Unfortunately, if you've sent the money by wire transfer and it's been picked up on the other end, the chances of getting that back are essentially zero," Duquette-Hoffman said.
What many do not realize is that you-- not the bank-- are responsible for anything you deposit. The bank only has to make the funds available within a few days, but you're on the hook if the check turns out to be fake. A warning Bombria wished she heard before her moneymaking plan backfired.
"If it's too good to be true, it is. And I should have thought of that right off. I was just naive," Bombria said. "I just don't want to see anyone to go through what I'm going through right now."
Digging out of debt, putting dire home repairs on hold and slowly paying her bank back, $100 at a time.
The AG's office warns that companies offering advanced payment are highly suspicious and typically not legitimate. Anyone with questions should call the Consumer Assistance Program at 1-800-649-2424.
