'Packaging inspectors' job scam, victim warns others: 'I am so screwed'
MILWAUKEE - A work from home job too good to be true is wasting more than victims' time and money – it's taking their personal information, too.
FOX6 News tried calling a number for a company called Limco Logistics or Limco Post, but got a busy signal Thursday. A picture of the so-called company's listed address is an empty building in Madison.
"I am so screwed because I really believed this job. I don’t have any money," said victim Damaris Dorsey of Milwaukee. "I’m just so upset."
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In the reported scam involving Limco, the the Better Business Bureau said the company claims it is hiring people across the country to be "packaging inspectors" – sending them packages and having them reship them for a month before ghosting them.
For Dorsey, it seemed like a perfect opportunity had fallen into her lap. When it fell through, it was crushing.
Building at address listed for Limco
"I fell for it, and it was a straight scam," she said. "I’m in here pulling my hair out. I’m so pissed off. And all I wanted to do was grab some extra money for my household."
Expecting her first grandchild, Dorsey also expected her new work-from-home job to pay her. While a $3,700 paycheck never came, packages did.
"All I can do is just lay here and cry. I don’t know what else to do," she said.
BBB's warning
The Better Business Bureau said job scams in general are on the rise.
"They reported blenders and jewelry, Apple watches," Lisa Schiller, BBB of Wisconsin director of investigations and media relations, said of the reported Limco scam.
Paychecks never came, but reports to the BBB's scam tracker did – more than two dozen since the end of March.
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
"They were just coming in fast and furiously," Schiller said.
Schiller said scams like this often impersonate a legitimate business and involve shipping items bought with stolen credit cards.
The BBB says there is a legitimate Limco Logistics in Florida completely unrelated to this.
"So many more jobs are geared toward those who want to work from home, so it’s no surprise that a reshipping scam would come up, and I’m sure there’ll be more," she said.
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On your job search, Schiller said doing research on companies can help keep you from falling for a scam.
The BBB said victims posted their resumes online and ended up giving a lot of personal information to scammers. The organization encourages people to report such instances as identity theft and reach out to postal inspectors and the appropriate authorities, such as the FTC.