Unemployed Brandon man looked for jobs, found scams

BRANDON, Fla. - Tony Foister has been unemployed for 16 months. He has spent his entire career working as a fire protection designer, but was let go from his company in 2009.

It’s been difficult to go that long without money coming in. “It’s not a very good spot at all,” Foister said.

Hoping to change his luck, Foister, who lives in Brandon, said he put his resume up on the resume section of Craigslist. In a few days, his email inbox started filling up.

But when Foister read the emails, he knew they weren’t going to be helpful. He said it was obvious most of them were phony. “None of them, none legitimate at all,” Foister said.

Except one, Foister said. It asked him to go to certain businesses around town, rate their service, then send his survey in. For his opinions, the company would pay him $300.

Foister agreed to take part in the ‘secret shopper’ job.

But on Wednesday, two checks arrived in the mail from the company. The checks were for $1,800 each. Foister was confused.

Then, an email arrived explaining that he should deposit the checks, keep $300 for the surveys he was to fill out, then wire $1,500 to a man in Shreveport, La.

“I read that right there and said, ‘Why am I sending that guy $1,500?’” Foister said.

Foister, smartly, decided not to take part. This is a common scheme, in which fake companies send you more money than you are supposed to receive.

They instruct you to send a portion of the money to them. The truth is, the check supposed to go into your bank account bounces, and the schemers receive the money coming out of your bank account.

Foister was glad to have not fallen for the scheme, but he's angry that people were even trying it.

“Why try to take advantage of people at their low times?” Foister said.