Local

Yulee mother warns others about car wrap scam

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — A single mom in Yulee said she almost fell for an employment scam, and now she wants to warn others.

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“I have been out of work since the end of January and I’ve been looking,” said Kimberly Jackson.

When she saw an email with a job offer, it seemed like easy money.

The email said she if she wrapped her car with an energy drink advertisement, she could make $400 a week.

“I thought it was a response to a resume that I put out, and whenever I got it I was like, 'OK, this is kind of neat,'” said Jackson.

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After she talked to a man claiming to be the marketing supervisor, she said an envelope showed up at her front door.

Inside was a check for almost $4,000.

“Oh, I was excited. It was two days before the holiday. And I was like, yes, I can get this, and I can do this with the kids, and I can take them to the zoo,” said Jackson.

Jackson said she was instructed to deposit the check, deduct her first week of pay, then send the rest in a money order to a specific company that would wrap her car.

That’s when she got suspicious.

“Sounds good. It almost sounds too good to be true,” said Jackson.

This car wrap scam is so common, the Federal Trade Commission posted a warning on its website.

It says the checks are fake, and when your check bounces weeks after you already wired the money, you’re on the hook for paying the entire amount back to the bank, plus penalty fees.

The local Better Business Bureau told Action News Jax the top three employment scams are:

  • Becoming an assistant to someone who's not local
  • Reshipping packages, which usually involves items bought with stolen credit cards
  • Secret shopper scams

“Some people just don’t think further than the check and that’s where we get taken advantage of,” said Jackson.

If you've been the victim of one of these scams, you can report it to the government here.

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