What started as innocent texting, quickly grew into an online love connection for Rebecca Adami, and then to a job opportunity.
Adami says, "He knew I wanted the job, so he put me in touch with this man."
A man who Adami says emailed her paperwork that claims the job oversees the finances for a charity. She got the job and it required her to open up new bank accounts.
"I set up a bank checking and savings in my name, but a separate one to keep their money straight." Adami says she shared all of her bank and credit card numbers with the man who she thought was her boss.
"He had all my information, so he started charging on all my cards. Any equipment, anything shipped here, it would be shipped here. Then I would ship it overseas."
With all of these purchases, Adami's credit card charges were in the thousands of dollars and demanded the charges be paid off in full by the charity. She says payment was made on her credit cards that zeroed out the balances, but days later she says her boss made more charges on her credit card, and then the payments that were made, were reversed so she owed even more money to her credit card companies.
In all, Adami says all of her credit cards are maxed out to more than $60,000.
Adami says she was also sent checks made out to her, one for $32,000 and another for $35,000. She was told both were for the charity and they wanted her to deposit them in her account, and then send the money to someone else.
When Adami's bank told her the checks were bad, she realized this was all a scam.
"If I had put that in my account and sent any money off of that, I would have been liable for all that, too," Adami adds.
Adami says she is embarrassed she fell for the scam but is speaking out to prevent others from getting caught up in it.
"I have no money to do anything, no money to go anywhere. No money. It's really ruined my life."
Adami says she did report the charges as fraud to her credit card companies, but since she made the charges, so far those charges stay and she's responsible for them. The major red flags in this scam are anytime you're offered a job and asked to open accounts in your name and make all of the charges on your accounts, that's a sure sign it's a scam. ABC11 reached out to the charity named on all of the paperwork but has not heard back from anyone.
The scammers could just be using the charity's name to make this job appear legitimate.
RELATED STORIES
Bitcoin investment scam drains Durham couple's bank of more than $70,000
Durham couple loses more than $70,000 in investment scam
Love connection with scammer impersonating K-Pop drama star costs woman over $67,000
North Carolina A&T student featured on ABC11 testifies in congressional hearing about Zelle scams