Force Business Consulting Sophisticated Consulting Job Scam Stole $20K Nationwide

I'm well educated, with a long work history, but currently unemployed.  I was contacted via phone by a Melissa Powell, Force Business Consulting HR Assistant, who had apparently seen my resume on Career Builder and thought I would be a great fit for their Sr. Business Consultant position.  Force is headquartered in Switzerland, with offices in other major cities and recently expanded to NY, so looking to expand in healthcare supply chain management consulting nationwide.  They set up a phone interview then sent me a detailed description of their paid 5 week Pre-Employment assessment program to enable both parties to ensure there is a good fit.  They even sent a contract for the Assessment program.  This was followed by high quality, very technical documentation to assess my knowledge of Supply Chain Management, including a test.  

 

Since I did so well on the test (100%), they wanted me to move to a more practical assignment, sourcing the equipment for our new local Phoenix office.  They provided an official Purchase Order listing 5 current Apple laptops with target prices and wanted me to see if I could find any additional savings, which I did. They then approved the purchase BUT said that since the office was not ready yet, and they wanted the new employees to be able to pick out their specific computers, that we would just proceed to purchase Apple Gift Cards, which of course seemed a bit unusual.  However, they said that they would provide the funds for me to make the purchases.  They did not want my bank account info or my social security number, or any other private personal information.  They gave me their bank account information to transfer the funds to my credit card, so that I could be assured that the funds and purchase were legitimate.  So, excited about this very high paying job opportunity and wanting to be a team player, I said sure, figured so long as the money cleared into my account, it must be legit, and I would be covered... NO!  

 

I ended up purchasing 5 Apple Gift Cards, and all the transactions were incredibly smooth.  So, they asked me to buy 2 more sets to cover all the office needs.  In the process of purchasing the 3rd set, some of the initial payments were "Stop Payment" reversed on the transfers from their bank account.  I freaked out, didn't realize this was even possible, and reported it to the police and FBI, as well as Apple and the credit card company.  The business reps, even 2 weeks later, were saying it was all a mistake and gave me a second account number to use.  It all turned out to be fake;  the bank accounts were even not registered to Force but to unsuspecting individuals, also being scammed.  Any actual money was returned to them.  All $20K in Apple Store cards were of course used and zero balance, but it wasn't Apple's fault I'd been misled.  

 

So, I was still unemployed and now out another $20,000 in debt on my already stretched credit cards, credit in the toilet, with local and federal law enforcement unable to help in any way.   No matter what the offer is, don't buy any credit cards. Don't transfer funds using any kind of check or bank account to credit card account, and while you could accept a Wire Transfer (not ACH) as being the most secure, you don't want to give out your bank account number, as that is all they would need to use your accounts to transfer funds from and scam other people.