Westat Inc. Simmons Estate Homes, LLP Hired me as Data Entry "work from home" position, had me to buy a $100 iTunes gift card, sent me a fraudulent check in the amunt of $2850.00 and advised me to open another account and report back to them when the check cleared in order for me to buy office supplies needed to run my "work from home office" Rockville Maryland

received an email from a man by the name of Simon Watson stating that the Westat Hire Dept. had found my resume online and the dept. thought I had the skills to fill some of the open positions they had available, working from home, of course.  In this email, he inserted a link with a contact name.  The name of the contact person was also a Westat Co. employee and she was from the interview dept.  Next following day I clicked on the link and sent her an email addressing my concerns about this offer being an online SCAM.  Catherine Lawson replied back to my email telling me that this job offer was not a scam.  She requested information such as my home address and my cell phone number so she could send it over to the Hiring Dept.  Of course, everything was done online.  Catherine Lawson also had me to set up a Google Hangouts account so that once hired, she and I would be in contact through Google Hangouts.  After a 20-minute wait of the Hiring Dept. reviewing my resume and additional information, Catherine Lawson advised me that I was hired. Next step, I was to proceed with a task of purchasing a $100 iTunes gift card and once in my possession, she asked me to send her a pic of it with the metallic side of it scratched off in order to prove to the Westat Co. that I was serious about taking on this position. 

Catherine Lawson then advised me that I would be receiving a check from Westat to cover all of the office materials I needed in order to perform my job. 3 or 4 days after being hired I received a check in the amount of $2850.00 and was to deposit this check into a new checking account.  Once the new account was opened I was to send her a pic of the check with the check receipt number stamped on the back and send it to her via text message through Google Hangouts.  I did all of the above still leery about this so-called job offer.  The bank advised me that this check would have to be put on a hold until my bank knew that the check was cleared and ready to be withdrawn from the account in order to pay for my office materials.  Since the date of Sept 21, 2018, Catherine Lawson has been my main contact and I kept her updated every day since my new account opened and that my financial institution still had it on hold due to some confidential information they received regarding that the check may not get paid.  Now I am in the process of having to close out this account and open another one because of the information they (Catherine Lawson-Westat) have on my account and putting me into a negative balance.  After receiving this letter from my bank I immediately signed on to Google Hangouts and voiced my concerns about the check and the Westat Co.  Catherine Lawson asked me to advise her on what the letter from my bank had stated and as I proceeded, she finally admitted to me that this was a SCAM and to please go on with my life as if nothing happened and to please not tell anyone of this.  Catherine Lawson has since blocked me from sending her anymore messages.