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WI woman scammed in car wrap scheme

Patricia Vickers of Hudson, Wisconsin responded to an email from a man claiming to be a hiring manager. He offered Patricia the chance to earn $500 per week as a "brand representative" if she had her car wrapped in a Gatorade ad.

HUDSON, Wis. – A woman says she was scammed out of nearly $2000 after getting an offer that turned out to be too good to be true. She is sharing her story to warn others.

Patricia Vickers of Hudson, Wisconsin responded to an email from a man claiming to be a hiring manager. He offered Patricia the chance to earn $500 per week as a “brand representative” if she had her car wrapped in a Gatorade ad.

She’d seen other cars wrapped in advertising so she thought the offer was legitimate. It wasn’t.

A few days after she agreed to take the job, a cashier’s check for $2300 arrived in the mail. It included instructions to deposit the check. Patricia was supposed to keep $500 for herself and wire the rest of the money to a business that was supposedly making the decals for her car. Patricia followed the instructions.

Days later she noticed her bank account was in the red.

“It was fake, a fake check,” she said. “So now my account is in the negative and I’m basically being held responsible.”

She’s out all $1800 that she wired. Her bank told her there is nothing they can do.

“Lo and behold, I was scammed,” she said.

The so called “hiring manager” stopped returning her emails. He didn’t reply to KARE 11’s attempts to reach him either.

Patricia says she notified Gatorade and they confirmed it was a scam.

Patricia works three jobs to cover her bills and trying to save enough money to buy a house.

“I feel terrible. I really do. I feel sick to my stomach that people out there are so eager and willing to just scam innocent people,” she said.

The Federal Trade Commission has warned about these “car wrap scams.” Their website says “If you get a message urging you to deposit a check and wire money back, it’s a scam. Every time.”

Patricia has filed a police report. She knows it’s a long shot but she’d like to see the scammers caught. And while she realizes she’s unlikely to get her money back, she hopes someone else can learn from her mistake.

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