Someone pretending to be a high-profile figure in Louisville real estate has cooked up a scam the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has not seen before.
In late February, Bob Sokoler, owner of the We Sell Louisville real estate company, started receiving calls from people asking strange questions.
Sokoler said he received a call from a staffing agent saying someone was claiming to be him and they wanted money sent to them basically in the form of paychecks. He said if not him and it was a scam.
Sokoler said he has since taken over a dozen calls from staffing agencies, about a request from someone using his name.
According to the BBB, a scammer, claiming to be Sokoler, “reportedly sent dozens of fraudulent 1099 forms (of fake employees) to a local recruitment agency in an attempt to convert those forms to W-2s.”
The scammer also asks for paychecks to be deposited for the fake employees.
There are no reports of anyone taking the bait yet. However, Sokoler worries about what might happen if a company is targeted and they do not call him to verify.
The popular advice is to stay vigilant, check things out, and call BBB if something is suspicious.
Source: WAVE
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