Local woman warns others of job offer that is nothing more than a well thought out scheme

“I was laid off from my previous job after five years, so that’s when I started my search for employment again,” said Debra Lee.

Like others looking for a job, Lee turned to the website ZipRecruiter.

She says she met the qualifications for an administrative assistant position offered by Walgreens, so she applied.

“During the telephone interview, they informed me I would need to go to Chicago for two weeks to train,” Lee said.

Then she received an offer letter.

It has Walgreens logo, and even names of actual current and former employees of the company. The letter states Lee will be getting a check from Kraft-Heinz, a sponsor company, for $4,910.50.

The money would cover her training and expenses in Illinois. She is told to deposit the check and send back proof of the deposit.

Lee says she got suspicious after receiving an e-mail instructing her to send her new employer a blank check for $4,229.99.

That is when Lee says she called the Walgreens Houston District office.

“She informed me that this was a scam, that I should not comply with their requests, and that this has affected at least 15 other people. She was getting two to three phone calls a day about people being affected by this scam,” said Lee.

Lee quit her contract job so she could take what she thought was going to be a permanent position.

Luckily, she got her job back and didn’t fall for the scheme.

In a statement Walgreens told us, “While we continue to look into this incident, we remind potential job candidates that we only accept applications through our career website jobs.walgreens.com."