Pharma Initiatives – Professor Jerold L Zimmerman

Victim Location 12027

Total money lost $750

Type of a scam Employment

I was emailed regarding an opportunity for work as a research assistant for a professor at my university. The project was for the Pharma Initiatives. I completed several tasks and was emailed a check that later bounced. They also asked me to buy a OneVanilla gift cards that I would be needing to complete other research tasks online. They asked for proof of the purchased gift card so the "professor" could verify I purchased them and would later be reimbursed for them. He said he has sent the gift cards to students in the past and they didn’t complete the tasks and took the money. Since my check initially cleared my bank I thought it was above board. I sent proof of purchase of 2 more gift cards afterwhich the paycheck bounced. I checked the balance on the gift cards and they were empty. The money was taken by companies based out of China. I would like to provide information on the companies the money was sent to but OneVanilla won’t let me access the cards because they no longer have a balance. I called OneVanilla to inform them of what happened. They gave me a case number and instructed me to complete the form (that they emailed to me) so that they could contact the seller and informed me that I might get my money back in 90 days. I have not received an email from them and when I call customer service the wait time is 20 minutes or they just don’t answer at all. Customer service is TERRIBLE. I’m assuming that’s why the scammers use that company.