Bannockburn’s Ashlie Campbell speaks out after falling prey to ‘fake job’ scam on Facebook

A Bannockburn woman lost $35,000 after falling for a sophisticated “fake job” scam online. Now, she wants to make sure others don’t fall for the same ploy.

Ashlie Campbell was scammed out of $35,000 in a sophisticated, fake employment scandal. Picture: Alison Wynd

Job scam warning AI at a glance

Ashlie Campbell was looking to make a bit of extra money when a family member tagged her in a Facebook post offering a part-time, online job opportunity reviewing hotels.

Ms Campbell was wary, but with the cost-of-living crunch, it was an offer that seemed too good to pass up. The support worker had a lot she was saving for – a wedding, new car, landscaping her garden, and even surgeries for herself and her partner.

But in the space of two weeks she’d sunk $35,000 into the scam before she realised the reality of the situation.

Ms Campbell said she couldn’t believe it and blamed herself.
“That amount of money to lose is just beyond a joke,” she said.

“It’s a life- changing loss … it just baffles me how people could do this to others … it’s just inhumane.”

As part of the so-called job, Ms Campbell would leave hotel reviews, supposedly gaining a commission for each review.

Ashlie Campbell hopes speaking out about her experience helps others avoid the same fate. Picture: Alison Wynd.

The scammers impersonate genuine organisations and recruiters, in Ms Campbell’s case, the scammers called themselves Virtuoso Travel.

The real Virtuoso is a travel service based in the US.

The federal treasury department issued a warning that Australians had sunk $20m into employment scams in 2023. In one case similar to Ms Campbell’s, a victim lost about $US40,000.

Picture: Alison Wynd

Ms Campbell said she’d heard of another victim who had committed suicide after sinking $200,000 into the same scam.

The scammers coach their victims through the process, reeling them in with genuine earnings initially. After just two weeks taking part, Ms Campbell wanted out. She went to withdraw her money, but was told she had to upgrade her account – at a cost of $10,000 – if she wanted to get her money back.

It took her more than two weeks to gain the courage to tell her partner.

“I just felt so guilty, I felt so ashamed … it’s affected him, too,” she said.

The scam has affected Ms Campbell mentally and financially.

“I don’t cry about it often because I think I’m still just in shock,” Ms Campbell said.

“The longer it’s been dragging on … the deeper it hurts.

“I’m ripped open.”

Ms Campbell has gone to her bank, reported the scam to police and Consumer Affairs and is in the process of filling in a scam report with the National Anti-Scam Centre.

She said she was hopeful that speaking out would help others avoid falling for the same trap.

“We should be able to find a way to stop these people from doing it again to anyone else … it needs to stop,” she said.

She has set up a GoFundMe to try to recoup some of the losses.

In recent weeks, the federal government unveiled its draft Scam Prevention Framework, an “economy‑wide reform” it said would protect the Australians from scams.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.

Originally published as Bannockburn’s Ashlie Campbell speaks out after falling prey to ‘fake job’ scam on Facebook