College student with online doggie daycare business falls victim to scam

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- Yet another college student has fallen victim to a scam while trying to find work.

7 On Your Side recently investigated a similar report of a student who applied for a babysitting job that turned out to be fake. Luckily, her bank caught it before she lost $3,000. However, in this case, the student wasn't so lucky.

This case points out how deeply scams are penetrating online networks. A scam was the last thing a struggling student needed. She says con-artists overseas are targeting young people and she wants to issue a warning.

Maria Zepeda of Redwood City runs her own doggie daycare business called Lucky 7 Pet Services. The business is helping her pay for college.

"I'm putting myself through grad school by myself so I don't give that burden to my family," she said.

Zepeda listed her service on Care.com, which connects families with daycare providers, even for pets. To her delight, it brought a new client.

"You will take care of a year-old Australian terrier for three days a week. I will be offering you $480 weekly," read the posting.

"I thought, awesome, more business, more love for puppies," she said.

The client said she was moving to the Bay Area and needed Zepeda to buy supplies beforehand. She sent her a check for $2,450.

"I was super excited,"she said. "I was like, 'Yeah, just tell me exactly what you need, don't worry your dog and you guys are going to be in the best hands.'"

Zepeda deposited the check in her own bank account, then got an urgent text from her client. She needed some of that money back. Maria could deduct her salary but she would have to wire the rest back.

"I was like, 'Yeah, everything's available.' I took out the extra money she needed from that check so I sent it through MoneyGram back to her," she said.

It all seemed legit until Zepeda checked her bank account. She was shocked to see that big check had bounced. The $2,450 was gone.

"My bank account was in the red and dry and nothing was in my bank," she said.

That check was fake. The client was fake. Now Zepeda had to pay back the bank the nearly $2,000 she had wired to the scammer

Zepeda saw the 7 On Your Side story about a similar scam on Care.com. College student Lauren well was about to send $3,000 to a phony babysitting client when her bank detected the fraud and stopped it.

Zepeda wants to warn other young people to watch out when looking for online for work.

Care.com says users should communicate with clients only through the site's internal message system, not through a personal text or email account.

Most important, in any type of situation, if anyone sends you a big check, then comes up with a reason you have to wire some of it back, it is always a scam. No matter what story they give, don't wire money from a check that seems real.