Consumer complaint received 2017-11-30
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX XXXX to my XXXX email account stating the following : Dear Applicant, We received your resume from your Career/College service and we are looking for an employee to fill the position of a Virtual Personal Assistant Full time/Part-time/Internship. 
This is part time opening and does not involve working face-to-face with customers.We offer flexible schedules, with a great starting pay rate and local students can make their schedules around other priorities.This is to inform you that you have been accepted for the job, kindly let us know the days and time you are available to work. 

Thank you for your prompt response. 

I responded and accepted the offer because a week prior I had put my resume in my schools resume book. In this resume book XXXX sends out your resume to employers looking to hire. Therefore, when I received this email I assumed it was a result of the resume book. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I recieved the following message : Dear XXXX, I am looking for a resourceful, reliable individual who can work with good understanding as an Assistant. This position is " virtual '' because you will be working from home and focus on administrative tasks that are similar to those of an executive assistant or secretary. You are a team member who just happens to work remotely. Working with me is basically about instructions and following them, so this person has to be very close to a computer as there could be some urgent errand that is needed to be passed across. As a virtual personal assistant, your activities among other things will include. 

Primary Responsibilities : *Planning and scheduling meetings and appointments. 
*Conserves executive 's time by reading, researching, and routing correspondence ; drafting letters and documents ; collecting and analyzing information ; initiating and reporting back to me through email or phone.

* Oversee the paper and electronic filing systems.

* Receiving appointments and keeping me up to date with them.

* Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence while I am away and when needed. 
* Various personal tasks, projects and special assignments Basic wage is {$300.00} Weekly and direct deposit only My name is XXXX XXXX, I am the Procurement and Acquisition manager at XXXX XXXX. XXXX is a business consultant firm. As the need requires, we start by acting as the liaison between employers and their employees. We ensure and verify that the payroll system has the correct compensation data for each employee. This includes salary, and other types of pay, such as bonuses, commissions, expense reimbursements, back pay and retroactive pay increases. Other types of compensation include bereavement, vacation, sick, personal and holiday pay. Paycheck deductions, such as federal income tax, Social Security tax, Medicare tax, state and local taxes, wage garnishment, union dues Due to the nature of my job, as a busy professional family woman and my frequent traveling so I need someone to handle few tasks on my schedule, while every instruction will be given to you via email and phone. You will be working for three ( 3 ) days a week and four ( 4 ) hours each day at least. 

Kindly let me know if you are still interested and I am willing to offer you {$300.00} weekly with a reasonable token weekly bonus. I want you to answer these few questions below, Please answer them to the best of your knowledge.

* Have you ever worked as a personal assistant before?

* Are you taking this as a primary Job?

* Do you have professional reference? 
* How Many Hours are you wiling to devote to work for me? 
* Describe yourself and your qualifications? 
* Are you willing to give your best shot at working with me? 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Procurement and Acquisition Manager Business Development Depart. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I emailed her back and said I accept the job and sent my availability. 

On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX sent the following message : Dear XXXX, After carefully reviewing your application and your answers to the questions, you have been considered for this position and scheduled to officially start on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. Working with me however, will be more of following instructions. It 's a part-time position for now and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others but you will not be working more than 20 hours per week. I believe your weekly schedule will be okay with this position as long as you can be available for 4 to 5 hours a day and 4 days a week. 

Furthermore, I will send my information to you for the OR conference registration ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) that is coming up in XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX through this link .... XXXX XXXX XXXX. I will have some funds sent to you to complete the registration. I will be attending the conference as a group member so I need you to get back to me with your Personal/Contact Details such as : Full Name On Your Bank Account } : Direct Deposit Bank Name : Direct Deposit Account Number : Full Address Of Your Bank : Your Mobile Phone # : Alternative Contact e-mail address : Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Procurement and Acquisition Manager Business Development Depart. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I replied to the message with the information she asked for. 

On Monday XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX emailed me the following : Good morning XXXX, I want to use this forum to inform you that you are starting officially today. Below is your first assignment. 

I have a presentation at a local seminar on Saturday XX/XX/XXXX and the topic I want to speak about is " Why would you prefer share of ownership in an existing business to owning your business '' I need you to do some research and bring out a few talking points and send the write up back to me. You do not have to rush to get this done, I only want it done before Thursday night so that I can have enough time to go through it and prepare. 

And Yes you will be getting paid every Thursday of Friday. 

Have a good day! 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX I sent her the talking points assignment.

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX send the following email : Hello XXXX, I just went through your work and I want to say you did a great job. Anyway, it is okay I will work on the conclusion part. I will contact you tomorrow morning before XXXX I want you to be available. 

Thank you. 

XXXX XXXX Procurement and Acquisition Manager Business Development Depart. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX assigned me another assignment in the following email : Dear XXXX, I need you to carry out this assignment now. It was decided at our general meeting yesterday that I should sign up for the conference as a group member which comes with some discount. We had already contacted our associate who is also a registered member. So I need you to go and withdraw {$1500.00}, and go to XXXX XXXX to make cash deposit of {$1300.00} to these details below and hold the {$200.00} balance with you, I will tell you what to do with it. 

Account Hoder 's Name : XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Account # : XXXX Bank Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX Do not do transfer, and make sure you carry out this assignment effectively. It should be cash deposit because I need to register with the other members today ( {$1000.00} plus Additional Exhibitor Passes {$250.00} ). Send the scan copy of the deposit receipt to my email immediately. I will be waiting for the details. 

Someone by name XXXX XXXX from that organization will get back to you with confirmation later today via email and you will confirm the registration for me. You can also deduct your weekly payment which is {$300.00} and keep the balance in your account. 

Signed, XXXX XXXX Procurement and Acquisition Manager Business Development Depart. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX She deposited {$190000.00} into my account. I did what she asked and sent her receipt of the deposit. The {$200.00} she asked me to hold on to she has me to do a XXXX to XXXX transaction where I sent money to her sister. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent her the receipt for the XXXX to XXXX transaction. Below, you will find the breakdown of the deposits. 
Hi XXXX, Below, you will find a breakdown of today 's transactions. 

Initial Deposit- {$1900.00} Withdrawal- {$1500.00} XXXX XXXX Deposit- {$1300.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX Transfer- {$200.00} XXXX 's payment- {$300.00} Balance : XXXX Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

On XX/XX/XXXX the check for {$1900.00} returned and left my checking account at - {$1800.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation