Ear Hustle

Florida Man Sets Up Fake Job Interviews To Steal People’s Identities And Urine

Gerald Washington

Photo Credit: Google

We’re learning new details on the scheme that police say a Pensacola man carried out in Tallahassee. He’s accused of advertising job openings, only to steal the identity of those who applied.

19-year-old Gerald Washington is accused of stealing the identities of 30 people who police say applied for jobs that didn’t exist.

Arrest papers say Washington rented office space at a building downtown. Online ads said “Howard Enterprises” was looking to hire 1,100 people in the Tallahassee area. Police say Howard invited applicants in for interviews and then snared social security numbers, bank account information for direct deposits, and even collected urine samples.

Tallahassee Police Department Spokesman Officer David Northway said, “They started to follow the trail and realized that Mr. Washington was not a prospective employer in any way shape or form.”

“So, there was no business, there were no jobs?” we asked.

“There was no nothing except him stealing your identity and trying to get money from you,” Officer Northway said.

The Department of Economic Opportunity worked with TPD to stop the scheme.

“We actually heard of people who actually quit their jobs to take a job with this so called Howard Enterprises and… there was no job there so they had no job to go back to,” said DEO Spokesperson Erin Gillespie. “So, not only are these people now unemployed but they are also trying to fight the identity theft.”

The Department of Economic Opportunity says it tracked Gerald Washington to Pensacola where investigators say he is a candidate for Escambia County school superintendent.

Read More At WCTV

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