Workforce Scam Leaves Many Asking Questions

One woman fearing the worst

The Texas Workforce Commission has launched an investigation into a California company, and is reevaluating its policies after NEWSCHANNEL 5 begins asking question about a job scam that went down at one of their job fairs.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 first learned about the scam from a viewer. A woman turned to us for help after she realized she had given her personal information to a total stranger.

It all started when Diana went to a job fair at the Texas Workforce Commission's office. One employer showed up, Juan Jose Garcia, claiming he represented Language Line, a company designed to offer immediate translations. It sounded like the perfect job for Diana. She would work from home on her own schedule and earn more than $10 an hour.

Diana signed up, filled out an application, and thought she had the job, but she didn't know was that Garcia wasn't in the position to hire anyone.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 contacted Language Line and they told us Garcia did work for them, but as an interpreter not a recruiter. According to the company, Garcia was running a scam. He was under false pretenses collecting people's personal information.

The company also told us they pay their employees $250 for every future hire they refer. But that is only for family and friends, not total strangers.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 tried to track down Garcia, but we were unable to find him. A man living at the home where Garcia's checks were mailed to told us he didn't live there, but he was part of the family.

We also spoke to the Texas Workforce Commission. We wanted to know how someone like Garcia was able pull such a thing off. They told us they went by the books, but after we began asking questions they decided to launch their own investigation into Language Line.

They even told us they would reevaluate their own policies to keep scams like Garcia's from happening again.