Sunshine Coast businesswoman Jessica Adelman calls out bullies after online review scam

A small business owner has revealed how she has been targeted by online bullies after she tried to warn Australians that she fell victim to a scam and lost $15,000.

Sunshine Coast woman Jessica Adelman shared a series of videos on Saturday describing how she lost thousands of dollars to a fake online business.

She said she was looking for a flexible job that would allow her to work from home and continue her jewelry business.

Ms Adelman said she found a website called FLX Australia that seemed like a perfect fit for her.

The website claimed that people could earn a daily income by leaving reviews for major companies, such as Amazon, and collecting commission.

However, it encouraged reviewers to spend their own money by asking them to pay for “upgrades” and “package orders” with the promise of earning more commission.

Ms Adelman had shared her story in hopes of warning other Australians to be careful with the website.

She then posted a TikTok video on Monday revealing that the response was mostly negative, with social media users turning on her for being so gullible.

“Some people are absolute savages, it’s actually shocking how mean people can be on the internet,” she said.

“My voice drives me crazy, some of you call me an idiot, I have been accused of scamming people.

“I also want to say, it really speaks to the mental state I was in and it really made me empathize with the people who get sucked into these things.

“At the time … I was struggling a bit and certainly wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Social media users turned against Ms Adelman mocking her for being fooled by the blatant scam.

“The hoops you jumped through to convince yourself that paying money to make money made sense,” said one commenter.

Another added: ‘Love, the problem is greed, in fact scams come from greed, you deserve everything you get’.

Ms. Adelman (above) lost $15,000 after she “worked” for a scam company that left fake reviews on big company websites like Amazon

Ms Adelman said she had believed the scam to be a legit company thanks to the look of their flashy website and apparent ‘myGov’ verification.

“It honestly looked so legit and it just asked for my name, my phone number and my email address, which I think anyone can get anyway,” she said.

Ms Adelman said she was then put in touch via Whatsapp with the ‘boss’ of the company, who then referred her to another website.

“None of these websites ever asked for bank details, addresses, nothing — it was literally just your mobile, your name, and your email.”

She explained that she was then given a list of daily “tasks” to complete and that she was halfway through a workday when she was asked to pay $70 to earn $220.

“I messaged him [the boss] and I’m like “why do I have to put money in?” and he said “well, these are products that you leave reviews on and are technically meant to buy,” she said.

Skeptical but curious to see if it would work, Ms. Adelman paid the $70 and was shocked to get $220 back.

Ms Adelman (above) said she fell for the scam because it seemed ‘legitimate’ and didn’t ask for bank details

However, the real scam started when she was asked to review “package orders” that cost significantly more but promised more profit in return.

In addition, the company’s website offered an “upgrade” that allowed reviewers to pay to receive more commission.

“To make five times the commission, I’d have to put in $7,500, which I unfortunately did,” said Ms. Adelman.

‘When I asked him [the boss] he said “no rush”… Since he was so relaxed about it, I thought it’s 100 percent not a scam.

“I upgraded and halfway through my duties it came with a huge package order that would have cost me another $7,500. I just did it like an idiot.’

She said it wasn’t long before she was offered another “package order,” this time for $28,000.

“At that point I was like, ‘damn.’ I called my parents and I was pretty hysterical — not even about the money, which was terrible, but I was so embarrassed,” she said.

Dozens of commenters under Ms. Adelman’s videos assured her that she is not alone in falling victim to scams.

Some commenters assured Ms Adelman (above) that she wasn’t alone in falling for online scams, while others accused the businesswoman of being a ‘swindler’ herself for leaving fake reviews

“I think I would probably justify my way through red flags as well. These scammers are counting on our desperation,” one wrote.

“Yeah someone did this to me, bought me for $80 until I realized I was being scammed,” another commented.

Several website scam tools have identified FLX Australia as a possible scam site, noting that it was only created in the last month, despite claiming to be founded in 2018, and lacking social media profiles.

Daily Mail Australia reached out to FLX Australia and Jessica Adelman for comment.