Panda Labs Detects Organized Job Scam in Progress

Fraudulent job offers on the Internet that are "too good to be true" are nothing new. Quite simply, they are an attempt by cybercriminals to get someone "else" to launder the proceeds of financial crimes (Internet fraud) for them.

A press release from Computer News is warning:

PandaLabs has detected the mass-mailing of messages with lucrative job offers, aimed at recruiting 'mules'. In Internet slang, 'mules' are people used to launder stolen money, mainly originating from phishing or other online fraud.

What is different about this attack is that it is "highly organized" and therefore dangerous:

According to data from PandaLabs, this is a large-scale attack, using at least 10 Internet domains, and at least seven Web servers in countries including Korea, the United States, Canada, Belgium and Spain.

A Panda employee sums up what could happen to a person getting involved in this activity:

According to Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs: "Users should treat these supposed job offers with great caution, as they could have serious consequences, including jail sentences. Once the victim has forwarded the money, the trail leading to the real criminals is lost and the mule will be left as the sole accused in any proceedings."

Link, here.

I've written about this activity before if anyone is interested in learning more about it:

Answer a "Too Good to be True" Work-at-Home Ad and Take the Rap ...

Internet Criminals Love to Have Money Wired to Them

Cyber Gangs Luring Children to Launder Money

BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions