USPIS Presents: Work@Home Scams: They Just Don't Pay!

The United States Postal Inspectors have produced a pretty telling video showing how Internet criminals lure people into taking jobs that will cause them financial and legal trouble.

The film entitled, Work@Home Scams: They Just Don't Pay shows what happens to people, who accept work-at-home jobs that aren't what they appear to be.

It also speaks to how this problem has grown from ads in the classified section of newspapers and magazines to being plastered all over the Internet.

A lot of us probably see spam e-mails offering these too good to be true jobs that don't make sense on a daily basis. You might also run into one of these scams on a job-site, such as Monster.com.

Another fact is that applying for one of these jobs can lead to giving up your personal information, which will later be used to steal your identity.

Please remember these scams still show up in the classified ads of newspapers and magazines, also.

Here is (what I consider) an interesting story about someone falling for one of these scams that should have known better (my opinion):

BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions

Check Cashing Jobs - A Quick Way to Drain Your Bank Account and Maybe Go to Jail

I got this e-mail today inviting me to make $5,000.00 a month (minimum) working a couple of hours a day. Of course, I need to use my own bank account - which will be drained of all it's funds - when the bank discovers the transactions are fraud. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

Recently, I wrote about how banks often clear these checks - and even sometimes verify them as good - then take your money anyway. Of course, since in most of these instances, the money has been sent (normally wired somewhere); the person who negotiated the item is left holding the bag.

Welcome to the "Check Cashing Scam," that organized fraud gangs are using to recruit people to take all the risks - while they collect all the "real money" via Western Union, or MoneyGram.

In reality, the people who do this, are being conned into laundering fraudulent transactions - mostly from auction sites - such as eBay.

Recently, we saw Australian teenagers and a Better Business Worker get caught up in this scam. Please note that the some of the Australian teenagers are facing charges - which can be another "nasty" side-effect of getting involved in this activity.

Here is an example of one of the come-on letters (note the reference to identity theft at the bottom):

Dear Jobseeker,

This offer was sent to you in response to your resume on www.monster.com.

The job we are offering requires only two hours per day during which you will check your e-mail and go to your bank. You will be given a position of representative within our company which means that you will be a collaborator and not an actual employee. There is no experience required; only the knowledge of using an e-mail account and a bank account. It does not matter if you already have a job or not if you have two hours to spare each working day.

What is required of you in order to be eligible for this job:

- Honesty, responsibility and dedication to this new line of work;- An existing active bank account that you will use to cash money orders and checks (no information is required about your bank account);

- Access to the internet and a small amount of free time every day in order to check your e-mail twice per day (once in the morning and again in the evening).
What we offer during this job:

- Flexible working time: you chose what hours you want to work;- Working at home: you only need to check your e-mail and make trips to your bank;- Professional support via e-mail;- No selling involved no kit to buy, we will not charge you anything, and you will not handle any merchandise;

- Minimum pay: $5,500 (from commissions and a $900 monthly salary);- Commission: 10% off of every money order/check that you cash, instantly money in hand that you will deduct from the cashed amount. If you receive a check of $1,000.00 your net income is $100.00, our company supports any fees. You can receive a maximum of 3 checks/money orders per day which will earn you between $300 and $900 cash in hand each day.

If you are interested our staff will send detailed information about the contract which you must sign in order to get started. We reserve the right to keep you on probation for the first month, meaning that we will decide at the end of the first month whether you will be a permanent employee or not.

It is very important for us to know how willing you are to work for our company. Also, we are keen to know about your skills in contacting other people and above all we are looking for candidates that are ready to work and seek to self improve all the time. Our company just started this program and we need personnel loyal to our company and our program. We believe that we represent an excellent opportunity for everybody, a chance to start a new career without much knowledge but with great perspectives. Even if you are not willing to grow with our company this still remains an excellent opportunity for those who need a temporary or a secondary job.

We are confident that you will make the right decision and hope to hear from you soon.

IMPORTANT:

-You must be over 21 years old.-You need to live in U.S.A. (legal residents and immigrants can also apply) and have an active bank account.

If you meet these conditions please contact us by replying at this e-mail address to receive the contract and detailed information about this job.

We will never ask you for bank name, bank account number, routing number, credit card, passwords, ssn number etc. If anyone asks for those on our behalf please do not give out this info. This is to ensure that you will not be the victim of an identity theft case.

Thank you

Cyber Gangs Luring Children to Launder Money

In Australia, a Triad (Chinese Organized Crime Gang) with ties to Malaysia and Russia recruited children to launder money, stolen as a result of "phishing" schemes. Teenagers and a few "20 something" types were recruited to receive the stolen funds in their own bank accounts. They would then turn over the money (minus a commission) to low level members of the gang, who would wire the money overseas.

Unfortunately, it appears from the article I read in the Sydney Herald by Frank Walker that no one at the higher echelons of the gang was apprehended.

For the full story from the Sydney Herald, link here.

Please note that the Australian authorities are prosecuting the individuals involved.

Criminal gangs involved in cyber-crime recruit people to launder the money from financial crimes all the time, and it doesn't only happen in Australia. In fact, evidence shows it is a worldwide issue that is getting worse all the time.

I recently wrote a post about a BBB (Better Business Bureau) employee, who was recruited to do pretty much the same thing:

BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions

Cyber crooks recruit people in chat rooms and even surf jobs sites like Monster.com looking for what they consider "dupes" to take all the "risks" for them. It appears (from this story) that they aren't above using our children to commit their "foul deeds."

Before accepting any job offers from an unknown source on the Internet, it's smart to do your homework. This is especially true, if you are asked to use your own financial resources to negotiate any financial transaction. Furthermore, if any of the above factors "ring true" and you are asked to "wire" money run away from the deal as fast as you can.

Here is a pretty good resource to educate yourself (and others) on Job Scams:

World Privacy Forum

BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions

A Better Business Bureau worker was recently involved in eBay fraud by taking a part-time (work-at-home job) processing account receivables for criminals from Eastern Europe. According to her, she even checked them out before accepting the job and found nothing that would suggest a scam.

The job was to process payments (primarily from eBay transactions) and wire the money to her employers.

These scams, known as check-cashing schemes solicit people to process fraudulent financial instruments and wire the money to a far-away locale. Their employers normally prefer the use of Western Union, or Money Gram, which offer little to no protection once the money is sent.

News clip from 9News.com in Denver, here.

There is also another version of the work-at-home scam, which entails receiving the stolen merchandise and then reshipping it.

In work-at-home (check cashing) schemes, the worker is normally instructed to set up an account (using their information and good credit) to process the financial instruments. Quite often, they are held financially responsible after the financial instruments are discovered fraudulent and they have wired the money.

No matter what the scam entails, the fraudsters always prefer "unprotected" methods of wiring money. I would highly recommend NEVER wiring money to someone you don't know, or haven't done a lot of business with for a LONG TIME.

To add to the confusion many auction fraud victims buy merchandise from seemingly highly rated sellers when their account is taken over. Account takeovers are normally accomplished via phishing, where a legitimate account holder is duped into giving up their account information.

Phishy e-mails from eBay and PayPal are circulating the internet at a record rate.

Interesting that the BBB worker was savvy enough to do a little "due diligence" on the scam company, which revealed nothing. When I looked at their site, I found two articles that describe activity very similiar to this.

Work-at-Home Schemes

Work-At-Home-Schemes Now Peddled On-Line

I wasn't able to find an article on the BBB regarding "check cashing schemes," but in reality this scam is nothing more than a "mutation" of the "work at home" scheme.

I'd offer to write it for them, but after writing this post, I doubt they will solicit my services.

It's becoming quite common for organized gangs to set up fraudulent businesses as a front for the various scams out there. They are often complete with office space, telephones and even web sites.

I guess the moral of the story is that when a business has no verifiable track record a prudent person should dig a little deeper? I stole that one from my friend Paul, who writes prying1.

Let's face it, processing proceeds from auctions using your own account and wiring the money to Eastern Europe seems a little risky. At least to me, it does.