Dangerous job scam back in the news
By Greg Collier
There are several different job scams that someone could find online. In most instances, these scams will either steal your personal information, steal your money, or both. However, there is one job scam that potentially puts its victims in real danger.
We’re referring to the reshipping or repackaging scam. In the reshipping scam, the victim is asked to inspect goods that are sent to their home before putting the goods in new packaging and sending them to a third party, usually overseas. The goods themselves are typically purchased with stolen credit card information. The scam is typically part of a larger money laundering operation.
This scam is so lucrative that the scammers will even use paid employment platforms like Indeed. These same scammers will often claim they represent major retailers like Amazon and Walmart, or that they’re contracted with them.
Recently, in South Carolina, authorities there have received numerous complaints about a supposed shipping company that was supposedly employing reshippers all over the country. In this instance, the reshippers were never paid after sending out packages. When the victims would try to contact the shipping company about payment, the shipping company would block all communications. The company claimed that their main office was in South Carolina, but no actual company existed at the address listed.
The real problem with the reshipping scam is that even victims could find themselves in legal trouble. If the victim knowingly falsifies shipping documents under the instruction of the scammers to get around US customs, that is considered mail fraud and could get the victim serious jail time.
Please keep in mind that there are no legitimate jobs that involve receiving packages and shipping them to someone else from your home. If you see an ad listing for such a job, it’s a scam.
Leave a Reply