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Reshipping Fraud - Home Business Scams
Reshipping fraud can cost you a lot of money and it involves you in an international fencing operation that could land you in hot water!
The newest home business scam is reshipping fraud. Work-at-home shippers are promised substantial amounts of money -- all they have to do is
receive, repackage, and then mail merchandise that was ordered online to a foreign address. What the shipper doesn't know is that the merchandise was
paid for with stolen credit cards. In effect, the work-at-home shipper becomes part of a fencing operation by receiving and
mailing stolen goods. Reports to date indicate the scam has cost victims thousands of dollars, but as long as the ads appear,
people unaware of the fraud continue to respond.
How home reshipping scams work
Reshipping job opportunities appear everywhere. Some ads are placed in newspapers and you can even find listings on
Monster.com as well as other well-known job placement websites. When you anwser the ad you will be asked to send the reshipping
employer your personal information which will need to include your social security number and date of birth. After the employer
is sent the required personal information packages will start arriving at your home with instructions on how to repackage and then
send the merchandise to specified addresses abroad.
When your payment for repackaging the merchandise arrives it will be in the form of a third party cashiers check which should raise
flags since the normal way of doing business is to send a paycheck. These cashiers checks will usually be for more than the amount
initially agreed upon and the employer will request that once you have cashed, please send the overpay back to them electronically to
their overseas bank account.
Once you have completed this transaction you have a big problem because before the check clears the bank
will realize that the cashier's check is phoney and you will be responsible for the entire amount of that check. To make matters worse,
your "employer" also has your personal information and it's a safe bet that they are going to use it to defraud even more unwitting
people who will become "employees" of this reshipping scam. You could be in big trouble with the law as well because all of the merchandise
that you so faithfully repackaged and sent abroad was purchased with stolen credit cards.
Look before you leap into a home business offer
If you see an ad for a home business opportunity that seems extremely easy to do (like repackaging consumer goods) with the promise of
easy and high encome then you should investigate the business before you become involved with it. Scam artists prey upon people with low
incomes and less education with these bogus job opportunites because they know very well how much they need the money.
Postal Scam Tips
Postal Inspectors encourage consumers to closely examine offers before responding. They offer these protection tips:
- Don't give out personal information to a person or company you don't know.
- Be suspicious of any offer that doesn't pay a regular salary or involves an overseas company.
- Check out the company with the Federal Trade Commission,
the Better Business Bureau, state Attorney General, or your local consumer protection agency.
"Be smart," says Chief Inspector Heath. "There is no easy way to wealth. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
For more than 225 years, the U.S. Mail has been one of the safest and most efficient ways for Americans to do business. The Postal
Inspection Service works to maintain that trust. Last year, the Postal Inspection Service received 82,000 complaints from people who
believed they were defrauded by offers received in the mail. During the same period, Postal Inspectors arrested 1,446 suspects for
mail fraud.
Work at Home Scam Links:
FTC: Facts for Consumers - Work-at-Home Schemes
BBB: Work-at-Home Schemes - Modern Twist to Old Scams
Medical Billing Opportunities: Worth a Second Opinion
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