Job-seekers, beware reshipment work scams – Fraud.org

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Imagine that you’re looking for ways to supplement your income with a part-time job. For millions, this means logging onto online jobs boards like Craigslist, Monster.com, and others. For those of us who have family or other commitments, work-at-home opportunities can mean the difference between paying the rent and being out on the street.

Unfortunately, scammers also know that work-at-home jobs are in high demand. This is a big reason why one type of scam — the reshipment scam — is one we hear about regularly.

Reshipment scams are a key part of the larger problem of carding fraud, where scam artists – often located overseas – use stolen credit cards to purchase high-dollar merchandise (think designer clothing, iPhones, Apple Macbooks, etc.) that they can resell for a profit in their home countries. However, there’s a catch. Many online merchants will not ship purchases to places like Russia or certain Eastern European countries due to the high incidence of fraud. That’s where reshipment scams come in.

In a typical reshipment scam, an unwitting consumer (known as a “mule” by the scammers) is recruited through a work-at-home job listing to accept packages at a U.S. home address, repackage the merchandise, and ship the package to its final destination overseas (hence, reshipping). In exchange, the consumer is promised a hefty salary, sometimes thousands of dollars for a month’s work. When the consumer gets the first inkling that she may be ensnared in a scam is when payday arrives and her “employer” (in reality, the scammer) fails to send a payment and cuts off contact. The scammer, meanwhile, has received thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise overseas (and thus, out of U.S. law enforcement’s reach) and is quickly turning those computers, smartphones and designer shoes in to cold, hard cash.

This complaint we received from a consumer in New York is typical of what happens in these scams:

This company contacted me via email to apply for a position to work at home as a forwarding agent. I responded to the email asking for more information on the job. When I received the information and reviewed it as well as the company’s website, I thought that the company was legit and proceeded to apply. They promptly called me back and held a phone interview with me and provided me with the same details of the job as I was emailed (this included getting $2,500 per month for the position).

I agreed and sent them a picture of me holding my license as requested. I then received my first package a few days later and then for 30 days received packages every other day that I was to inventory, repackage and then mail out with prepaid shipping labels that they uploaded to my dashboard. After working for the company for 30 days I was no longer able to log into my dashboard, no matter how many times I reset my password, and the packages stopped coming. My pay date was set for the 29th of August and I have yet to see the check that they told me I would receive.

I have tried to call the number that I was contacted from (I call once every couple of hours or so) and left a voicemail to have them call me back. I have been calling this number for about 4 days and left several voicemails without ever receiving a return phone call.

While reshipment scams do not typically cost the defrauded consumer money directly, victims are harmed by the money they lose driving packages to post offices or shipping facilities. In addition, they can end up in legal jeopardy because by participating in the reshipment scam, they are trafficking stolen merchandise.

Consumers can avoid getting pulled in to reshipment scams by using the following tips:

  1. Beware of companies offering work-at-home opportunities with titles like “shipping clerk,” “forwarding agent,” “receiving agent,” or similar titles. These are often a lure to get prospective consumers to contact the scammers.

  2. If you are told to accept packages at your home, repackage them, attach a prepaid shipping label, and send the package on to another country, it’s probably a scam.

  3. If you’re interested in a work-at-home opportunity, be sure to check references thoroughly. If the company name isn’t readily findable through a Google search or if the company isn’t registered with your state’s Department of State, it could be a scam.

If you’ve been approached to participate or have already participated in what you believe to be a reshipping scam, report it! Consumers can file complaints via our secure online complaint form and we’ll share the complaint with our network of law enforcement and consumer protection partners.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

Beware: Top scams targeting students – Fraud.org

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School is back in session, and unfortunately scammers are ready to target students. We’ve taken a look at complaints filed with Fraud.org in the last year, and the data reveals that consumers under the age of 22 are by far most likely to fall for one of two types of scams: bogus Internet sales and fake check schemes. These are popular scams among consumers of all ages, but they are dominating complaints filed by the youngest fraud victims.

In a review of complaints filed by consumers age 22 and under at NCL’s Fraud.org over the past 12 months, NCL found that almost 3 in 4 (71.9%) of complaints focused on dubious Internet merchandise schemes (48.7%) and fake check scams (23.2%).

The Internet merchandise scam category covers a wide variety of fraud. However among the 22-and-under age group, a number of themes are apparent. Many of the complaints from younger consumers have to do with students buying or selling electronics, especially iPhones and game consoles. Many complaints also focus on scams involving the sale of clothing, particular dubious online sneaker sales websites. Vehicle and pet sales were also popular sources of complaints. Craigslist was frequently mentioned as the venue where younger consumers first spotted “deals” that turned out to be fraud.

Craigslist was also a common theme in the reports of fake check scams targeting younger consumers. However, in these complaints, it was bogus job listings that most often led to the fraud. In many complaints, the consumers describe seeing attractive jobs listed on Craigslist. Consumers who applied were quickly offered a check (which turned out to be fake) as an “advance” or as partial payment for a mystery-shopping job. Another website that pops up again and again is Care.com. In those complaints, the consumer uploaded a resume, which was then used by scammers posing as employers to lure in victims.

Given these trends, younger consumers should keep in mind the following tips to avoid falling victim to these popular scams:

  • Do a price-check for similar merchandise before trusting an unknown online retailer, especially one advertising on Craigslist. If the price listed is far below traditional online retailers (think Amazon, Best Buy, Zappos) for a piece of popular merchandise (such as wireless phones, game consoles, sneakers, or designer clothing), the “deal” could easily be a scam.
  • When looking for a job, a request to cash a check in a personal account is a huge red flag. Legitimate employers will want you to go through an interview process and check your references before entrusting you with a check worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. If your “boss” wants you to deposit a check and wire a portion back to her or someone else, it’s almost certainly a scam.

If you’ve been scammed, or suspect the person you’re dealing with online is a scammer, file a complaint. Fraudsters can only be stopped if we all work together to share our experiences and raise the alarm. Filing a complaint at Fraud.org only takes a few minutes, but helps arm our network of more than 90 law enforcement and consumer protection agency partners with the information they need to shut down scam artists.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

Scammers taking to Instagram to find victims – Fraud.org

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Millions of consumers use Instagram to look through their friends’ vacation photos and post selfies. Unfortunately, scammers follow social media trends too and they’ve made Instagram another tool in their arsenal of tricks to try to defraud consumers. Over the past few months, we’ve received a number of complaints from consumers describing a new variation of the so-called “flipping money” scam on Instagram.

In a typical flipping money scam of this type, a consumer sees an Instagram account featuring photos of other users, often holding large amounts of cash captioned with a description of how easy it is to make turn a small investment into large amounts of money. All the consumer has to do is text or instant message the Instagram account holder and send a small initial “investment” (typically a few hundred dollars). Unfortunately for the consumer, the ploy is all a scam. The fraudster quickly breaks contact (after getting the cash in hand) and the consumer loses her initial investment. This a widespread scam. For example, there are more than 45,000 photos on Instagram tagged #flippingmoney. In practically every photo we reviewed, the pitch was a scam.

There’s a new variation on the flipping money scam, however. In the past, the scammers asked to send the initial “investment” via wire transfers or a prepaid debit card. However, in a number of recent complaints, the consumers/victim is not asked to send money. Instead, they are being asked to mail their physical debit card to the scammer as well as their account PIN, so that a check can be deposited in the account. The consumer/victim is told by the scammer that she will receive a percentage of the proceeds from the check to compensate her for her trouble.

If a consumer follows these instructions and sends a debit card, they often quickly see a large deposit in their account. The is almost as quickly followed by a large withdrawal, usually in the full amount of the deposit. and sometimes even more. The deposited check is, in fact, a fake, and the consumer is then left owing their bank money when the check comes back as a fraud.

A 20 year old consumer from Missouri shared her experience with one scammer on Instagram:

“I saw an ad on Instagram saying I could make money so I texted the number. The girl’s name was Alexis. She asked me to send her my debit card and she could make me $4,000. Shortly after, her Instagram [account] was deleted. She kept my card for about a week. Today I went into the bank and I owe $6,000. She (Alexis) will not contact me back.”

To avoid this scam, here are some helpful tips consumers should keep in mind:

  • Remember, people that you meet online are total strangers. If you would not hand over your debit card to someone you just met on the street, don’t hand it over to someone you met online.
  • Don’t fall for “quick” or “easy” money ploys. If making money this way were as easy as the scammers make it sound, everyone would be doing it.
  • Do not respond if someone asks for your debit card number, PIN number, or any other sensitive financial information.
  • Know that no legitimate advertisers on Instagram will ask you to mail a debit or credit card to them.
  • More information on staying safe on Instagram is available at the Instagram Privacy and Safety Center.

If you suspect that you might be a victim of this scam, file a complaint with us.

We asked our friends at Instagram what they are seeing, and here’s what they said:

“We regularly analyze trends and make changes where necessary to provide a better and safer experience for our entire community, and as of now, we have no reason to believe that this sort of scam is widespread or on the rise. We’ve built a combination of automated and manual systems to identify and address ’spammy’ and other bad behavior on Instagram, which is prohibited by our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.”

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

Scammers using robocalls to prey on consumers – Fraud.org

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If you own a phone, chances are that you’ve been on the receiving end of a robocall. Thanks to cheap Internet calling technology, shady marketers and outright scammers are inundating American consumers with billions of phone calls. Many, if not most, of these calls originate from overseas, though the recipient of a robocall may see a local telephone number on the their Caller ID thanks to so-called “spoofing” technology.

Millions of consumers have taken advantage of the Federal Trade Commission’s ‘Do Not Call Registry’ to avoid telemarketing calls from legitimate telemarketers. Unfortunately, the companies and individuals that are generating the current spate of robocalls have little, if any incentive to abide by the ‘Do Not Call’ rules. Instead, they blast out millions of calls per day, hawking everything from “free” cruises to medical alert devices, credit card interest rate reduction and even refunds from the FTC itself. While many of the companies involved in these scams have been shut down by law enforcement, the problem continues unabated.

The low cost of robocalling and Caller ID spoofing technology means that robocall scammers only need a small fraction of the people they call to respond to the pitch to make money. Even simply responding to the pitch (for example, by pressing “1” to be connected to a live operator) can mark a consumer as someone who may be persuadable by scammers. Lists of “live” numbers (i.e., people who will respond in some way to a robocall) get developed and sold among robocall outfits, which can result in even more robocalls. For more information on how information and money traverses the robocall economy, check out this great infographic from the FTC.

For most consumers, the biggest question about robocalls is “how do I stop them?” Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet that will prevent all robocalls. Some telephone carriers offer call blocking technology, and there are third-party devices and apps that can be attached to your home phone or used with your cell phone. However, none of these are perfect. While they may prevent some unwanted calls from ringing, they could also block legitimate phone calls. Additionally, there may be a cost associated with buying the device or using a particular call-blocking service.

For now, the best steps that consumers can take is to get educated about the robocall issue and learn the warning signs to prevent fraud from occurring. Tips include:

  1. If you answer a robocall, hang up immediately. Don’t press “1” or any other keys to speak to a live operator or to have your number removed from the robocallers list. Chances are that the “live operator” is just a marketer who will pitch you on a shady product or service. If you ask to be taken off the robocaller’s list, chances are they won’t do so.
  2. If the caller is offering a “free” good or service, chances are that it’s a scam. A “free,” “no cost,” or “no obligation” offer coming via a robocall is almost certainly meant to lure the call recipient into a scam that could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
  3. Be aware that the number or caller information showing up on Caller ID may not be legitimate. Robocallers are adept at making Caller ID show that the call is coming from a local number, or a known organization such as the local police department, a federal agency, or your bank. If you’re concerned that the caller may be legitimate, hang up, look up the phone number of the bank or other organization on your own (such as via the yellow pages, or the customer service number of a bank statement of debit/credit card) and call that number directly.
  4. Do not give sensitive personal information out over the phone. This information could include your full name, mailing address, Social Security Number, bank routing number, credit or debit card number, or other types of information about yourself. If someone on the other end of the line asks for this information, simply hang up.
  5. If you haven’t done so already, add your home and cell phone numbers to the National ‘Do Not Call’ Registry at DoNotCall.gov. If a robocaller sends a sales call to a number that is on the Registry, they’re violating the law.

Report fraudulent robocalls to Fraud.org via our online complaint form or to the Federal Trade Commission. While every complaint doesn’t lead to a conviction, complaints are critical to helping investigators detect patterns in robocalls and track down the scammers.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

Jury duty scams on the rise – Fraud.org

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Being picked for jury duty can be stressful. Receiving a call from someone claiming to be with the local police department or district attorney’s office who says you missed jury duty and are facing arrest is downright terrifying! Reports from police departments across the country suggest that this type of fraud is again on the rise. Consumers who fear that they have missed their jury duty service are falling prey, and handing over money or sensitive personal information to con artists.

The scam works like this: a consumer receives a phone call or voice mail from someone claiming to be with their local police or sheriff’s department, district attorney’s office or the county courts. The caller states that the consumer has missed a jury duty summons and could be arrested if they don’t pay a fine. The caller may even claim that a warrant has already been issued for the consumer’s arrest.

If the consumer responds to the caller, she is instructed to send money to the caller (who is, in reality, a scammer) to pay a fine in order to avoid arrest. The consumer is asked to provide a bank account number, wire money, or put cash on a prepaid debit card like a Green Dot MoneyPak or similar card and send it to the scammer. In some cases, the scam may be used to trick a consumer into providing sensitive personal information such as a Social Security Number, date of birth, or credit card or debit card number.

This scam preys on consumers’ fear of law enforcement and unfamiliarity with how the jury duty summons process works. The caller may appear to be very legitimate — with Caller ID showing a local number with police department information and an official-sounding voice on the phone. To help consumer see through these tricks, here are some red flags that consumers can use to spot these scams:

  • Courts almost exclusively contact consumers about jury duty or missed jury duty by postal mail, not by phone or email;
  • Court officials or police departments will never shake you down for payment or personal information over the phone;
  • If the call comes in the evening or at night, it’s a red flag. Real court-related calls should only come during normal business hours;
  • If the caller claims to be part of a “warranty amnesty program,” it’s likely a scam. Such programs typically require consumers with outstanding warrants (such as for failure to appear for a court date) to reach out to the courts on their own;
  • Asks to pay via wire transfer or prepaid debit card (such as MoneyPak, Reloadit or similar cards) are almost always a sure sign of fraud.

Concerned that you may have missed a jury duty summons or court date?

Contact your local courts directly by looking up the phone number online or in the phone book and calling them yourself.

You can listen to an example of a typical type of jury duty scam call at this link. Consumers should be aware that the jury duty scam is not exclusive to phone calls, either. Scammers have been known to send threatening emails, purportedly from the local court, in an effort to get a consumer to send money, provide sensitive personal information (which can lead to identity theft) or install malware.

Consumers who have received jury duty scam calls or emails should report them to Fraud.org.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

Watch out: Online pet adoption scams are fur real! – Fraud.org

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Bringing a new puppy or kitten home is right at the top of many consumers’ wish lists. Unfortunately, scammers know all too well how emotionally connected we can get to the idea of adopting a cuddly ball of fuzz and how to take advantage of that. Since the beginning of 2015, Fraud.org has received a surge of consumer complaints about online pet adoption scams.

First, a consumer searching for a pet sees a desirable animal listed for sale online, often on a classifieds website like Craigslist.org or Oodle.com. Next, the consumer reaches out to the prospective seller and expresses interest in acquiring the animal. After a consumer sends money to the alleged owner to pay for the pet, she is told that additional funds are needed to cover the cost of things like “a ventilated shipping crate,” “insurance,” or other reasons. Regardless of how much money is sent, the alleged seller will find new reasons to ask for additional payment. This continues until the victim, now often out hundreds or thousands of dollars catches on and stops sending money.

In reality, the entire act is a farce. The cute pet pictures that prompted the initial outreach by the consumer are usually simply pulled off the Internet and used to create attractive (but fake) listings. The alleged sellers don’t own any actual pets and are just out to milk victims of all the cash they can.

A Massachusetts woman we’ll call “Sue” (not her real name) recently sent us a complaint that is typical of this scam. Sue writes:

“I was looking to purchase a Yorkshire terrier puppy for my 2 little kids. I found one that I was really interested in. It was a 9-week-old female Yorkie. I emailed ‘the owner’ … The puppy was $500 and he told me that was already included with shipping and everything. He told me to put the $500 on a Reloadit card, which I did, and I gave him that. He sent me an email of a flight ticket, which I now know that it was not real because I called American Airlines and the flight ticket was a fake.

An agency started emailing me stating that I had to send them $970.00 for a ‘crate’ for the puppy to arrive to me safe while on flight due to the weather. I was told it was refundable when my puppy would arrive. I was told to send it by Western Union, which I did. Once that happened … I was asked to send $1,500 now for the pets insurance to get sent to me, which was also supposed to be refunded to me. I sent that money through MoneyGram. I was supposed to receive my puppy on March 7, 2015 in the morning and I never received the puppy.

Then I received another email stating I had to send ANOTHER payment of $760.00 to update her shots before she takes off. It was already sounding a little bit too good to be true to me but that’s when I finally realized that this was a scam.”

Fraud.org has received more than a dozen complaints about these scams so far this year. Consumers can see additional examples of these scams at the ASPCA’s Pet-Related Scams website.

It’s easy to get emotionally attached to the idea of acquiring an adorable new pet. Consumers in the market for a new furry friend, can protect themselves by following these safe pet-buying tips:

  1. Never send money for a pet purchase unless you have seen the animal in person (as opposed to simply online).
  2. Beware of any seller who says she’s located out-of-town (or worse, overseas). Dealing with local sellers is usually the smart move.
  3. Requests for payment via wire transfer (Western Union or MoneyGram) or prepaid debit card (Green Dot MoneyPak, Reloadit, or similar cards) are often a red flag for potential fraud. Payment sent via these methods is practically the same as sending cash.
  4. Consider adopting from a local shelter instead of a private seller. There’s likely to be a lower cost to obtain the pet, and you’ll be dealing with a reputable non-profit organization.
  5. Do your due diligence on the seller BEFORE sending money. Ask for detailed information on the seller, including full name, phone number and mailing address. Search online for information on the seller. If no information comes up in the search, or you see negative reviews, it could be a scammer instead of a legitimate seller.
  6. Watch out for offers of “free” pets. While it may seem like a good deal, scammers have been known to use these to lure unwary consumers in to paying for “shipping” and other costs for nonexistent pets.

If you’ve been a victim of one of these scams or been approached by someone you suspect of being a scammer, file a complaint at fraud.org so that we can share your information with our network of law enforcement and consumer protection agencies.

Read our other Fraud Alerts here.

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