The Truth vs. The Scam:

Work at home processing or reshipping money, envelopes, and/or merchandise, and writing checks on somebody else's account.

What is happening: You are being asked to launder stolen money and merchandise.

This article includes important information about employment that requires you to:

Please take your time; read through the material carefully.

Basics of the scam • Forwarding packages or money • Money wired into your account • Re-wiring Western Union or MoneyGram payments • Writing checks • Forwarding checks and envelopes

NOTE:  It has been our experience that when the company claims to be domestic to the country in which you reside, this is only part of the scam.  Web sites giving the appearance of being in your own country have been registered using the name of residents who are Identity Theft victims.

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The basics of the scams for residents of all countries :

• The majority of the fraud groups are located in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Canada, India, and Africa, but fraud group members reside in nearly every country on the planet.  A male-dominated industry, the scams are created and developed by Eastern European and Nigerian  scammers.

• Nothing you have been told by the scammers is true.  Everything is a lie.

• Names and titles mean nothing.  The only thing that counts is what you are being asked to do.

• The names and titles are fake.  The phones are pre-paid, anonymous, untraceable cell phones.  Land lines are often located in hotel rooms, backrooms, and boiler rooms; in other words, temporary locations.

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• Phone numbers located in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong or other Asian locales can easily be for forwarding phones, meaning that they may sitting almost anywhere in that part of the world with instructions given not to answer any calls.  The call you make to that phone can be automatically transferred to any other phone anywhere in the world and may be actually answered in Amsterdam, London, Lagos, or Pretoria.  This is true of all land line telephones used by scammers.

• The company name is fake.  If you find a company of the same name (such as AGIP or Shell Oil), it has nothing to do with those who are corresponding with you.  Legitimate companies have no need to run money through any private person.

• The name your friend or sweetheart gave you is fake.  Romance scams and relationship scams are frequently operated by men located in Eastern Europe (Russia, Romania, Latvia, the Ukraine, Russian Federation) and by Nigerian scammers in Nigeria or Western Europe (not to be confused with Russian Bride Scams, which are operated by women.)  You may be speaking with a woman on the phone, but in most instances a man is writing the emails.

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Next: More basics, Forwarding packages or money • Money wired into your account • Writing checks • Re-wiring Western Union or MoneyGram payments • Forwarding checks and envelopes