Freshly arrived in the inbox is a "fraud advisory for consumers" (.pdf) from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. It purports to warn consumers about the risks associated with bogus work-at-home schemes, but serves just as well as a warning to those who might like to play dumb if the pay is good enough.
Here's the example scheme cited:
- An individual applies for a position as a rebate or payments processor through an online job site or through an unsolicited email.
- As a new employee, the individual is asked to provide his/her bank account information to his/her employer or to establish a new account using information provided by the employer.
- Funds are deposited into the account that the employee is instructed to wire to a third (often international) account. The employee is instructed to deduct a percentage of the wired amount as their commission.
- However, rather than processing rebates or processing payments, the individual is actually participating in a criminal activity by laundering stolen funds through his/her own account or a newly established account.
The advisory includes this additional caution: "Individuals who are knowing or unknowing participants in this type of scheme could be prosecuted."
Could someone honestly be an unknowing participant? Someone is paying you - a guy without a job sitting at home in your PJs - real money to transfer funds from one bank account to another bank account and it's all on the up and up?
Tell it to the judge.
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