Work from home reshipping scam targeting job seekers
More than 114,000 people are unemployed and looking for a job in Indiana, according to state data.
Scammers know this and they’re targeting people with fake job offers.
The Better Business Bureau Serving Central Indiana is especially concerned about an employment scam that allows you to work from home while re-shipping packages for a company.
How it works is the company is hiring “agents” to receive packages, inspect them for damage, and then repackage the items and mail them to a new address, sometimes overseas.
“They’ll send you a package,” said Trinity Rairdon, a spokesperson for the BBB Serving Central Indiana. “They’ll usually have you label it, print labels, and then forward it somewhere else.”
The position reimburses “agents” for their expenses and pays a monthly stipend, according to the BBB.
It sounds like easy money, so you accept the job. You hand over personal information to get signed up and on the payroll.
However, after you ship the items, your payment never arrives.
“I’ll often see that people will work from home, reshipping these packages for weeks, if not months without pay, and then the scammers will give an excuse,” said Rairdon. “Then they will block the account on your payroll and you’re left with you know doing all that work for them and didn’t get paid, and you lost some very sensitive personal information.”
A consumer shared their experience with BBB Scam Tracker: “I was offered the job to receive and pick up packages, open them up to inspect them for damage and send pictures of the product to the company, then they would send me a shipping label to ship the product out…I was supposed to get a salary of $3000 plus bonuses…I have still not received my money…The website is not working now, I still can’t login and there is no response from any of them.”
Rairdon said sometimes victims are unknowingly shipping stolen goods.
“You’re dealing with identity theft, unpaid labor,” said Rairdon.
How to spot a reshipping scam
- Be very cautious of any job that asks you to share personal information or hand over money. Scammers will often use the guise of running a credit check, setting up direct deposit, or paying for training or your work equipment.
- Be wary of job opportunities that are emailed to you unexpectedly. While some legitimate job recruiters do reach out to potential hires unexpectedly, take extra caution when receiving information about a job that promises great pay and benefits and doesn’t require a traditional interview process.
- If a job looks suspicious, search for it in Google. If the result comes up in many other cities with the exact same job post, it is likely a scam.
- Check out the business’ website. Scammers often falsely use the names of real businesses. Check on the business’s site or give them a call to confirm the position exists.
And lastly, remember scammers can use AI to make their websites look legitimate. Do not be fooled by slick-looking job ads and websites.
