Reshipping scams target online job and love seekers

If you are looking for work, or for love, if you are not careful, you could find yourself in the middle of an international scam, with serious legal consequences.

A job for some extra money or promise of an intimate relationship both appear to be the bait to lure unsuspecting victims into what are called “reshipping schemes.”

The scam starts online.

“They befriend these people, make them promises sometimes, promise them romance, promise them money, promise them all kinds of different things and then they hook them into accepting packages for them,” explains U.S. Postal Inspector Jim O’Hara.

The packages usually contain high-end electronics such as computers or video game systems, as well as high-end clothing.

“They will con them into receiving those items and then have them package them up and ship them to them in whatever part of the world they happen to be in,” said O’Hara.

The items are usually bought with stolen credit cards by conmen living abroad who need a middle man to ship them. Those con artists can be persuasive. One popular line is telling victims the items are needed for an orphanage.

“I’m trying to obtain these items for the kids, a lot of times they’ll use kids in other countries and say that is what they are doing it for, but when in fact they are obviously not, it’s just a big scam,” O’Hara said.

When inspectors like O’Hara tell the unsuspecting middle men they are wrapped up in a scam, most are very contrite.

“Embarrassed at first, because they feel bad they have been taken advantage of and they think to themselves how could I have possibly fallen for this.” he said.

Postal inspectors say this cliche is true, if it seems too good to be true, it likely is.

“You’re never going to get paid, and that you’re never going to get what’s promised to you whether that be romance, whether that be money whether that be whatever, it just never happens,” O’Hara warned.

When it comes to finding a job online, do your research. Find out more about the company and check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any complaints. As for matters of the heart, be cautious of anyone asking you to send packages or be a part of any type of financial transaction.