Saturday Scam Alert: "Payment Processors"

Filed in archive Home Based Businesses on January 27, 2008

You may have gotten it as an email, or seen it as an ad on Craigslist or Monster.com, but the "job offer" is the same. A company needs people to process payments for them. The explanation is they are located in Europe and need people to process payments from U.S. customers. At first glance it seems like easy money. Just accept payments into your paypal account, transfer them to your bank account, and then wire them to the company, keeping 10% as your payment. In their emails the company will say they saw your resume on Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com, and provide a link to the company website, which is always fake and usually a copy of a legitimate company's.

This is one work at home opportunity that is not only a scam, it's one that could get you in serious trouble with the law. Why? Because you aren't processing payments, you're laundering money for various criminals. The funds usually come from stolen bank accounts, credit cards, and fraudulent Ebay auctions. Once you've wired the funds, you, not the criminals, are left holding the bag when the angry account owner or auction winner comes looking for what was stolen from them-and the police will too. At best, you'll have to repay the victims, at worst you could see jail time. When you see these types of ads on job sites, report them. If you get one via email, delete it. These criminals are targeting two types of people-those desperate for money and those who will let their greed get the best of them. Don't fall for it!