20,000 Scams Reported MonthlyTo Internet Crime Complaint Center
- By Grey McKenzie
- Published 07/18/2008
Grey McKenzie
National Cyber Security Founder
Cyber security watchdog Grey McKenzie is one of the nation's leading Internet security experts.
Some of his clients include members of the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Defense & the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
His SpyCop security software products are in use by over 50,000 individuals & companies worldwide
To schedule an interview or consult with Grey call 902-532-2262
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
A tragic example of ordinary people falling victim to the predatory practices of unscrupulous scammers is the recent story of a Keller woman. She became involved in an Internet money laundering scheme and will have to repay over $38,000 out of her own pocket.
The only good thing in this story is she won't be going to jail..
You may say how could anyone be so stupid?
If you've ever been desperate to pay your bills, and have looked everywhere for a employment... without success, I believe most of us could fall for an advertisement offering good money to work at home on your computer.
The subtle twist with this scam was the scammers offered her a text editing position to begin with. This of course was to build here trust in them.
In this particular case it was a text editing position with a Russian dating company called "Dating Group".
What could be wrong with that?
Especially if you start getting paid for legitimate work.
Then she was asked if she wanted to make more money by becoming a local agent for the Russian company.
Why not, they had already established they were legitimate by paying her regularly.
The Star Telegram Online goes on to report...
"The Russian dating company, which she knew as Dating Group, sent her information on a job that would pay more: about $2,900 a month in salary, plus a 5 percent commission.
Third Party Receiver of Funds
A general trend has been noted by the Internet Crime Complaint Center regarding work-at-home schemes on websites.
In several instances, the subjects, usually foreign, post work-at-home job offers on popular Internet employment sites, soliciting for assistance from United States citizens.
The subjects allegedly are posting Internet auctions, but cannot receive the proceeds from these auctions directly because his/her location outside the United States makes receiving these funds difficult.
The seller asks the United States citizen to act as a third party receiver of funds from victims who have purchased products from the subject via the Internet.
The United States citizen, receiving the funds from the victims, then wires the money to the subject.
A tragic example of ordinary people falling victim to the predatory practices of unscrupulous scammers is the recent story of a Keller woman. She became involved in an Internet money laundering scheme and will have to repay over $38,000 out of her own pocket.
The only good thing in this story is she won't be going to jail..
You may say how could anyone be so stupid?
If you've ever been desperate to pay your bills, and have looked everywhere for a employment... without success, I believe most of us could fall for an advertisement offering good money to work at home on your computer.
The subtle twist with this scam was the scammers offered her a text editing position to begin with. This of course was to build here trust in them.
In this particular case it was a text editing position with a Russian dating company called "Dating Group".
What could be wrong with that?
Especially if you start getting paid for legitimate work.
Then she was asked if she wanted to make more money by becoming a local agent for the Russian company.
Why not, they had already established they were legitimate by paying her regularly.
The Star Telegram Online goes on to report...
"The Russian dating company, which she knew as Dating Group, sent her information on a job that would pay more: about $2,900 a month in salary, plus a 5 percent commission.
The job involved receiving money wire transfers from dating service customers in the United States and sending cash through Western Union to certain individuals in Ukraine.
"I wasn’t looking at this as clearly," Boothe said. "I had a touch of desperation."
She
was unwittingly using her bank accounts to launder stolen money.
The Ukraine scammers supplied stolen bank account numbers and routing numbers — which can be found at the bottom of any check — and she used them to transfer money from those accounts into the two accounts she had set up specifically for the business."
So what can you do if you find yourself in a situation like this?
Third Party Receiver of Funds
A general trend has been noted by the Internet Crime Complaint Center regarding work-at-home schemes on websites.
In several instances, the subjects, usually foreign, post work-at-home job offers on popular Internet employment sites, soliciting for assistance from United States citizens.
The subjects allegedly are posting Internet auctions, but cannot receive the proceeds from these auctions directly because his/her location outside the United States makes receiving these funds difficult.
The seller asks the United States citizen to act as a third party receiver of funds from victims who have purchased products from the subject via the Internet.
The United States citizen, receiving the funds from the victims, then wires the money to the subject.
Spread The Word
5 Responses to "20,000 Scams Reported MonthlyTo Internet Crime Complaint Center" 
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said this on 18 Jul 2008 2:16:28 PM EST
I picked this up and posted it on my blog earlier in the week. I'm currently searching about 700 spam messages a day for crap like this.
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said this on 21 Jul 2008 12:40:52 PM EST
So what if you only do the text editing and do NOT accept the position as a local agent doing the money wiring? Is the company legitimate as far as the text editing only goes?
Signed - dont want to be the next victim :)
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said this on 26 Aug 2008 8:42:45 PM EST
Be cautious! This Russian "Dating Group" sent an e-mail regarding the editing positions through my school system and it came via the Board of Education! I thought it was legitimate because our school system forwarded the mail to teachers. Fortunately I became suspicious and abandoned the edits after a couple of exchanges!
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said this on 04 Sep 2008 7:31:53 PM EST
no Kelly... that is a way to establish trust - get you thinking you are moving up in the company. I edited one text file and said to myself... hmmmm.. self... there's something wrong with this. A quick search on google and bingo! (see thread!)
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=28967348&postID=9192930998946643136&isPopup=true
stay away... stay FAR away!!
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said this on 10 Sep 2008 7:39:53 PM EST
I just received an e-mail today from Chris.Gallien@gmail.com advising me that a part time position editing text from home is available. I am to send my home address and contact information to shawna.dating@gmail.com to complete the application, and then begin receiving $7 for every 1KB of text I edit. I thought this was a great deal and was about to send off my happy response until I thought maybe this was too good to be true. Now here I've discovered this site, and sure enough the e-mail I received was actually signed "Dating Company." I can't believe I almost fell for this! Watch out for copycat scammers!
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