Nature of Incident: Work at Home Scams Don’t Pay
Location: City of Thousand Oaks
Date & Time: April 13, 2017 / 9:00 a.m.
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Department - Financial Crimes Unit
Narrative:
Are you looking for an easy way to make money at home? Did you post a resume or solicit interest for a particular job on websites like “Craigslist,” “Monster” or “Indeed”? Did you get an email or text message from someone offering you a job without a face to face interview or paperwork to sign? If this sounds familiar you may have fallen victim to the work at home scam.
The common work at home scams are envelope stuffing, mystery shopper, home shippers, nanny, dog walker, and personal assistant to name a few. These jobs are part of an elaborate plan to have you assist the criminal enterprise with laundering stolen money or shipping stolen goods. These jobs may place you in a position where you can be held criminally liable.
An example of how this process works is the work at home shipper. This job promises substantial amounts of money to receive, repackage, and mail merchandise to another state or foreign address. The work at home shipper doesn't know the merchandise was paid for with stolen credit cards. The shipper becomes part of a fencing operation by receiving and mailing stolen goods. The shipper is never compensated for the work performed and usually pays out of pocket for postage.
The Thousand Oaks Police Department offers the following tips to prevent you from being a victim:
• Do not give out your personal information to someone you do not know
• Be suspicious about accepting a job offer from an overseas company
• Be wary if you receive a check as advance payment for a job and they require you to deposit it into your account and wire a portion of the money
• Do not pay up front fees
• Research the company through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), State Attorney General, or Better Business Bureau
Remember, there is no easy to way to make money working from home. Most home based business or jobs require long hours and hard work. For information on common scams, contact the Thousand Oaks Police Department Fraud Hotline at (805) 371-8327.
If you have been victimized by a work at home scam and suffered a financial loss, you can report the incident to the Thousand Oaks Police Department by calling (805) 654-9511.
In addition, a citizen can file a complaint with the following agencies:
Federal Trade Commission - https://www.ftc.gov/
Better Business Bureau - https://www.bbb.org/
California Attorney General - https://oag.ca.gov/
FBI - https://www.ic3.gov/
Prepared by: Detective Timothy Lohman
Media Release Date: April 26, 2017
Media Follow-Up Contact: Detective Timothy Lohman (805) 947-8255
[email protected]
Approved by: Captain Don Aguilar
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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