NORMAN, Okla. - Chrissi George was looking for extra income to provide for her teenage girls.
“I was really hoping that would work and it didn't,” she said.
She put her resume on career-builder and got a bite from a fake company pretending to hire her as a wrapping specialist.
Chrissi's job, or so she thought, was to wrap packages, slap a shipping label on them then reship the merchandise to addresses all over the country.
She said she had no idea the items were actually stolen.
“I would get probably anywhere from four to six a day,” she said. “When I last looked at my login, I had sent out 25 packages.”
Chrissi's still got some of the stolen goods at her house.
We instructed her to notify police and U.S. Postal Inspectors.
“These types of scammers go after the folks who aren't sophisticated, could use some extra money and they wrap their poison apple, if you will, in a wrapping that looks appealing and makes it easy for the people to make money,” said U.S. Postal Inspector Tony Robinson. “That's the catch: if it sounds to good to be true, then it is.”
We know the scammers used phony information to register their website, which is now defunct.
The phone number traces back to a breakfast cafe in Carthage, Tennessee.
Postal inspectors said the work-from-home site is a cover and could even be helping fund criminal networks.
“There is nothing out there that I am aware of that is a legitimate reshipper as in ‘Hey, we'll send you packages for you to ship to somebody else,’” Robinson said.
Chrissi gave the scammers a copy of her driver's license.
It looks like someone was able to use her information to open up a fraudulent cell phone account.
“It had my address but had one of the lady's names I sent a package to,” Chrissi said. “I didn't even look at it. I was just opening mail, and I realized that wasn't me.”
The In Your Corner bottom line:
- It's likely the scammers are using a new name with a new website and phone numbers.
- They want to use you help them smuggle their stolen goods.
- Beware of any job opportunities that advertise reshipping items.