Fraudulent companies will send out phony job positions such as “Accounts Receivable Clerk,” “Finance Manager,” or “Mystery Shopper.”  These fake job offers are commonly delivered through email and usually claim to have come through online Job Boards or include forged legitimate business names in order to make the messages appear credible.

The phony job offers describe a position where you are to collect funds from the fraudulent company’s "clients" and then transfer money back into their or another agent’s bank account. This may be conducted through Wire Transfer, Check, or even direct ACH transactions.

The fraudulent company will usually mail the Job Seeker a fake check (it might be a Cashiers, Money Order or Travelers Check) and also provide instructions on how to cash the checks and where to transfer the money. (Other variations of the scam instruct the Job Seeker to accept a direct ACH transfer of funds or to accept a Wire Transfer. Some scams will use online payment services instead of bank accounts.)

The “employer’s” instructions will request to have the funds deposited into a bank account under the Job Seeker’s name. The Job Seeker is told to keep a small percentage of the money as commission.  The bank wires the funds immediately and, a few days later, will discover that the original check from the “employer” is fraudulent.

By the time the check is identified as fraudulent, the scammer already has their money and the “employee” is left with a negative or frozen bank account. The bank holds the person on the account liable for the funds and, in certain cases, will seek legal action. As this is considered illegal activity, the “employee” can possibly face charges, whether they knowingly participated in the money laundering process or were tricked.