Small businesses in the U.S. are having their hard-earned funds stolen by cybercriminals and transferred overseas, all thanks to the willing gullibility of scam victims. The typical crime begins with an infection of a data theft/backdoor trojan which steals login credentials from key employees at the business. The stolen credentials enable the attackers to gain access to the business' bank account and initiate an ACH transfer of funds. But most banks will alert on an overseas transfer, and that's where the middleman - the gullible scam victim - comes into play.
To avoid sounding alarms at the bank, the criminals need someone in the U.S. to accept the initial transfer and then forward it the overseas attackers. All they need is a person willing to turn a blind eye to the red flags. And with these tough economic times, there are unfortunately far too many willing to do just that.
The scam takes many forms, typically masquerading as solicitation for a mystery shopper, or some other bogus job offer. The scam also may claim to be a pay out for lottery winnings. The scams all have one thing in common - they involve you depositing funds into your bank account, then withdrawing and wiring a portion of those funds via Western Union or some other unrecoverable wire transfer method. By unrecoverable, that means that once the scam is discovered, the scam victim will be 100% liable for the transferred/stolen funds - the criminals that now have the cash in hand will be untraceable.
If you've been the victim of this scam, contact your local FBI or state Attorney General's office before it's too late. Otherwise, you may find yourself on the hook for thousands of stolen dollars. Your best bet - pay close attention to job offers and refuse ANY that involve transferring money from one account to another.
Also see: Washington State AG Advice Regarding Wire Transfer Scams