Seventeen domain names linked with work-from-home and reshipping scams were seized Thursday and shut down by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.
The websites were being used to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, and mail and wire fraud via the scams, according to a court affidavit used to initiate the seizures.
Scammers tricked some job seekers into receiving stolen goods, merchandise or money often obtained via identity theft or credit card fraud, and reshipping those items to another address controlled by the scammers. Many of these unsuspecting victims believed they were accepting jobs with a legitimate company and performing a legitimate job function. Others were told to make purchases with their personal credit cards that were not reimbursed.
Scammers use job seekers to help insulate themselves from law enforcement. They also often use fictional company names, addresses, and domains to avoid detection and thwart negative news or reviews posted online by previous victims.
The investigation began in February of 2021 when a scammer used someone else’s credit card to order a virtual reality headset and had it shipped to a home in Hazelwood, Missouri. The victim reported the theft to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, which conducted a preliminary investigation and then forwarded the information to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
A postal inspector learned that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the home’s occupant sought and obtained work-from-home employment as a “Quality Control Inspector” with Local Post for International Customers LLC or “LocalPost.”
The occupant was paid $20 to photograph a package and its contents and then reship the items to another address using a shipping label provided by LocalPost.
The Hazelwood woman allowed investigators to use her credentials to log on to the LocalPost online dashboard, where records showed 25 packages shipped to the Hazelwood address, including a $1,500 laptop fraudulently purchased with a St. Louis County man’s credit card.
Investigators found multiple links suggesting the scammers were located in Russia.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 64 complaints associated with the scammers. A Texas victim was hired as a “Logistics inspector” by the company Navois USA LLC to make purchases with their own credit card. The victim spent about $32,000 that was not reimbursed.
The Federal Trade Commission received 56 complaints about the websites.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Derek Wiseman is handling the case.
