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Topic: Banking

Scammers trick users to ship stolen goods

Summary: RSA FraudAction Research Lab has uncovered the workings behind a recent re-shipping scam in which U.S. residents were used as mules to send goods purchased with stolen credit card numbers overseas.

Elinor Mills

By Elinor Mills |

RSA FraudAction Research Lab has uncovered the workings behind a recent re-shipping scam in which U.S. residents were used as mules to send goods purchased with stolen credit card numbers overseas.

Laptops, iPods, iPhones, Nokia smartphones, digital cameras, Sony PlayStation 3 devices and DJ equipment were among the items shipped to addresses in Russia and Belarus.

Here's how the scams work. Criminals get credit card numbers with phishing, Trojan attacks and hacking databases, like that of Heartland Payment Systems and RBS WorldPay. They use the information to make online purchases of items, typically electronics goods that they can resell at a high profit and typically purchased in the U.S. where they are cheaper.

The criminals recruit U.S. residents to receive and re-ship the goods out. Re-shippers are asked to unpack the item from the merchant's box and put it in a plain box, probably so the boxes face less scrutiny at customs, Brady said.

For more, read "RSA reveals details behind re-shipping scam" on CNET News.

Topics: Banking, Security

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6 comments
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  • A society of victims...

    If people stopped being a victim by wanting someone
    to do everything for them.

    Use commonsense, if it is too good to be true then
    it is.

    The entire public Internet is a sewer of sorts
    full of spammers, criminals, and imposters.

    Only fools act naive in using insecure passwords,
    and posting private data all over social networking
    sites.


    If people stopped and thought gee, I am putting
    data all over these social networking sites,
    why does it not go away after I delete it?

    Answer is, you do NOT own it any longer when you
    put it on a public domain.
    linux_kernel
    Reply Vote

  • sad

    people looking for work being used as accesory to a crime.
    Linux Geek
    Reply Vote

    • Google is what is sad.....

      Have you noticed the sheer number of SCAM advertisements that Google accepts money to display on web pages? They should be completely ashamed AND something should be done to stop that. Hair growing, tooth whitening, belly flattening, make thousands per day working from home, earn a law degree while working, save the planet carbon credit scams, relieve your tax burden, fix your credit card debt because "its not YOUR fault" you bought that many overpriced coffees at starbucks .........and on and on and on. Google should be held accountable for this bullsiht. Its even worse when they go around touting that "do no evil" crap. I guess society doesnt consider LIES as evil anymore? THAT is sad.
      VoiceOfLogic
      Reply Vote

      • Don't kill the messenger

        What you say makes sense, but I don't know if
        you want to punish the messenger. When I moved
        to the USA, I came from a country so corrupt,
        that I thought that everything would be honesty
        and rightness at the US. But, alas, then I was
        shocked by all those scams floating around that
        you already listed. Why do those businesses
        flourish? Why do they keep growing? Why there's
        *nobody* to stop them? Is it just that there is
        a lobby in DC supporting them?
        Luis Colorado
        Reply Vote

  • Yet Nothing Happens

    The consumer becomes watched more and more. You cant go into a store these days without cameras, horrible theft-deterrent packaging and eyeballs following you around the place because..... you're guilty until proven innocent these days. Not any different than trying to buy the REAL Sudafed. You have to give up all of your personal information to be entered into a nation crime database, just to clear your allergies. All because we will NOT chase down and imprison these idiots who abuse things and commit crimes.

    I dont know what people are all worried about - when this health care scam gets passed -- we should ALL not pay into it. Nothing is going to happen - they dont chase down the people who dont follow the rules. Everyone should be keen to this by now.
    VoiceOfLogic
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Scammers trick users to ship stolen goods

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