Additionally, The FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) warn consumers about work-at home scams that are designed by criminals to gain the trust of job seekers in order to further illegal activity. Unfortunately, many victims do not realize they are engaging in criminal behavior until it is too late.

In many of the reported scams, victims are often hired to "process payments," "transfer funds," or "reship products." However, these scams exploit unwitting employees by asking them to cash fraudulent checks, transfer illegally obtained funds for the criminals, or receive stolen merchandise and ship it to the criminals.

Other scams entice victims to sign up to be a "mystery shopper," receiving fraudulent checks with instructions to cash the checks and wire the funds to "test" a company’s services. Victims are told they will be compensated with a portion of the merchandise or funds.

Job scams also often provide criminals the opportunity to commit identity theft when victims provide their personal information, sometimes even bank account information, to their potential "employer." The criminal/employer can then use the victim’s information to open credit cards, post on-line auctions, register Web sites, etc., in the victim’s name to commit additional crimes.

For more information on e-scams, please visit the FBI's New E-Scams and Warnings Web page at www.fbi.gov or www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.