Have you received an offer like this? Many job seekers received a similar recruitment email from Enterial.com (“Enterial”), offering a Logistics Manager position, responsible
for receiving deliveries, repackaging the items, and mailing them out to foreign addresses. Recently, multiple individuals “hired” by Enterial contacted Business Consumer Alliance complaining they never got paid. Unfortunately, for these individuals, it looks
like they are victims of a reshipping scam.
Enterial, also operating as RC’s Wholesale Electronics, recruits job seekers who post their resumes on job forums such as Careerbuilder.com and similar sites. The job
seekers are initially offered employment on a 30-day trial basis, where they will reship packages and get paid $1,950 for the month, plus a $160 gas allowance. At the end of the trial period, employees claim they aren’t paid and can no longer reach anyone
at the company to get answers. Sadly, those answers may never come. BCA has contacted Enterial to address complaints and negative reviews, to no avail. Furthermore, the company is not located at the address in Fontana where they claim to conduct business.
It is a clothing store whose real owner had no idea Enterial was using their address.
While offers like the ones made by Enterial can seem like a good way to make easy money, quite often those hired find themselves trapped in a web of deceit and fraud. Reshipping scams (also referred to as “parcel mule” or “postal forwarding” scams) have
been around for years. Here’s how they typically work. Scam artists, posing as real businesses, recruit job seekers by spam email (as illustrated above), by phone, in employment ads or over the Internet, offering work-at-home opportunities. The position
usually has very minimal requirements such as a computer with web access, a working phone, and the availability to be home to accept deliveries. Packages are delivered to the employee’s home, oftentimes under a third party’s name. The shill “employer” may
provide shipping labels to forward the packages abroad or they ask the “employee” to shell out shipping costs, with the promise of reimbursement.
What the unsuspecting employee doesn’t know is that the merchandise is usually purchased with stolen credit cards and the thieves are using them to forward stolen goods. Quite often the scam isn’t uncovered until the employee goes to cash their payroll check—if
payment is received at all—and discovers it’s counterfeit. Not only do they have to worry about not getting paid, but they could be held responsible for shipping charges, the cost of the stolen goods, and face criminal charges for the part they unknowingly
played in the scam. The crooks know that they can’t deliver stolen merchandise to their own location or in their own name, so they use unwary job seekers as mules to get the goods out of the country. When authorities track the scam, the employee is usually
the easiest link to identify in the fraud chain. They are the ones that received the goods at their home and often are the ones listed as the sender on the packing slips.
What can you do if you have accepted a similar job offer? If a package arrives, refuse the parcel and ask that it be returned to the sender. Be sure to file a complaint with BCA so others
can be warned. Because you usually provide your personal identification and social security information when you apply for a job, in addition to your bank account number for payroll direct deposit, you should contact your bank to inform them that your account
may have been compromised in case these swindlers try to use your identification in other schemes.
When seeking employment, be cautious about any unsolicited offers or opportunities offering you the chance to make easy money, especially offers from people or companies overseas. Take steps to verify any company which makes you a job offer and check
their contact details (address, phone number, email address, and web site). Never give your bank details or personal information to anyone unless you know and trust them.
Check out the reliability report on
F-rated Enterial/RC’s Wholesale Electronics to view their complaints and
reviews. Also, click on our Resource Guides for information on
work-at-home employment opportunities.
About the Author
Nicole Pitts is a Senior Business Analyst and Editor for Business Consumer Alliance. She has been with the organization for 12 years and specializes in report writing, business evaluation, and investigations. Nicole corresponds with businesses regarding
complaint trends and provides suggestions to help them alleviate problem areas that may cause concern. She also conducts advertisement reviews, reports on government enforcement actions, and assists government agencies in obtaining information. She enjoys
reading, movies, and spending time with her family. Nicole can be reached by email at npitts@businessconsumeralliance.org.