The parcel mule scam, also known as the reshipping scam, involves scammers and unsuspecting victims handling goods to other countries. In some ways it is similar to the

money mule Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

scam. Scammers use fake advertising to hire mules. Items are bought with stolen cards, and since the goods are typically re-sold once shipped, this scam can be viewed as an indirect form of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

Premise

In the parcel mule scam, scammers often attract their victims under the guise of a bogus work-from-home opportunity, although other angles, such as a

romance scam A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretenses or to commit fraud ag ...

may be used to lure victims. Victims begin to receive packages, often with high value contents (such as consumer electronics or designer clothes and shoes) at the address they provided the scammer. The goods in the packages are either fraudulently bought (for example, with a stolen credit card or bank account) or are stolen or counterfeit goods. They are then asked to repackage the item(s) and send them to another address, which may or may not be an international address. Often this new address belongs to another victim or a person who is directly involved in the scam. By routing the packages through many different people, the original scammer(s) become difficult to track down. After the package is sent to another address and proof is sent to the scammer, the victim may be offered monetary compensation. Although the victim may be offered money, this scam often operates in tandem with either a

cheque fraud Cheque fraud (Commonwealth English), or check fraud (American English), refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of cheques in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balan ...

scam (where the check or money transfer the victim receives is fraudulent) or an

advance-fee scam An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the frauds ...

(if the victim is required to pay up front for costs, such as postage, with the promise of reimbursement). This scam can also operate alongside a

scam, where the victim is transferred money (often from an untraceable source, such as a wire transfer) and told to keep a portion of the money while wiring the rest of the funds to someone else (either another victim or a scammer). In any case where funds are illegally obtained, the victim will also be liable for the full amount of money if the check or wire transfer they are given is reversed. It is also possible that the victim's personal information, such as address or bank account information, may be exposed. Authorities generally advise that anyone who suspects that they are a victim of a parcel mule scam to report it to the authorities. People involved in reshipping scams, whether or not they are a willing accomplice, can potentially be charged with several felonies. Authorities also caution consumers not to accept a job offer that requires them to reship goods, not to accept packages at their address from people they don't know, and if strange packages do arrive at their address, not to reship them to another address.

Example

One famous scam was organized under the "Air Parcel Express" corporate name. Criminals purchased items in the United States and sent them via mules to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, where they were then sold. Items included

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s, and

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

References

Illegal occupations Fraud Money laundering Carding (fraud) {{crime-stub