Consumer Protection Division Warns of New Work-at-Home Scam 

PIERRE, S.D. -    Attorney General Larry Long is warning South Dakotans of a new work-at-home scam that is targeting consumers via their home email. These scammers are targeting students, people who are disabled or handicapped, retirees or those who are more likely to be looking for work they can do from their home computers. 

The email begins by offering the victim a bogus work-at-home bookkeeping job. The offer implies that they are looking for someone in the victim’s hometown or area to work as their representative and assist them in processing payments from their clients. The work is guaranteed and a commission is promised with each transfer. Once the victim has agreed to the new job they will begin receiving checks ranging in amounts from a few thousand to several thousand dollars. The checks are deposited into the victim’s personal or business checking account. The thieves then quickly wire transfer the amount of the check to the payee, minus a small commission. The victim soon learns that the checks are fraudulent, altered or forged, but by then it is too late. Once the scammers have the victim’s bank account information from the wire transfer, they can use those numbers so create a demand draft and withdraw funds without any confirmation.  

“There is no legitimate company that would hire somebody they randomly selected over the internet to transfer money for them,” said Long. “These work-at-home scams have been around for years, but the scam artists are getting more clever and greedy. They no longer want the $30 or $40 they use to scam off unsuspecting victims, they now want thousands of dollars.”  

If you would like additional information about this scam or others please contact the Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or at http://atg.sd.gov/Consumers.aspx.