Better Business Bureau in Western Michigan (BBB®) is warning job seekers of a business using a Michigan address to appear legitimate. Turbo Quad Post claims it offers services including package forwarding. Its website lists an address in Cadillac, but according to Haring Township records, no such location exists. 

 

Employment scams are one of the top 3 scams targeting consumers, according to the 2021 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report. It has been one of the riskiest for consumers for the past 5 years. 

 

"Be wary when a company reaches out to you with a job offer without an interview, as it is likely a scam,” says Lisa Frohnapfel, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau in Western Michigan. “Do more research about the company before accepting the offer. If the job requires little work for a lot of pay, walk away.”

 

Recent complaints to the BBB Scam Tracker tell a similar story. Victims claim scammers are reaching out to job seekers looking for remote work on popular employment websites. Potential employees are contacted by text message, asked to watch a short video, then asked to send personal sensitive information for a background check. Victims are told they passed almost immediately and are hired on the spot. The job description consisted of receiving packages at home, checking the items for damage, then reshipping them. Victims are offered thousands of dollars in salary, plus extra compensation for each package processed. But, once it is time to get paid, employees say communication is cut off, and they never receive the pay they are expecting. 

 

BBB has received numerous complaints about this job scam since June. So far, each victim has lost personal identifiable information to the company, and did work for free, but did not lose any of their own money. 

 

"In addition to losing your private information, people caught up in these reshipping jobs are often helping the scammers victimize others,” says Frohnapfel. “The items received in these reshipping scams are usually purchased with stolen credit cards. These “employees” become a middle-man to help get the stolen products to the scammers.”