What a Pal????
by Gary Woods

For those of you looking for work there’s an online scam of which you need to be aware. The job offer involves soliciting people who have had experience using PayPal. The ad goes on to say that they would like to hire people to use their own PayPal accounts to facilitate sales for customers who allegedly have no other way to transfer funds.

One documented case involved the victim answering a Monster.com job ad from a company called Insync Soft that claimed to be based in Prague, in the Czech Republic. The company promised to pay 10% on any transactions the person facilitated.

The job seeker had to set up and use his own PayPal account and send Insync Soft payment and log-on information. The real problem of course, was that the applicant had to use his own credit card and bank accounts to guarantee the PayPal account.

The victim of this scam received credit card payments from “customers” to the PayPal account, and then sent the money out of the county by an untraceable Western Union cash transaction.

Once the money had been withdrawn and sent, there was a charge-back from the credit card company because the credit cards were stolen. Charge-backs usually occur when the credit card company contests a charge because of non-shipment, misrepresentation, or occasionally fraud. The credit card company then asked PayPal for the money, and I think you’ve got the whole thing in a nutshell.

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910