Red Deer: A Red Deer woman who posted her résumé online has reported being approached by two different companies that attempted to involve her in money exchange transactions. The woman was hired by a company that claimed to be based out of the United States; the company offered her a job working from home in a customer service position, then asked her to use her personal bank account to funnel electronic money transfers.

The woman reported the incident to RCMP because of the suspicious nature of the requests; she was not defrauded of money. However, a second company soon contacted her, asking her to do similar work; this company claimed to be based in Russia and also approached her as a result of her online résumé.

RCMP would like to remind people to carefully screen any online employment offers they may receive, and not to get involved with a company until you are certain it is legitimate. No legitimate business will ask an individual to use their personal bank account for company business.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website contains useful information on how victims can avoid getting unintentionally involved in criminal money laundering, including reports that criminals have targeted job seekers in Canada, the USA and the UK in order to recruit them as money laundering mules. The criminals post or email fake job offers under a variety of titles, including customer service positions or titles such as “money transfer agent” or “payment processing agent.” They ask employees to receive large sums of money in their personal bank accounts and to then make international wire transfers of the money. They offer employees a small portion of the money as payment.