Online job seeker says she was duped into scam

[dArKeR]

By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 6:27 p.m. ET July 12, 2004

Bobbie Jean thought she had finally found work when she answered an online classified ad last fall for an overseas firm. Instead, within weeks of her hiring, she was arrested at her local bank, charged with a felony, and is currently facing an August trial date in a Harris County, Texas court. Bobbie Jean now says she was tricked into helping an international fraud ring to move stolen money out of the country.

Fraudulent ads on online job sites are not new. But expert Pam Dixon, who has studied the phenomenon, says this is the first case she's heard of where the alleged victim was actually arrested as an accomplice to a crime.

The 51-year-old Bobbie Jean, who requested through her attorney that her last name not be published, is a former accountant who had been unemployed for several months when she responded to an ad on CareerBuilder.com. When she was hired, she was told to collect payments from clients in the United States and wire the money to London. 

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5424542/

Nobody in the Bush Crime Family or the GOP Crime Family look for jobs on the internet so it doesn't matter to them to do anything to help out American citizens.

[JaySherman]

1. This is so sad.

I hate it when people who are unwitting accomplices to a crime get the book thrown at them. These people are victims not criminals.

On the other hand, she should have used some common sense. I'd be instantly suspicious touch any job that required wiring money from country to country. Then again, in the current economic climate, you do what you have to.

In the end, yet another victim of Bushonomics. My heart goes out to her.

:mad:

[acmavm]

2. Stupid yes, but comparable in my mind to asking for illegal donations

from corporations like Enron and laundering the money and then illegally using it to influence and rig the Texas political system.

[RebelOne]

3. I got a Nigerian scam letter.

He wanted me to collect money from someone in the U.S., deposit it in my account, take 5% and then wire him the balance. I am sure that some gullible person will eventually fall for it.

[wackywill]

4. Look

for this to eventually get to civil court with Bobbie Jean as the plantiff and the internet job site as the defendant. I haven't seen the ad but an unemployed person can easily become desperate enough to set aside normal good judgement and accept anything a potential employer is saying at face value. I wish her luck in this one. My next thought is what is the US Govt doing to prosecute the "employer"? Maybe bushco could do a preemptive strike in London.

[MadHound]

5. Please, don't excuse throwing common sense out the window

Yes, she got scammed, yes, she was desperate. But being unemployed and desperate is not an excuse for throwing common sense out the window, no matter how long you've been out of a job. I've been out of a job for years, I've known others out of a job for years, yet we didn't fall for these types of scams then or now. Any overseas based employment is quite frankly suspect, and should be thoroughly checked out. This woman didn't do her research and paid for it. I don't agree she should get the book thrown at her, but her circumstances shouldn't excuse her lack of judgement. If you give her a pass, what about the next person, who is fully cognizant of the scam, yet participates in it willingly, only to claim desperation later on when they get popped? Bad judgement is at the root of a lot of crimes, yet these crimes are prosecuted anyway, why should this one get a pass?

And you're correct, she will probably take Career Builders to civil court. But if she can't prove that CB isn't taking reasonable measures to prevent these scams(which it sounds like they are), then she shouldn't get a thing. Once again, it is up to the individual to use their own best judgement. Any employment that involves sending money overseas should automatically raise a red flag. The vast majority of people in this country don't fall for these scams, why should a few benefit from their own stupidity?

[dArKeR]

6. I don't agree with your post. I do know people who actually have been out

of work for a long time. I see their daily desperation. Falling behind with every check that the bank overdraft protects. Every month the VISA card has more fiance charges. The landlord calling for back rent.

I wonder if you really actually know any person in these situations?

People begging for work and trying to hold some esteem in front of their children!

The people I know would almost do anything that wasn't a violent crime of obvious stealing to try to bring honor back to their lives. I can see how a person could 'lose rational judgement' after years of these humilating economic conditions.

[MadHound]

7. I know better what this woman is going through

Than probably 90% of the people on this board. You see, I've been unemployed for years, I've been homeless, I've been so very desperate, and trying to hang onto any shred of dignity that I possibly could. And you know what, I also kept my head about me, and didn't fall into a trap that would put me into an even worse situation.

It is called using common sense friend. If you see something that looks too good to be true, it probably is. If you see something that could very well be a shady deal, it probably is. A BIG red flag is any entry level job that requires you to wire money overseas, or to receive money from overseas. It is a sign you should do some research and check the company out. A quick trip to the library and a phone call to the Better Business Bureau is fast and easy for anyone to do.

And I'm not alone in using the common sense that God gave me. After I was back on my feet, I volunteered in a crisis counciling/emergency housing shelter, and talked with many people who were as desperate as this woman was. None of them fell for these scams. Unemployment agencies publish warnings about these scams. The information is out there if one bothers to check. Yet this woman apparently took none of these basic precautions.

I feel for this woman, she has dug herself one hell of a hole, I hope she gets herself out of it. But it was her own lack of good judgement and common sense that got her where she is. It is a nice ideal to think that every job offer is genuine and above board, but if you spend anytime on the lower rungs of the social ladder, you quickly realize that there are bottom feeding predators there too. Thus, you have to be intelligent, and use good judgement. Hopefully this woman has learned her lesson, and will be more careful next time.

[amazona]

9. i think i have to agree with madhound

The lady knew she didn't have a $9,000 motorcycle when she collected the money. She is a willing participant in fraud.

[TiredTexan]

12. The problem with this entire scenario is that

in order to be convicted of fraud, a criminal must form a subjective intent to defraud. This principle is known as "mens rea," Latin for the "guilty mind." This woman, obviously not the brightest bulb on the tree, appears to be just another victim of the fraud, and not a perpetrator. As such, she did not form the necessary intent sufficient for conviction and will likely be acquitted.

In my opinion, (having practiced law, some criminal, for 15 years) this prosecutor is abusing his prosecutorial discretion. Stupidity, while problematic, is not a crime.

While I understand your position, I think you're blaming the victim because she's demonstrated a lack of intelligence and common sense. Fortunately, neither of these deficiencies is a crime in any US state or territory, and should not become one under any system of jurisprudence. And even more fortunately, juries tend to have more compassion than to convict in these cases.

I'd rather be kind than right here, and some compassion seems in order.

[Bo]

10. Import Export

Which I have done for years requires sending money overseas all the time formally and informally ala westernunion. Whats the big deal?
The prosecutor is an asshole.

[MadHound]

11. Yes, but was your initial duties

Involving wire transfers and product that you didn't know of? Was your company well known, either nationally, or at least locally? Was all of your business conducted strictly over the phone or email?

It's all about paying attention to the warning signs, this woman didn't.

[Bo]

13. I could place a ad in the paper....

and have over 50 calls and I could say to them do you mind picking up money and wiring it to me in Peru or Colombia or Ecuador? And how many people do you know investigate potential employers?

[TahitiNut]

8. If she were younger, she could have joined the military.

The Busholini Regime seems to depend on economic coercion and exploitation far, far more than "patriotism." It's a buyer's market for cannon fodder, it seems. After all, after 8-10 years many can go 'private' and earn $100,000/year tax-free. Such a deal. Where can a high school graduate with a good trigger finger find a better career path?