EXT. A SEEDY CITY NEIGHBORHOOD, NIGHT 202 INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE (V.O.) Work-at-home scams have been around for decades. It used to be that crooks advertised for these scams in newspapers. Or posted signs on telephone poles. "Make money stuffing envelopes at home." "Earn hundred of dollars a week from the comfort of your living room." But now even the crooks have gotten high tech. They post these bogus offers on websites. The newest wrinkle to this scam is called "reshipping fraud." The scam is simple. Crooks steal credit-card numbers, order expensive stuff on the Net, and then have it shipped to their victims. The victim receives the merchandise and then reships it to the crook, thinking they're providing a legitimate service. What they don't tell you is that it can also make you an accomplice to the crime. INT. SUBURBAN HOME KATIE HUDSON Coming! Hold on! I'll be right back. POLICEWOMAN #1 I'm Detective Danielson with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office. Are you Katherine Hudson? KATIE HUDSON I am. Is there something wrong? POLICEWOMAN #1 I have a warrant for your arrest for grand theft larceny. I need you to step outside. KATIE HUDSON Wait, I don't understand. What's this all about? Wait. What? This is not right. You're making a mistake. EXT. A SEEDY CITY NEIGHBORHOOD INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE (V.O.) This kind of work-at-home scam is brand-new. Most local cops haven't run up against it yet. When it became obvious that this was only part of a much larger mail fraud, they called us in. 204 INT. USPIS OFFICE — DAY 204 INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Now, I know you told your story. But let's start again at the beginning. KATIE HUDSON I mean, things can get pretty boring at home. So I just went online and found this Website. It had all these ads on there for people who wanted to work from home. They were looking for people, umm, to receive shipments and forward them on to other people. It seemed harmless. EXT. A SEEDY CITY NEIGHBORHOOD INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Goddard, our guy just showed. Nerdy-looking guy about late 20s. Army jacket. Step on it. He's not gonna wait around forever. (She watches guy get his mail) INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Alan, how close are you? INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Michele, I don’t know. There's something up ahead. An accident or something. Just hang tight. (Yelling out of car window) Hey, I gotta get around! I'm a Postal Inspector. I got an emergency. INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Alan, he's making a move. I'm gonna stall him. INSPECTOR ALAN GODDARD Michele, do not move. Follow protocol and wait for me. (She runs inside post office.) INT. POST OFFICE INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Hi. Nice night, huh? Did you see that accident? It took me about a half an hour to get three blocks. SUSPICIOUS GUY Uh-huh. Yeah. INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Do you come here often? I've never seen you around here before. I'm just trying to be friendly. SUSPICIOUS GUY I have all the friends I need. Excuse me. INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE Hold it. I'm a postal inspector. Put your stuff down. Put your packages down now! SUSPICIOUS GUY These are my packages. I paid for them. Those are my boxes. INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE I know they're yours. Put them down on the counter now! EXT. SEEDY NEIGHBORHOOD INSPECTOR BILL DAVIS Reshipping is just the newest wrinkle in a line of scams that goes back nearly a century. The ads promise big money working part time at home. INT. POLICE STATION INSPECTOR MICHELLE NIECE You can pay 100 bucks for materials for a craft business at home. They'll send you $10 in ice-cream sticks, some photocopied instructions on how to make picture frames. (EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD) INSPECTOR BILL DAVIS Usually, they deliver little or nothing. (INT. POLICE STATION) INSPECTOR MICHELE NIECE And then there's my personal favorite. This one said you can make $1,000 a month stuffing envelopes. Almost none of these work-at-home offers are legit. (EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD) INSPECTOR IN CHARGE BILL DAVIS These days, the Internet makes it even easier for these thieves to recruit new victims. They send their ads out to millions using email or post them on job-seekers Websites. In some cases, they're really just after the type of personal information you're commonly required to give in a job application. They can use this to steal your identity. Avoiding these frauds really isn't too difficult. Just follow these tips. One. Closely examine the ad or offer. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Two. Don't fill out a job application or give other personal information to a company or business that isn't known to you. Three. Be suspicious of any offer that doesn't pay a regular salary or involves overseas companies. There is no legitimate job receiving and forwarding packages. Four. If you're in doubt, check with your state attorney general's office or the local Better Business Bureau before accepting any employment offer. And if you think you've been the victim of these scams, you need to report it to your local United States Postal Inspector. You can find one in your phone book or on our website, USPS.COM/POSTALINSPECTORS Reshipping may be the latest thing in fraud, but old-fashioned common sense is the best medicine for prevention.