Special Alert

People are responding to an online job search company that promises approximately $2,500 in "signing bonuses" if they are hired after they file their application online. They promptly receive a check for anywhere from $19,000 to $50,000 from the prospective employer, with instructions to deposit the check into their account, preferably at an ATM, keep $2,000 to $4,000, depending upon the amount of the signing bonus, and wire the rest to a location in Europe.

The checks are fraudulent, some bearing a bank name in St. Petersburg, Florida and the routing number of a bank in Connecticut. Others appear to be drawn on a California Bank. When the fraudulent checks are returned to the depository bank, and charged back, it causes a large overdraft, which most of the time the bank is unable to collect.

If you discover this scheme, contact the FBI. For the nearest office look under http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/info.htm

Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 5, 6/02