LONDON, March 15 (UPI) -- Bogus job postings on the Internet are being used as a clearinghouse for stolen goods, the BBC reported Monday.
Using job titles such as "correspondence managers" and "remote assistants," the criminals, often posing as charities recruit people to forward donations made by high-tech firms.
The text on one such ad read: "As we receive donations from all over the world we need assistants who could receive charity, sort, store and make it ready for dispatching to the orphanages, following the instructions of our managers."
Edinburgh student Sebastien Thibault responded to an ad for a "correspondence manager" on the Monster.co.uk Web site in February. Soon after his application was "accepted," parcels started turning up at his home that he was asked to forward to an address in Russia.
He received a Sony DSC-F828 Cyber-shot camera, a Sony Vaio laptop, an MP3 player, a Bluetooth headset and USB storage keys.
He contacted the police, who in turn alerted Britain's National High-Tech Crime Unit.
The scam has been seen in the United States and is included in the FBI's ongoing Operation Cybersweep investigation that targets high-tech crimes.
