Fraudsters use online job sites to recruit money launderers

Some online job search users have been reporting they've found a whole new career through the services – from casual job hunter to unwitting money launderer.

Popular net jobs boards like Monster and HotJobs have been used by gangsters to recruit individuals to launder money internationally. The job hunters thought they were processing payments for software sales but were actually laundering the proceeds of criminal gangs, according to reports.

The supposed payments for software were 'transferred' via the job hunters' PayPal accounts, with the fraudsters telling their patsies that some customers could only pay by the online service. Sums of money would turn up in the PayPal accounts and the accidental money launderers forwarded it out of the country to the waiting criminals.

One unlucky would-be teleworker told the New York Times that she only discovered the real nature of her employment when PayPal suspended her accounts over fraudulent transactions and she was stung for a $2,000 credit card bill.

Although the victim was promised she'd be able to keep a percentage of the funds she processed – she didn't, receiving only a bill for the PayPal fees for the fraudulent transaction.

The sites in question have since removed the dodgy ads but with such a lucrative business at stake, expect to see the 'recruitment notices' turning up elsewhere.