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Apple Used In Money Laundering Scam
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-09-21
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Apple has been victimized by job recruitments for freelance financial representatives in Europe that lead to a counterfeit Apple reseller site.
 | | Apple Used In Money Laundering Scam |  |
Pity the poor criminal, with his ill-gotten gains and no way to spend them directly. He has to turn to others whose greed exceeds their common sense, give up a percentage of his take, and wait for them to send the money back.
The Internet has made it easy for these criminals to recruit people who, outside of their agreeing to be a "freelance financial representative," are otherwise not within the regular scope of law enforcement.
McAfee Avert Labs blogger Francois Paget found an advertisement for one of these schemes from a surprising source: an Apple reseller in Great Britain.
"I followed the link and arrived at the offer," said Paget. "No doubt, I reached a money mule recruiting site." Paget quickly found a second site, which like the first was a perfect imitation of an Apple reseller's web presence.
Paget also found a phone number that led to a friendly answering machine. "A phone number is not like an anonymous e-mail address. Its owners should be spotted," Paget said.
Possibly, but with the advent of VoIP, it is also likely the details behind the phone number, like the ones behind the fake Apple reseller sites, contain the usual assortment of fake names and addresses one expects to see in these types of scams.
Those who might be tempted by these money laundering schemes should consider the possible punishments.
In the US, doing anything to move money away from where the IRS can see it makes the tax agency very concerned. Just witness online gambling and how the US acts to block it as an example. Federal prosecution is no fun for anyone, especially the defendant.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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