5:50pm Monday 3rd January 2011

http://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/8760981.Teenager_s__dream_job__was_a_money_laundering_scam/

A WEAVERHAM teenager became the victim of an international cash scam after he started a dream job advertised online.

The 17-year-old, who doesn’t want to be identified, registered his CV on a number of well known job search sites soon after leaving school in August.

After months trying to find employment he applied for a job as transaction manager, working for a company called Cashflow International.

The teenager, a former Weaverham High School pupil, was never invited for an interview but later found out he had the job with a £40,000 salary, plus bonuses, and was given his first assignment – to transfer £1,500 into the account of an Eastern European software company.

His mother, who also wished to remain anonymous, said she only became suspicious after a cashier refused to carry out the transaction.

She said: “His first job involved having money paid into his back account which he then had to transfer into US dollars and pay into another account.

“He was told to do this at the Co-Operative Travel. When he got there the cashier told him it was possible money laundering.

“When he came home I told him I wasn’t happy about it.

“I tried to find out as much as I possibly could about the company but couldn’t find anything.

“The website looked perfectly legal and he even had a contract of employment.”

The family, now aware that something wasn’t right, contacted the police who froze the teenager’s bank account.

Dennis Crosby, financial investigator for Cheshire Police said this particular case is a classic example of money laundering.

He said: “My advice is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

“That money would have been obtained from a similar act of fraud.

“The company told him if he did the transaction within 15 minutes then he would get a bonus, but this would never have happened.

“They would have carried on with stalling techniques until he’d completed more transactions of money - which could be used to fund international terrorism.

“He isn’t the first victim of this and he won’t be the last. Criminals are exploiting people desperate for work by dangling a carrot in front of them and due to the economic situation people are taking it.”

l If you think you may have been a victim of a similar sort of scam the police want to know. Call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111