Reshipping and "payment agent" jobs: the work-from-home offer that turns you into a money mule
A work-from-home job that asks you to receive packages and re-mail them, or to let payments pass through your own bank account, is a reshipping or money-mule scam. The goods are stolen, the pay is fake, and the legal risk lands on you. Here is how it works and the free rule that stops it.
A reshipping or money-mule scam doesn’t ask you to pay — it asks you to forward. The pitch is an easy work-from-home role: receive a few packages and re-mail them, or “process payments” by letting money pass through your bank account. What you’re really doing is moving stolen goods and laundering stolen money for someone you’ll never meet — and you’re the one whose name is on the shipping label and the bank record.
How the scam works
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service describes two linked versions — reshipping and money muling — that often overlap:
- The too-easy hire. You’re recruited fast through a job site, email, or chat, often with a real-sounding company name (sometimes name-dropping Amazon, UPS, USPS, or FedEx) to seem legitimate. There’s little or no real interview.
- The task. You’re told to receive packages and “quality-check” then re-mail them to another address — sometimes overseas — or to receive payments and forward most of the money on, keeping a cut as “commission”.
- The hidden truth. The merchandise is “bought with stolen credit cards or counterfeit money orders”, and the money you move comes “from victims of fraud”. You are the laundering step that puts distance between the criminal and the crime.
- The non-payday. Your promised salary often never comes — or arrives as a counterfeit check you’re told to deposit and partly forward. When it bounces, you owe the bank, and any reversed transfer is on you too.
The fact that cuts through it: a legitimate employer never routes other people’s packages or money through your home and your bank account. That is the job here — and that’s the crime.
How to spot it
The tells are in the box below, but the cluster to watch for is: an unsolicited “easy” job + your main task is to receive and forward packages or money + a paycheck that comes as a check to deposit-and-send-back. Packages addressed to names that aren’t yours are a flashing red light.
What to do instead
You don’t need to spend anything to stay clear — the free move comes first (see the defense box). The habit is Never Be the Middle: refuse any job whose real task is to receive and pass on packages, payments, or “processed” money, and verify the employer independently before anything moves. The closely related “deposit this check and send some back” trap is covered in the fake-check job scam, and the “top up to unlock your earnings” version in the task scam. If you’ve already shared personal details, see what to do after a data breach. For more, see our defense moves and the 60-second quiz.
- The "job" mainly involves receiving packages and re-mailing them, or receiving money and forwarding it on.
- You're hired fast with no real interview, and the "employer" name-drops a big brand (Amazon, UPS, USPS, FedEx) to look legitimate.
- Packages are addressed to other names, or your "salary" is a check you're told to deposit and partly forward.
- No real job routes other people's packages or money through you. If you're the middle step, walk away.
- Never re-mail packages or forward payments for an employer you can't independently verify — the goods are usually bought with stolen cards.
- Don't deposit a "paycheck" and send part of it on. Counterfeit checks bounce weeks later and you owe every dollar.
- Research the company yourself before anything moves. If you've already shared your ID or bank details, treat it as possible identity theft.
What makes this one cruel is that it doesn't feel like a scam from the inside — you're not handing over money, you're 'working'. But that's the design: the criminal needs a real person with a real address and a real bank account to absorb the risk, and that person is you. So the rule I'd give anyone job-hunting is blunt: if a job's actual task is to receive and pass on other people's packages or money, it isn't a job — it's a liability with a paycheck attached.
Sources
Frequently asked
I'm just receiving and forwarding packages — how is that a scam, or my problem?
The packages are typically merchandise "bought with stolen credit cards or counterfeit money orders", per the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. By reshipping them you move stolen goods on the criminal's behalf, which exposes you to liability — and your "paycheck" can be counterfeit too, leaving you owing the bank.
Could I really get in legal trouble for a job I thought was real?
Yes. The Postal Inspection Service warns that "transferring money/valuables on behalf of others only benefits criminals and may lead to serious consequences for the 'mule'." Not realizing it was a scam does not make you a safe middleman — it makes you the traceable one left holding stolen goods or reversed funds.
I already shipped packages or forwarded money. What now?
Stop immediately and cut all contact with the "employer". Don't send anything else. Report it to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (uspis.gov/report or 877-876-2455) and the FTC. If you shared a bank account, Social Security number, or a copy of your ID, treat it as identity theft: alert your bank and consider a free credit freeze.