TV SATELLITE FEED: Attorney General Corbett Cautions Graduates and Other Consumers...

TV SATELLITE FEED: Attorney General Corbett Cautions Graduates and Other
Consumers About Internet Job Scams

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attorney General Tom
Corbett will discuss a recent increase in Internet job scams during a
satellite feed today, Monday, May 18, at 10:30 a.m.

The satellite feed will include Attorney General Corbett discussing various
job scams being targeted at Pennsylvania residents, along with related b-roll
video. A full press release follows.

DATE: Monday, May 18th, 2009
TIME: 10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. (Eastern)
SATELLITE: AMC - 5 (KU-Band - DIGITAL)
TRANSPONDER: K 08
CHANNEL: A (9Mhz)
SYM RATE: 6.380 msps
FEC: 5/6
BIT RATE: 9.799346
DOWNLINK POL: Horizontal
DOWNLINK FREQ: 11912.50 MHz
AUDIO: 6.2 / 6.8
TROUBLE: 717-772-4282

Attorney General Corbett Cautions Graduates and Other Consumers About Internet
Job Scams

HARRISBURG -- Attorney General Tom Corbett today cautioned college and high
school graduates, along with other consumers seeking work, to be wary of
Internet job scams.

"It is important for all Pennsylvania residents to be watchful for online job
scams, especially young people looking for part-time or summer work," Corbett
said. "Falling for these schemes will not only leave you unemployed, but
victims can also lose thousands of dollars and find themselves targeted by
identity thieves."

Corbett said that con artists typically use Internet postings or websites like
Craigslist to publish ads that offer high pay for part-time employment,
including work as personal assistants, 'mystery shoppers' and check
processors.

The exact wording of these scams can vary greatly, but all of the offers have
common themes:
-- They offer "easy money" for little work.
-- Consumers work from home, rather than an office.
-- It is difficult to meet your "employer" in-person, often
because they travel frequently or are based overseas.
-- And consumers need to respond very quickly.

Corbett said that the most important element in all of these scams is that
consumers will eventually be asked to wire-transfer money to another person:
-- Personal assistants may be asked to pay bills for the
'employer'.
-- Check processors may think they are handling payments for an overseas
business.
-- 'Mystery Shoppers' may believe they are evaluating stores that
deal with wire transfers.

"In reality, victims are depositing counterfeit checks or money orders into
their bank accounts and then wire-transferring that money to scam artists
overseas," Corbett said. "Eventually, these bogus checks will be returned and
banks will require consumers to repay any funds they withdrew."

Corbett said that consumers should always be wary of online job offers that
seem "too good to be true," especially any situation where you are being asked
to wire-transfer money to someone you do not know.

Suspected scams can be reported to the national Internet Crime Complaint
Center, at www.ic3.gov.

Complaints can also be filed with the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer
Protection at www.attorneygeneral.gov(Click on the "Complaints" button on the
front page of the website and select the "Consumer Complaint Form").

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, Deputy Press Secretary for Pennsylvania Attorney
General Corbett, +1-717-787-5211, or cell, +1-717-319-2252,
nhf@attorneygeneral.gov