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Several people based in Durham operated a number of companies offering home-working schemes and trading under various different names. The companies were designed to look unassociated; they appeared to operate from premises at different locations around the country but they all purported to offer work for members of the public as “envelope fillers” for national mail order companies.
They placed advertisements in local newspapers throughout the country offering the opportunity to work from home. People who responded to a telephone number in the advertisement obtained a recorded message asking them to leave their personal details. Information about the home working scheme and an application form was then received in the post. On average 25,000 letters per month were sent out to prospective candidates and the remainder were sent to unsolicited addressees.
People who applied to join the scheme were required to pay an up-front fee. This ranged from ten first-class postage stamps to £30, depending on which company was being responded to. When the payment was sent by post, the Post Office was instructed to divert all mail to a central company operated by the fraudsters.
In return for their money, applicants received a document in the form of a booklet which instructed them how to recruit more people to the scheme and make their network larger. The booklet also promoted other home-working companies operated by the offenders and which also ask for advance payments. Many applicants didn’t receive any reply at all.
This criminal enterprise was active for at least two years and during that time tens of thousands of people responded and sent money. Hundreds of complaints were received by Police and Trading Standards throughout the country. In total it is suspected that the offenders have fraudulently acquired approximately £600,000.
Even if the amounts are small, be wary of an offer of work which requires you to pay a fee up front. Genuine and respectable employers have no need to do this.
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