Accused of Reshipping Scams? How a NY Defense Lawyer Can Help
Involvement with a reshipping scam can lead to federal charges for mail fraud and, often, computer crimes and other related offenses. Reshipping fraud can result in a federal indictment on multiple criminal counts, any one of which could mean decades imprisonment. A defendant accused of involvement with reshipping scams can also face state charges.
Bukh Law Firm, PLLC provides legal representation to clients accused of involvement with many different types of fraud, including fraud in connection with career opportunity scams and reshipping scams. Our criminal defense team has a solid background in fighting aggressively for our clients, even in tough cases. Give us a call today if you have been accused of reshipping fraud to learn about your options and about how we can help you.
What is Reshipping Fraud?
According to the U.S. Postal Service, reshipping fraud scams begin when valuable merchandise is purchased using stolen credit cards. The merchandise is set to the home of a reshipper, who is often not aware the merchandise was unlawfully purchased. The reshipper then mails the package to those orchestrating the scam. In many cases, the reshipped items are sent outside of the county.
Reshipping fraud has become widespread, with major companies including Amazon and eBay being targeted in reshipping scams. Often, job postings on legitimate websites are used to recruit people to serve as re-shippers. A work at home job or other job ad is placed offering people money for receiving and resending the packages. Job-seekers apply and complete the shipment without realizing that they are participating in a criminal act.
Penalties for a Reshipping Scam
Involvement with a reshipping scam can make you liable for all wrongful acts you commit as well as for any wrongful acts committed by your co-conspirators. This means you could be charged with credit card fraud crimes in connection with the use of the stolen card, or with identity theft crimes if someone’s personal information is misused to purchase the merchandise.
You could also be charged with computer crimes or Internet fraud for posting job ads recruiting people to reship items, and with mail fraud because reshipping scams involve the use of the postal service in the scheme. The Internet is often used to order merchandise or recruit shippers, so a wire fraud charge is a possibility, and a financial institution may be defrauded as a result of the use of stolen credit card or stolen bank information. This could mean a charge of bank fraud.
Many of these federal charges, like mail and wire fraud, can result in a maximum prison sentence of two decades incarceration, or 30 years incarceration when a financial institution is defrauded. It is possible a defendant could be indicted on multiple federal charges, simply for participation in one reshipping scam. It is also possible a defendant could face fraud, identity theft, and computer crimes charges under NY penal law.
The seriousness of the charges and the penalties require aggressive and strategic action when you have been accused of involvement in a scam.
How a NY Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Defend You Against Reshipping Fraud Charges
Defendants who have been accused of breaking state or federal laws in connection with a reshipping scam must understand what their options are for protecting themselves from a lengthy jail term. Responses to criminal charges can include pleading not guilty or pleading guilty. A not guilty plea may be appropriate if you believe a prosecutor will be unable to prove every element of the crimes you’ve been accused of, beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bukh Law Firm, PLLC aims to help you introduce doubt, or otherwise raise defenses to try to avoid conviction. We can also negotiate a plea agreement on your behalf or work to get the charges dropped or case dismissed in the face of insufficient evidence. To learn more and to fight against accusations related to reshipping fraud, contact our experienced legal team today.
