At 34, Esha Roy* found herself suddenly alone.
The mother-of-one had left her abusive husband and taken out an intervention order against him after years of marriage. The couple met in Australia when Ms Roy migrated from India ten years ago. Now living alone with her young son, she had bills to pay and needed work.
She went online and posted her personal information to a government job-seeking website. She didn't have a lot of work experience and wasn't feeling hopeful. She also relied on public transport and couldn't travel far, which limited her options further.
But a few weeks later, a message appeared from an employer that sounded promising. The message, apparently from a reputable and well-known organisation, told her that she there was a vacancy open and gave her instructions on how to apply.
"They said, 'You are qualified for the vacancy we have' and then they mentioned they had a one-month probationary period you could do at home and if they see you are good at what you are doing in the trial period then they can hire you in the office job."
"I was thinking, 'okay, that's good. If I do one month at home and then get paid then I can buy a second-hand car and if I got a job in the office, I can go."
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She Googled the company name and was satisfied it was all above board. "No one can say when they are looking online that it's a fraud," she says - a genuine website appeared for the company.
Ms Roy continued to ask questions back and forth and the following month, she received a call from a Victorian number telling her that her security check and registration had been cleared and her probationary period would begin. She was told that instructions would soon follow about how to carry out her role, as a financial administrator.
"I didn't ask because I didn't have any idea it was a fraud"
She was told that a client of the company was going to put money into her account as payment for a purchase it had made and she would need to transfer the money again.
"I didn't ask, 'Why would you use my account?' I didn't ask because I didn't have any idea it was a fraud. I don't have any connections as well so I couldn't really talk to anyone."
About a month later, $15,000 was deposited into her account and she was sent instructions on how to transfer it.
Ms Roy did not realise it, but she was being used as a mule to launder money.
'Dirty money'
According to Scamwatch, a website operated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, there has been a significant rise in "Jobs and investment" scams reported in September than last year.
The 878 scams reported in September 2015 amounting to $3,229,506 in financial losses compared to 367 reported scams in September last year. The website does not state what portion of the reported scams related to investments and what related to jobs.
The biggest age group represented in the victims is 45-54, while under 18s made up the lowest group.
Have you fallen victim to a scam? Email sylvia.varnham@sbs.com.au
Scamwatch warns on its website that the offers for "jobs" usually come by email but are also often advertised on legitimate job-seeking websites.
They often offer roles as financial assistance, financial managers or transfer managers, which involves receiving money and distributing it into accounts.
"The scammers want you to transfer or 'launder' this 'dirty' money so that you are the one who will be tracked down by the authorities following the money trail from the crime that generated the dirty money," the authority warns.
"Money laundering is a serious crime—you should ignore any offers that require you to transfer money for someone else."
'My brain stopped working'
After transferring $USD5000 to a bank account in Poland, and a second transfer via Western Union, Ms Roy's card was blocked.
She went to the bank and was told that an issue had been identified with her account. Confusion crept in, and then fear.
"They asked some questions about where I’m getting the money and where I am transferring the money but I told the bank what I had been instructed to tell the bank, which is that I am receiving money from a friend or relative and I’m sending money overseas to a friend."
"They said, 'The money you received in your account is stolen money. Whoever is doing it is putting you in a bad position'."
It was only then that she realised it was in a scam.
"When I heard that, 'stolen money,' my brain stopped working," she said.
She started to worry about going to prison and leaving her son behind. "Lots of things were going around in my mind and I couldn’t think," she said.
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Covering tracks
Ms Roy says the worst part about her situation was the fear that gripped her when she realised she was involved in a crime.
She reported the story to police and is unsure whether she will face any charges.
"I am worried but I haven't heard anything from the bank, or from the police," she said.
As she unravelled what had happened, she realised that all the activity could be traced back to her. Her superior had even asked her to set up email addresses on her behalf meaning large swathes of communication and financial transactions were all under her name.
Documents obtained by SBS show the people that approached Ms Roy went under a number of different company names, many of which are large international corporations.
One of the companies, based in Germany, told SBS it was not aware of a scam involving its company name.
Most of the approaches made to potential “employees” included some version of the following statement: “I have carefully studied your CV and identified skills for employment in our company.”
Ms Roy said she knows another woman who fell victim to the same scam and SBS is aware of at least three others who were approached by the scammers but did not take up their offers for employment.
Ms Roy said many vulnerable people, including new migrants or people unfamiliar with the workforce, were at risk.
"They [the scammers] are ruining innocent people's lives," she said.
"I'm already in a difficult situation. They are choosing people like that and they are creating problems in innocent people's lives."
"I want to inform everyone of these kind of scams so they don't be a victim like me."
*Name has been changed.
If you would like to report a scam, contact Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network or Scamwatch
Readers seeking support and information can contact the National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Mensline on1300 78 99 78
