Re-shipping scams dupe Bay Area residents

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Deputies in Pasco County say they’re seeing a spike in “re-shipping scams.”

In a recent case, a woman in Holiday, who asked to remain anonymous, says she was looking to earn extra cash when she unknowingly got herself involved.

“It really upsets me these people have hard earned money and people are stealing it from under them,” the woman said.  

Here's how the scams work.

Generally, merchandise is bought using a stolen credit card. It's then shipped to someone who thinks they're doing legitimate work. That person then re-ships it to someone else, and so on, until the items make their way out of the country.

All the shipping back and forth makes tracking almost impossible.

”Really what you're doing is shipping stolen merchandise,” said Pasco detective Shawn Rozankowski. “If something seems too good to be true, it really is."

One of the vacuum cleaners that woman reshipped was bought in Steven Salmons’ name. He lives in Hernando County and says he didn't buy it.

”I’d like to string them up. It's hurting the legitimate people out there,” Salmons said.

The Pasco woman never made the $500 a week she was promised and now she says the alleged scammers have her credit card info, social security number and driver's license.