Today, like every day, I got a couple hundred spam e-mails. I generally don’t read any of them, but sometimes I do, just to see what the crooks are up to. They’re up to something nasty, as it turns out.

From: Araceli@maxthon.com
Subject: Career opportunity from RTI-group
Date: September 6, 2006 3:26:59 PM CDT
To: sean@gleeson.us

Due to the extensive growth of globalization and internalization trends in the financial services markets all over the world RAPID TRANSFER Group is engaging enterprising, honest, communicative and responsible people to fill the position of Financial Intermediary… [blah, blah, blah, about 400 words excised] …you don’t need any special education in the field of finances; the working process will take approximately two hours of your time per day; you may engage in other business activities; you will start working immediately after filling in the Form (as a rule, within 1-3 days); as a financial intermediary, you can make from 2000 to 6000 USD per month…

The “Reshipper Scam” is nothing new. (The scammers lure victims with offers of easy money. They kite a check to their victim, who then sends funds to an overseas bank account. The victim loses everything when the kited check bounces.) But these guys are the slickest reshipper operation I’ve seen. They’ve actually bought several dot-com domains (here, here, and here), and put up corporate-looking websites, peppered with nice little touches to make them seem legitimate. I especially like the “20 year anniversary” graphic — for a “company” that just sprang into being last month!

I wanted to report these guys before anyone falls for their scheme. The federal government has an Internet Crime Complaint Center, with a form to report Internet frauds such as this. But I can’t use it, because it is only set up for folks who have already been swindled. The fields ask me to specify how I have been victimized in this incident. But I haven’t been! Isn’t there another form somewhere, a “stop these crooks before they victimize somebody” form?

Oh, well. Maybe somebody will think to Google “Rapid Transfer International” before losing his life’s savings, and find this page. Maybe.

UPDATE SEPT. 12: This post has prevented at least one crime.