Fake Courier Job Reshipping Scams (Parcel Mules)
Criminals recruit victims as 'package managers' or home-based couriers, using them to receive, repackage, and reship fraudulently purchased goods to conceal the crime trail.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
What this scam is
Fake courier job reshipping scams recruit individuals — typically people responding to remote job advertisements — to act as unwitting intermediaries in a goods-trafficking chain. The recruited person, known as a reshipping mule or parcel mule, receives parcels at their home address containing goods purchased with stolen credit card details, repackages them, and ships them to a foreign destination using a courier service. They are paid a commission for each parcel handled.
The recruited individual is typically unaware — or willfully chooses not to investigate — that the goods they are receiving and reshipping were bought fraudulently. From the fraudster's perspective, the reshipping mule's home address serves as a domestic receiving point that hides the international destination and creates distance between the fraud and the criminal network.
This scam connects directly to two other serious crimes: payment card fraud (the goods were purchased using stolen card details) and receiving stolen goods. Participants who continue after warning signs emerge may face criminal liability, asset seizure, and difficulty clearing their name with retailers, couriers, and law enforcement.
Job advertisements for these roles appear on legitimate employment platforms using legitimately sounding titles: 'package manager', 'reshipping coordinator', 'logistics assistant', or 'quality control specialist'. The work appears simple and the pay appears attractive — making it accessible to job seekers who have limited experience spotting employment fraud.
How it works
The scam begins with a job advertisement placed on a legitimate employment board, social media platform, or direct email to job seekers whose details have been obtained from CV databases. The listing offers flexible, home-based work involving receiving, inspecting, and reshipping packages to international clients. Pay is framed as commission-based and competitive.
After a brief, informal 'interview' conducted by email or messaging app, the recruit is given instructions: they will receive packages at their home address, repackage them using materials the employer provides, attach new labels, and drop them at the relevant courier. They are told the packages contain items purchased by international customers or business inventory, and that domestic reshipping is necessary due to import restrictions or courier limitations.
The parcels that begin arriving were purchased online using stolen credit card details. Retailers have strict fraud controls around shipping to addresses in high-risk regions, so the fraudster ships to the domestic mule address instead, using the mule to onward-ship to the true destination. The mule's address appears on the retailer's records as the delivery point, obscuring the fraud.
When the theft is reported by the true cardholder, the mule's address is identified in the fraud investigation. They may face doorstep visits from police, goods seizure, account closures, and in serious cases criminal charges for handling stolen goods.
Why this scam works
The scam works because it is framed as legitimate employment. Job advertisements on reputable platforms feel categorically different from an unsolicited scam message. The work itself — receiving and sending packages — is mundane and does not immediately suggest criminality to someone unfamiliar with how card fraud supply chains operate.
Pay is real in the early stages, which builds trust and motivates continued participation. The 'employer' provides explanations for every logistical question that defuse suspicion: the international shipping restrictions explanation is particularly effective because it sounds plausible and is not immediately verifiable.
Many participants are genuinely unaware of the criminal context, which makes them sympathetic figures but does not necessarily insulate them from legal consequences.
Common red flags
- Job requires you to receive packages at your personal home address
- The role is described as a 'reshipping coordinator', 'package manager', or similar with no prior logistics experience required
- Company contact is by messaging app only, with no verifiable office address or phone number
- You are paid commission in cash, cryptocurrency, or gift cards rather than formal payroll
- Packages arrive from a variety of retailers with no consistent sender or product type
- You are asked to remove original packaging and labels before reshipping
- The destination addresses for reshipping are consistently overseas or to regions known for high fraud risk
- The 'employer' is unable to provide a formal employment contract or company registration details
- Items in the packages are consumer electronics, designer goods, or other high-value resaleable products
Sanitized example messages
Illustrative, sanitized examples. Personal details are replaced with placeholders such as [phone number] and [fake link].
We are hiring part-time package managers for our UK logistics hub. Receive packages at home, check contents, reship to our international clients. Earn [amount] per package. Apply now: [link]
Welcome to [Company Name]. Your first shipment will arrive within [X] days. Please inspect the contents, repack using the enclosed materials, and attach the new label. Drop at any [Courier] collection point.
Payment of [amount] sent to your account for [number] packages processed this week. Keep up the great work! Next shipment arriving [date].
Hi [Name], we need you to reship the package you received to this new address: [overseas address]. Please remove the original outer packaging before attaching the new label.
Our international clients cannot receive goods directly due to import restrictions. Your role as a domestic hub is essential to our supply chain. Your next shipment is on its way.
Common variations
- Luxury goods variant: only high-end electronics, watches, or designer items are shipped, with larger commissions to justify the risk
- Two-step mule: initial mule ships to a second domestic mule before the final overseas destination, adding a layer of separation
- Romance-initiated reshipping: fraudster establishes a romantic relationship first, then introduces the reshipping 'opportunity' as a favour
- Crisis recruitment: job is presented as urgent, time-limited work during a period of high parcel demand such as the holiday season
How to verify before you act
Legitimate employers — including genuine logistics and courier companies — do not need individuals to use their personal home address as a commercial shipping point. Any 'job' that requires you to receive goods at home and reship them is almost certainly connected to fraud, regardless of how professional the job advertisement appears.
Search the company name in combination with terms like 'scam', 'fraud', or 'warning'. Check whether the company has a verifiable registered address, company number, and public presence beyond the job advertisement. Legitimate courier employment is conducted through formal employment contracts, not commission arrangements via messaging app.
If you have already started receiving packages, stop immediately and report the situation to your police, your courier, and the retailers whose packages you have received.
Payment methods used
- Cryptocurrency
- Bank/wire transfer
- Gift cards
- Money transfer services
- Payment apps to 'friends & family'
Who is usually targeted
- Job seekers looking for flexible or remote income
- People with financial pressures who are motivated by the commission structure
- Individuals unfamiliar with how card fraud supply chains operate
- Stay-at-home parents or carers looking for home-based work
What to do immediately
- Stop accepting and reshipping packages immediately
- Do not destroy or conceal any packages already received — preserve them as evidence
- Contact your local police and explain the situation proactively — self-reporting demonstrates good faith
- Notify the retailers whose packages you received, if you are able to identify them, so they can flag the fraud
- Contact your bank and explain that your address and accounts may be implicated in a fraud investigation
- Cease contact with the 'employer' and preserve all communications as evidence
- Report the recruitment advertisement to the job platform and to your national fraud reporting body
How to prevent it
- Never accept a job that requires receiving parcels at your personal home address — this is not a legitimate logistics practice
- Research any company offering remote logistics or package-handling work before responding to the advertisement
- Treat any job offer conducted entirely via messaging app with heightened scepticism
- Be alert to commission-based roles involving physical goods — legitimate courier employment uses formal payroll
- Report reshipping job advertisements you encounter to the platform and to your national fraud reporting body
- If approached by someone — including a romantic contact — who asks you to receive and reship packages, refuse immediately
Evidence to preserve
- All written communications with the recruiter, including job advertisements, emails, and messaging app conversations
- Records of packages received, including sender details, tracking numbers, and delivery dates
- Records of packages reshipped, including destination addresses, courier receipts, and tracking numbers
- Payment records showing any commissions received
- Any employment documentation, contracts, or company details provided by the recruiter
- Unopened packages or items not yet reshipped, preserved as physical evidence
Where to report it
- Action Fraud (UK) — UK national fraud & cybercrime reporting centre
- FTC ReportFraud (US) — US Federal Trade Commission fraud reports
- FBI IC3 (US) — US Internet Crime Complaint Center
- Scamwatch (Australia) — Australian competition & consumer reporting
- Your bank's fraud line — Use the number on the back of your card or in your banking app — never a number the caller gives you
Always verify reporting routes and emergency contacts on the official government or agency website for your country.
Frequently asked questions
Could I face criminal charges for participating in a reshipping scheme even if I did not know the goods were stolen?
Potentially yes, depending on your jurisdiction and how long you continued after warning signs appeared. In many countries, handling stolen goods is a criminal offence even if the handler did not steal them. Prosecutors may consider whether you had reason to suspect the arrangement was dishonest. If you participated unknowingly and stopped as soon as you became suspicious, self-report to police promptly and preserve all evidence — this demonstrates good faith and is the strongest basis for avoiding prosecution.
What should I do with packages that have already arrived at my address?
Do not open, reship, or destroy them. Contact your local police and follow their instructions on how to surrender the packages as evidence. Also contact the courier company that delivered the packages and the retailers identified on the outer packaging if possible, so they can initiate fraud investigations. Preserving the packages intact is important both for the investigation and for demonstrating your co-operation.