Expert: Charles W. Field - 4/27/2004

Question
I know your profile doesn't list employment law in the text but there were no lawyers in that section.

I recently sent a resume through monster.com and received a response by email. What I want to know is if the following practice is legal. Is it legal to receive merchandise such as cameras or laptops at my address and then send them overseas to someone else. It sounds fishy. Here's a copy of the email:

Good day!

 My name is Christopher Reagan, I am from the personnel
 department (Xebom, Co.). I have read your resume very attentively.
 I think that you meet our main requirements for the
 merchandise manager position, but first we will give you
 a trial to check your skills and knowledge.

 I think that now you would like to get more information
 about the merchandise manager position and Xebom, Co.

 Xebom is engaged in the merchandise forwarding service.

 Most Internet auctions and stores in the United States of
 America are not willing to ship their products
 overseas. As the result customers from Europe and Asia
 cannot access this large American market and purchase
 high-quality merchandise at so low prices.

 But our company provides European and Asian customers with
 mail forwarding service. We provide them with the street
 addresses in the United States which they use for merchandise
 orders. Then we receive products and forward to them in
 Europe or Asia.

 It is the same if they had relative or friends in the States
 and could ask them about the same service. But not so many
 Europeans have friends and relatives in the US.

 Today we have 45 merchandise managers in the Unites States of
 America and 14 in the Canada. But quantity of our customers
 rises and we need more managers in your state.

 Now about the responsibilities of the merchandise manager...
 You will receive packages (notebooks and cameras mainly),
 then you will have to report to your personal manager and
 follow his instructions. You will receive money for shipping
 charges via Western Union, they shipping details and instructions.

 This is the main information about this position and our company,
 you will be able to find out the details from your personal manager
 later.
 
 
 1. NECESSARY INFORMATION
 ===================================================================
 
 We need the following information for our postal database.

 First name:
 Last name:
 Street address:
 E-mail:
 Home phone:
 Work phone (optional):
 Cell phone (optional):

 Here is an example how this form must look like..

 John
 Robinson
 1234 Main Street, Los Angeles, CA, 12345
 john_robinson@hotmail.com
 315-123-2222
 315-123-3333
 315-123-4444

 IMPORTANT! Your information must be written as an example!
 First name and last name must be on two lines.
 Phone number must be XXX-XXX-XXXX not +X (XXX) XXX-XX-XX
 Strictly like on example. Also do not fill like this:

 First name: John
 Last name: Robinson

 We do not need "First name:" or "Street address:" words.

 It is SO important because we receive hundreds of resumes
 and it is the most easiest way for us to add your data to our
 postal database.

 2. DOCUMENT SCANNED COPY
 ===========================================================

 We need a scanned copy of your documents to verify that you
 live at current street address and that you are adult. There
 are two simple reasons for this.

 1. We have already encountered problems when people gave us
 fake street addresses or the address of the neighbor. As the
 result all merchandise was stolen. We had to contact FBI and
 police department to investigate this. From now on we ask EVERY
 candidate for the scanned copy of document that may prove the
 provided information.

 2. We cannot hire people who didn't reach the adult edge.

 You may scan your Driver's License or passport. It is up to you.
 We recommend to black out the Social Security and Driver License
 numbers. There is a risk that someone else can gain access to the
 mail and steal this private information. We just need to see you
 full name and full street address on this copy.

 It must be in .JPG or .GIF or .BMP format.
 The file must be named YourFullName.jpg

 example:

 JohnRobinson.jpg

 not

 MyDriverLicence.jpg.

 It is also very important because your file will be added to our
 archive.

 ================================================================

 PLEASE, DO NOT SEND ANY LETTERS TO REVIEW@XEBOM.COM
 YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE AN ANSWER. I REVIEW RESUMES ONLY.

 YOU MUST SEND ALL REQUESTED INFORMATION TO
 assignment@xebom.com

 IF YOU WANT TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE SENDING THIS
 INFORMATION AND SCANNED DOCUMENTS, SEND MAIL ALSO TO
 assignment@xebom.com

 Thanks you for reading this document,
 I hope that you will pass the trial period and make career in Xebom!

 P.S. I recommend you to follow all my instructions VERY carefully
      and attentively. We have hundreds of candidates, so personnel
      managers may decline your resume because of mistakes in filling
      this forms and sending the information. BE VERY ATTENTIVE!
      It is something like a test that will show manager how accurate
      are you.

--
Good luck!

Answer
"Is it legal to receive merchandise such as cameras or laptops at my address and then send them overseas to someone else?" I don't do any international law so I can't address your question directly. However, I agree with you that the whole deal seems fishy. I personally wouldn't give out that kind of personal information, especially given that I don't even know if what they are doing is legal.