Work at home scam

A Rutland woman's attempt to earn extra money almost put her in the middle of an international scam. Fortunately, Vicky Corsones recognized the scam before she lost any money, but she said she wants to warn others before they get involved. It started with an online ad for a payment processing job. The details of the job were vague until she received an e-mail message supposedly from a British firm explaining that she would be expected to cash checks from the company's customers, then forward the money, minus her cut. When she received a pair of money orders in the mail, Corsones said she was tempted, until common sense intervened. Instead of cashing the money orders as instructed, she went to police. Rutland Police Sgt. John Sly said the fakes looked almost real and notified the post office. The scam has been tried in various forms around the country for some time, but the result is always the same - people who cash the checks find out later they were bogus and are left having to pay back the money.