Introduction
I am very happy that you are reading this ebook right now. It shows that you care about getting the right information to protect you and your loved ones from the notorious Nigerian scams scourge.
These scams have been running for dozens of years now and have ruined thousands of lives all over the world.
While a lot of people do know one or two things about the Nigerian scams, majority of other people do not know precisely how the scams work and how to protect themselves.
But now that you are reading this ebook, you will be among the few people who are fully informed about the scams and know exactly how to identify a typical Nigerian scam a mile off.
Definition of the Nigerian Scam:
The Nigerian scam is an advanced fee fraud that was started from Nigeria by Nigerians and has now transcended the Nigerian borders.
Previously operated via phone and postal mails, the scam has taken advantage of the Internet and its paraphernalia.
The scammers now use the email to send the scam mails to thousands of people all over the world.
The Nigerian scam is also known by the following names:
West African scam; Advanced Fee Fraud; 419 Fraud (after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria) and the Nigerian Connection.
Typically, the Nigerian scam works when the victims receive either an email, fax, postal mail or phone call from someone in Nigeria or other African countries.
These days however, countries in Asia, Europe and even North America are very commonly used. Most times these are the same group of people operating from other countries, while in other times it could be criminals in other countries copying the Nigerian scams.
So don't be deceived when the country mentioned in the scam is not Nigeria. It could be any country in Africa, Europe, Asia and even North America.
The main way of identifying the scam, whether it is from Nigeria or any part of the world, is in the "manner" in which it is presented.
In the email, fax, postal mail or phone call which the victims receive from the scammer, the person usually requests the victim's help in moving huge sums of money, either stolen or 'lost', out of his/her country into the victim's bank account.
Offering to give the victim a very large percentage of the money, the person goes ahead to tell the victims bogus stories concerning the source of the money.
They claim that the victims don't need to do anything other than to help them move the money out of their country into the victims' bank accounts.
As soon as the victims get interested in the offer, the scammers work them up to a pitch to get them fully convinced of the 'risk-free' nature of the 'deal'.
When the victims are fully worked up, at some point the scammers would ask them to pay up front Advance fees of some sort (hence the name- Advanced Fee Fraud).
This up front fees requested by the scammers could be for either 'Transfer Tax', 'Performance Bond' 'Attorney Fees' Government Fees' or any other fee allegedly to facilitate the transfer of the money into the victims' account.
Many times, these fees can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Even when such up front fees are paid, the scammers still demand more money to clear up other issues that will ensure the money gets transferred.
At this point, the victims would have already committed a lot of money and would continue to send more money, in the vain hope of getting the money transferred into their accounts.
Despite sending more and more money, the victims never get to see a penny of the 'millions of dollars' allegedly ready to be sent to their accounts.
At some point, the scammers often allege that the victims must travel to Nigeria (or other countries where they have their base) in order to complete the transaction.
If the victims are unable to travel to Nigeria, they proceed to demand more money from them for attorney fees and other associated taxes.
Sometimes, when a victim does travel to Nigeria, the scammer explains to them that there is no need for a visa. In fact, a visa is required by the Nigerian Government.
The perpetrators then bribe airport officials to bypass immigration, and use this illegal entry as leverage to coerce the traveler into releasing more money.
According to reports on the Nigerian scams, violence and threats of physical harm may also occur. To date, not less than 15 foreign businessmen and two United States citizens have been murdered in Nigeria in connection with a such scams.
In the past, the scams used to be mainly operated from Nigeria, against Nigerians and by Nigerians only.
But now, the scammers have started operating from other neighboring African countries, countries in Europe, Asia and even North America.
Also, they have since started targeting people outside Nigeria, especially with the use of postal mails, phones and most recently, emails.
Also now, the scammers have started teaming up with other nationalities as dubious as they are to partake in the scams.
And they are now also using very sophisticated variations... all with the intention of collecting advance fee payment from their victims.
That is always the catch when it comes to the Nigerian scams...
The main thing they want from their victims is to persuade, encourage, deceive, lure and sometimes force them to send advance fee payment, hence the term 'advanced fee fraud'.
The newer variations they keep coming with are not only sophisticated but have actually fooled many wise people who never imagined they could be defrauded.
Gone are the days when victims of Nigerian Scams are labeled as greedy and stupid.
Now, with the newer variations, anyone that doesn't know ALL that there is to know about them can be fooled easily.
Psychology of the Nigerian scammers
The most devastating of such variations now are the ones targeted at business people selling one thing or the other.
Like the U.S. Postal Inspector Andrew Richards, head of the Financial Crimes Task Force of Southwestern Pennsylvania, said recently about the newer versions of the Nigerian scams:
"Instead of going for $60 million, they're now going for $6,000. They're now going for smaller amounts and they are being incredibly successful."
The idea behind this is really simply... defrauding at least 10 people daily worldwide for as little as $6,000 = $60,000.
$60,000 X 365 days= $21,900,000 yearly...
Hmmm, can you see what is happening?
These scammers are taking advantage of the Internet and its amazingly ubiquitous nature to reach as many people as possible daily.
They know that if they should try out thousands of people everyday, at least a dozen will fall prey to them.
This is the same psychology that spammers have.
In this Nigerian Scams scourge, there have been thousands of victims and billions of dollars of losses.
And it will surprise you to learn that it will only get worse.
It will get worse because everyday babies are born...and babies grow into adults... adults then get scammed... everyday
So, it is a statement of fact to say that there are thousands upon thousands of potential victims for these scammers to defraud daily.
They know this and are taking full advantage of it.
Right this minute as you are reading this, there are victims all over the world who are in the process of getting scammed.
Yes, right this minute!
With the Internet and the global village nature of the world today, you can reach and communicate with millions of people easily.
These scammers also know that and they are taking full advantage of the wonders of the New Information and Communication Technology.
The only way of protecting yourself and your loved ones from falling into the traps of these scammers is to learn all you can about all the variations of the scams.
This is the objective of this ebook and the 7 bonuses that are included with your order.
The scammers are succeeding every day mainly because the victims of the scams do not have any prior knowledge of the variation they are using to scam them.
Even those who knew about them did not have adequate knowledge about them... that is why they still fell for their traps.
In other words, most people are falling victims to these Nigerian scammers because of ignorance.
To fully understand the dangers of ignorance and why you have to learn all you can about the scams, read below:
"Ignorance is an evil weed... which no democracy can afford among its
citizens"
William Henry Beveridge
(British economist)
This ebook therefore destroys your ignorance by providing you with adequate insight into the Nigerian scam and other scams in general.
At the end of reading this ebook and the bonuses included, you will know how to identify and prevent yourself and your loved ones from falling for most of the scams, especially the Nigerian scam.
Happy reading.
As far as the Nigerian scammers are concerned, they have declared 'war' on everyone worldwide with an email address, phone number or postal address.
It is now a 'no-hold's-barred' situation whereby no one is sparred.
In the early days of the scams, most people thought that only the senior and wealthy business people in the West were targets of the Nigerian scams, but this is not the case these days.
Though such senior and wealthy business people were originally targeted by the scammers in the past, these days the scammers are out to scam ANY unsuspecting person ANYWHERE in the world.
With the wonderful tools of 'ICT (Information and communication technology)' these scammers don't have to travel thousands of miles to get their scam tricks across to their victims.
Using emails, phone calls and postal mails, they sit in many parts of the world and spread their traps all over the world to catch anyone that has money to spare.
From middle class, middle age, business and professional men and women, oldies, youngsters, normal day-to-day individuals, businesses, charities, learning institutions, government departments, charities, etc, everyone with any form of communication is a potential target.
Because of the rate of the successes of these scammers, estimates put the losses from these "Nigerian Advance Fee" operations at over $1 million "every single day" in the U.S. alone.
Like I have mentioned above, even youngsters are not spared. There are many cases of youngsters who have lost money to these scams.
Some of these youngsters fell for the scams because of the wonderful looking opportunity to make millions of dollars within a few days, without too much difficulty.
You would think these youngsters fell for these scams mainly because of naivety and inexperience, but this is far from it.
Even oldies with money saved for retirement are also potential victims of these scammers.
In most of the cases, greed is the main cause of falling for the traps. And in other cases, plain stupidity.
In some cases however, the scams come completely disguised as legitimate looking business propositions.
In other parts of this ebook you will learn 'how to identify a Nigerian scam no matter how disguised it comes'.
Just take your time and digest this ebook and the 13 bonuses to learn all the protective techniques you need to stay protected from the Nigerian scam in particular and other scams in general.
It is kind of like gambling. You get in so deep you keep putting money in to get something out of it.
According to the US government report on the Nigerian scams, after a victim responds positively to the scam email or letter by sending the required documentation (for example, signed company letterheads, bank account number, etc.) the hook is in.
The primary reason for the documentation is not to rob the victim’s bank account, but to perpetuate the illusion that the deal is legitimate and moving forward.
The blank signed letterheads are altered and used by the criminals as props in other frauds, letters of reference to obtain visas, or sold to other Advanced Fee Fraud criminals.
For the next week to 10 days, the perpetrators establish a level of trust with the victim. This is accomplished by sending the victim more 'official' documentation verifying the bonafides of the deal and the people involved.
The criminals will correspond with the victim via fax machines and courier mail because it is difficult to trace.
In the past, these criminals made extensive use of business centers in Lagos to place phone calls and send faxes, but the Nigerian Government reports and evidence seems to confirm that business centers were closed in an effort to thwart the scams.
The criminals also conduct the scams from their homes or other locations (front companies). To ensure the integrity of the phone lines at those locations, they will gain access to active telephone lines.
The telephone lines were either abandoned by the owner who could no longer afford it, or are used without the knowledge or consent of the owner.
Therefore, a criminal will use a phone line that is registered to someone living in another part of the city, making it almost impossible to trace.
What happens next is the most crucial point in the fraud and can take a number of directions.
A victim will be advised that the deal is near completion, however, an emergency has arisen and money is needed to pay an unforeseen government fee or tax before the money can be released.
If the fee is paid, the criminals will come up with another 'problem' that requires immediate payment by the victim.
Each 'problem' is supported by 'official' documentation.
The criminals can run this ruse for months or even years, depending on the gullibility of the victim or his or her desperation to recoup losses.
One Western diplomat described it as '. . . kind of like gambling. You get in so deep you keep putting money in to get something out of it.'
Travel to Nigeria to 'finalize' the deal.
At some point during the fraud, the criminals will attempt to have the victim travel to Nigeria or a bordering country to finalize the contract, money transfer, or other transaction.
If the victim appears reluctant to go to Nigeria, the criminals will suggest a neutral country where an AFF team, unbeknownst to the victim, is already established.
The Advance Fee Fraud team will not target a victim in the victim’s own country where they have established roots and can easily check on the validity of the scam.
In some instances, prior to coming to Nigeria, the criminals will tell a victim to bring expensive watches, pens, and men’s suits as 'gifts.' Proceeds from these items are kept by the criminals.
The criminals may tell the victim that a visa is not required to enter Nigeria, or a visa has been arranged to be issued upon arrival.
Note- Without exception, a valid Nigerian visa is required for entry and departure, and airport visas are not available.
Travel to Nigeria should not be undertaken without first verifying the bona fides of a company or business partners.
If a victim meets the criminals in a bordering country, the victim may find that he or she still must travel to Lagos.
Entry without a visa, gives the criminals leverage over the victim and leads to other forms of extortion.
Once in Lagos, the victim will be housed in one of the many small hotels (euphemistically known as '419' hotels), located primarily around Murtala Muhammad Airport.
At this point, the victim is totally immersed in the scam, and the criminals have total control over the victim’s every move.
The victim is taken to meetings with criminals posing as Nigerian Government officials, or possibly corrupt government officials, to finalize the deal.
The meetings can take place in government offices or annexes that are 'rented' by the criminals or in a office that is setup to resemble a government office.
These offices are often located near government buildings to add authenticity to the fraud.
If the victim is sufficiently duped by this elaborate ruse, he or she returns home unharmed and the scam continues.
However, if the victim decides not to pay additional payments and/or sign a contract, the victim will be subjected to threats and physical abuse until he or she arranges for more payments.
Neutral Country
If the victim is reluctant to go to Nigeria, the criminals will suggest a neutral country where a team is already established.
The victim will be requested to provide them with his or her flight itinerary and the name of the hotel he or she will be staying. This is the first step in controlling the victim’s movements during the scam.
Operating under the guise that the business contacts are in Nigeria, the criminals will have the victim send roundtrip airline tickets from Lagos to the neutral country for face-to-face meetings with business contacts.
The victim is also requested to reserve hotel rooms in his or her name for the contacts. The hotel rooms are never in the same hotel as the victim’s.
The criminals will cash the airline tickets, and use the hotel rooms, which are reserved under the name of a legitimate business person, or his or her company, in other scams or sell to another Advance Fee Fraud criminals.
Surprisingly, nine out of ten victims comply with this request. Meetings will be setup in areas of the city unfamiliar to the victim.
To keep the victim off balance and allow the criminals time to conduct counter surveillance, the criminals will schedule and cancel a number of meetings with the victim.
Whether the victim decides not to pursue the 'deal' or at some point during a scam, the victim stops paying, the criminals will not walk away from the victim.
They will attempt to reconsumate the fraud using various ruses. The Advance Fee Fraud criminals might pose as Nigerian Government officials attempting to get the victim’s money back or try to convince the victim that they are the legitimate government officials and the other men he or she dealt with were frauds.
Revictimization will be perpetrated either by the original criminals, or sold to another Advance Fee Fraud team to operate.
No matter the country mentioned in the scam email, postal mail or phone call, ANY deal that has ANY of the following characteristics is a typical Nigerian scam.
The variations of the Nigerian scam solicitation tales are endless and ingenious. The scammers come up with these variations to catch unsuspecting victims in one way or the other.
However, no matter how different they are, the main aim of the scam is to get some kind of 'advance fee payment' from the victims.
Among the most common variations are:
Money Transfer Variation of the Scam:
This is the most prevalent of the Nigerian scams. It involves an offer by a Nigerian (or in current cases someone from any other country in Africa, Europe, Asia and even North America), usually claiming to be an official in government cycles or claming to be a relative with huge sums of money to get out of the country.
The scammer offers to transfer the huge sums of money to the account of the interested party who he contacts by email, fax, phone call or postal mail. Examples of such mails are included elsewhere in this ebook.
The scammer always comes up with made up stories of where the funds are gotten from.
The scammer can claim that the funds are from over-invoiced contracts from a Nigerian company or one of the Nigerian government ministries itself, like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
In other variations, the scammer claims to have access to funds left behind by dead relatives and wants to urgently transfer the money out of the country before it gets confisticated by other people, usually the authorities.
The scammer tells the victim that he just wants to transfer the money to the victim's account and needs the victim's help in doing so.
In return for his help, he offers a certain percentage of the money, usually in millions of dollars, to the victim for his help.
The scammer would demand for vital information from the victim, ranging from bank statements to personal contact details from the victim.
As soon as the victim shows interest in the deal, the scam then begins.
The victim is asked to pay various sums of money that is interpreted by the scammers as 'transaction fees'. These transactions can be in thousands of dollars, and even as much as millions of dollars overtime.
The victims usually pay with the hope that they would get the money out and recoup their initial investment. Victims have been known to empty their life savings and even sell their entire properties to pay these 'transaction fees'
Others have 'borrowed' money from company coffers to pay such 'transaction fees' hoping against hope that they would soon reap the rewards of their transaction.
But in ALL cases of such scams, the victims NEVER reap a penny out of the thousands and millions that they put into the deal.
Many victims have been known to spend months or even years paying various sums of money supposedly to cover fees and taxes, in the vain hope that someday the millions of dollars would come.
But they never have and never will.
Note that in the current variations of the Nigerian scam, in many cases the name of Nigeria is never mentioned. The scam is now localized using other countries and nationalities to give it a different look.
But the idea is always the same thing no matter which country is used by the scammers.
So, whenever you receive an email, fax, postal mail or phone call with any of the above story, know that it is a typical Nigerian scam disguised in different clothing to deceive and defraud you!
Black Currency Variation of the Scam:
This is the variation that has led to hundreds of thousands of Nigerians losing their fortunes in Nigeria to the Nigerian scammers. For dozens of years many Nigerians have fallen easy prey to this particular variation.
Now it has gone international!
It usually involves receiving an email or phone call or postal mail from a scammer who introduces the victim to an 'opportunity of a lifetime' offer to make millions of dollars easily.
Like I said in the Nigerian victims section, the victim will be shown a carton or suitcase allegedly full of US currency in large denominations.
The scammers can put the entire sum as much as $30 or more million dollars. The catch here is that the rest of the money is temporarily covered with a black waxy material (vaseline and iodine). The money is covered thus to hide their origin.
The victim is then told that a special chemical is needed to use in removing the black waxy material from the huge sum of US dollars.
The victim is to buy this special chemical to enable them clean the black waxy material and claim the dollars.
In most cases, a sample is done to convince the victim that all that is needed is just the chemical to wipe the black waxy material from the millions of dollars.
Such a sample will be done with one or two of the dollar bills originally covered with the black waxy chemical to prove the workability of the special chemical to the victim.
The trick here is that the dollar bill is quickly changed with a real one when the victim is temporarily distracted, without him knowing about the change.
Immediately the victim sees this sample in action, he or she becomes completely convinced and goes further to dole out large sums of money to 'wipe the remainder dollars clean'.
Such sums of money are always in tens and even hundreds of dollars. There have even been cases where victims have doled out millions of dollars for this scam.
Most victims see nothing wrong in bringing out hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for this because they believe they would make millions of dollars at the end of the day.
Many Nigerian victims and foreign victims have sold entire companies and properties to pay these scammers with the erroneous believe that they would make millions of dollars when the dollars are all wiped clean.
This version is called 'wash-wash' by the Nigerians. It is their second most popular scam.
Will or Inheritance Variation of the Scam:
In this variation of the Nigerian scam, the victim is contacted by an 'attorney' via email, fax, postal mail or phone call.
The so called 'attorney' advises him or her that an unknown relative in Nigeria (or any other country in Africa, Europe, Asia and even North America where the scammer is operating from) has died.
That mythical relative has left the victim a large inheritance which the 'attorney' wants to help the victim to claim.
However, the victim must first pay taxes and fees in order to get the bequest.
Such taxes are always in tens or thousands of dollars. Like the transfer scam, the taxes are always unending.
The victims would always be told of more 'complications' that would demand more money to pay.
The victims play along with the vain hope of finally getting hold of the money.
But in ALL cases, not even a penny gets to the hands of the victims.
Goods and Services Variation of the Scam:
This is the fraud that has led to a lot of bad name for other honest Nigerian business people with genuine intentions.
Scammers who have engaged in this kind of fraud have succeeded in ruining the possibility of trusting other Nigerians in particular and Africans in general.
In this variation, a supposed Nigerian company contacts another company in US or other Western countries and makes a little order for some products.
In the first few orders, the Nigerian company sends payments via genuine bank drafts.
This goes on for some time until one day the Nigerian scammer places a huge order and shows evidence to the Western company that the order is from the Nigerian government and needs to be delivered as soon as possible.
Since the Western company has been doing similar business with the Nigerian company and has always received payment, it has grown to develop the trust for the Nigerian company.
It therefore doesn't take any pains in verifying if the bank draft is genuine or not.
It is only after having sent the orders to Nigeria and after some days or weeks that the Western company realizes that the draft is fake and it has been defrauded.
Upon intense investigation, it realizes, albeit too late, that the Nigerian company doesn't even exist at all.
This variation has led to a lot of loses to a lot of companies all over the world, especially the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The scammer are now targeting vulnerable companies in India, Singapore, Japan, China and other countries in Asia.
In recent variations of this particular scam, the scammers now operate from other vulnerable countries of Africa, Europe, Asia and even North America.
To cover their tracks, they first get such goods sent to their base in any of these countries and from there they quickly send them to other countries to avoid detection.
E-bay Variation of the Scam:
The victim agrees to sell an item via the Internet to a buyer from Europe or West Africa.
Payment is mailed to the victim in the form of a cashiers check, a personal check, or a check written on a business account, like a construction company.
The check will always be for an amount greater than that of the purchase, so as to cover shipping and handling. The buyer asks that the victim remit the remaining funds, along with the purchased item.
After a few days, the bank notifies the victim that the check deposited to the victim’s account is counterfeit.
Charitable Organization Variation of the Scam:
This variation begins when a charitable organization receives a letter, fax, or email from a persecuted religious group looking for help.
The group needs to get their money out of the country in order to save it from being confiscated by a repressive regime.
The victim organization is asked to assist the persecuted group, in return for which, they will be given a percentage of the cash being 'saved'.
The first step usually involves the scammer asking the organization to provide them with a bank account number to which they can wire transfer the money.
Once 'hooked', follow-up contact requests the organization provide the scammers with 'advance fees', for operating expenses, such as the payment of bribes to local officials or the purchase of international transfer tax stamps.
Church Donation Variation of the Scam:
This variation begins when the victim receives an email from an old widow, who is a devout convert to Christianity.
She claims her wealthy husband died recently in a war, along with her only sons.
She has no one left, and now she is diagnosed with a terminal illness and has only months to live.
Her husband left her a business worth millions of dollars. Now she wants to donate several million to the victim’s church.
The money is on deposit with a security company in Europe. The victim need only contact her attorney who will complete all the necessary steps to apply for transfer of the funds.
Contract Variation of the Scam:
This variation resembles the 'Goods and Services' variation of the Nigerian scam.
A company is contacted by a 'legitimate' Nigerian operator via email, fax, postal mail or phone call.
The operator claims to have a foreign government contract worth several millions of dollars and needs your company's expertise to carry out the job.
The operator provides 'legitimate' looking documents to prove the genuineness of the contract.
The operator scams you by collecting thousands of dollars in "fees" before you can do business.
Remember, it doesn't matter what country is mentioned in any of the
variations. Many of the scammers now know that a lot of people know about them
operating from Nigeria or other African countries.
They are now perfecting their acts by operating from other countries and using other names and nationalities.
But no matter what country they are using, the telltale signs are always there to show you that the scam is a typical Nigerian scam.
Don't ignore such telltale signs even if the name- Nigeria- is not mentioned!
Once the scam has any of the characteristics mentioned in this ebook, then it is a typical Nigerian scam, no matter what country or name or manner in which the scam is presented.
Lagos, Nigeria.
Attention: The President/CEO
Dear Sir,
Confidential Business Proposal
Having consulted with my colleagues and based on the information gathered from the Nigerian Chambers Of Commerce And Industry, I have the privilege to request your assistance to transfer the sum of $47,500,000.00 (forty seven million, five hundred thousand United States dollars) into your accounts.
The above sum resulted from an over-invoiced contract, executed, commissioned and paid for about five years (5) ago by a foreign contractor. This action was however intentional and since then the fund has been in a suspense account at The Central Bank Of Nigeria Apex Bank.
We are now ready to transfer the fund overseas and that is where you come in. It is important to inform you that as civil servants, we are forbidden to operate a foreign account; that is why we require your assistance.
The total sum will be shared as follows: 70% for us, 25% for you and 5% for local and international expenses incidental to the transfer.
The transfer is risk free on both sides. I am an accountant with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). If you find this proposal acceptable, we shall require the following documents:
Alternatively we will furnish you with the text of what to type into your letter-headed paper, along with a breakdown explaining, comprehensively what we require of you. The business will take us thirty (30) working days to accomplish.
Please reply urgently.
Best regards
Howgul Abul Arhu
FROM: Dr Altaka Yurmani
Central Bank of Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
01-658-21-2658
TO: CEO
Everytown, USA
Dear Sir:
I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large number of contracts for oil exploration in the sub-Sahara region.
The contracts have immediately produced moneys equaling US$40,000,000. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is desirous of oil exploration in other parts of the world, however, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region.
You assistance is requested as a non-Nigerian citizen to assist the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and also the Central Bank of Nigeria, in moving these funds out of Nigeria.
If the funds can be transferred to your name, in your United States account, then you can forward the funds as directed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.
In exchange for your accommodating services, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company would agree to allow you to retain 10%, or US$4 million of this amount.
However, to be a legitimate transferee of these moneys according to Nigerian law, you must presently be a depositor of at least US$100,000 in a Nigerian bank which is regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
If it will be possible for you to assist us, we would be most grateful. We suggest that you meet with us in person in Lagos, and that during your visit I introduce you to the representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, as well as with certain officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Please call me at your earliest convenience at 18-467-4975. Time is of the essence in this matter; very quickly the Nigerian Government will realize that the Central Bank is maintaining this amount on deposit, and attempt to levy certain depository taxes on it.
Yours truly,
Prince Alyusi Islassis
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Sir,
Request For Urgent Business Relationship
We have the pleasure to make this surprising but mutually benefiting business proposal. I am a member of the newly inaugurated committee for the privatization of the refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Nigeria.
The members of the committee are interested in the importation of goods into the country with funds presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria / Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) foreign payments account.
I got your address through the office of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The federal military government of Nigeria, intends to lease the three existing petroleum refineries to private individuals and companies. This is to make the refineries more viable, resourceful and to eliminate undue wastage and fraud.
This privatization is in-line with the recommendations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a prerequisite for future financial assistance.
The refineries are heavily indebted to many companies and my committee has the mandate (task) of compiling the names of these companies and debt owed them and also recommend for payment, all contracts that have been fully executed.
With our position in the committee, which comprises of my ministry, federal ministry of petroleum resources, Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), the federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we have successfully secured for ourselves, the sum of US $73,000,000 (seventy-three million United States Dollars).
This sum was acquired by carefully inflating the amount of indebtedness by this amount (US $73,000,000). We need a reliable company to be included in the list of companies to be paid. This company will be paid for a contract executed in Kaduna Refinery in 1993.
I was therefore mandated in trust by members of the committee, to seek a foreign partner into whose account we could transfer the sum of US $73,000,000, hence I am writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the funds thus:
It is from our 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. We also need assurance from you that you will let us have our share once the inflated amount (US $73,000,000.00) is transferred into your account.
The payment will be done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its correspondent bank. What we need from you, is that you provide a vital account into which the funds will be transferred/lodged.
Note that this transaction is 100% safe and guaranteed since the law under which our committee was set up, has empowered us to disburse all the funds.
We shall commence the transfer of the funds immediately we receive the following information by Tel/Fax: :
The above information will enable us put up letters of claim and job description to the respective ministries for the issuance of the mandatory fund release approval/recommendations.
This way, your company will be recognized and accepted as the beneficiary of the contract entitlements before the final remittance to your nominated account, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, being paying bank.
Note that we will be responsible for the payment of the federal inland revenue tax on behalf of your company and a contract agreement between your company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shall be drawn up and antedated showing that your company has a legitimate contract with the NNPC and must be paid.
We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit absolute confidentiality from you in this transaction. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, using the above Telefax number for more details regarding this transaction. Also endeavor to send the requested information.
Get Me Out of Here
Col. Yusef Saraki in Nigeria sends you a fax claiming that the Nigerian government was just overturned. He is presently under house arrest and his assets have been frozen by the new regime.
He needs to transfer a total sum of US$60M to an offshore non-resident bank account.
In order for him to do so he needs you to sign a document as "next to kin" and pay $200 a day to ensure his safety until the funds can be wire-transferred to your account.
To avoid any interruption he needs a "small" advancement fee (approximately 30 days worth) until the wire transfer is completed.
He claims that upon completion of the wire transfer to you, he will somehow find a way to escape Nigeria and move to Korea with his family, at which time you will be entitled to 10%, or $6 million, for your troubles.
He insists that as this is a life or death matter the entire transaction must be completed within two weeks. And heaven forbid he should be killed, leaving you with all the money.
He provides you with a fax copy of the Bilateral Agreement between himself and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation in Johannesburg, South Africa and some other qualifying affidavits.
Dr Masato Chan
Chinatrust Commercial Bank.
Nan Kan, Branch
Peoples Republic of China.
Dear Friend,
I am Dr. Masato Chan, Bank Manager of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Nan Kan branch, Taiwan, P.R.O.C. I have urgent and very confidential business proposition for you. On June 6, 1999, a British Oil consultant/contractor with the Chinese Solid Minerals Corporation, Mr. Thomas McDavids made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at US$50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Chinese Solid Minerals Corporation that Mr. Thomas McDavids died from an automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he died without making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr.Thomas McDavids did not declare any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US$50,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year.
No one will ever come forward to claim the money.
According to Laws of Republic of China, at the expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the Chinese Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.
Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Thomas McDavids so that the fruits of this old man's labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt government officials. This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately your full names and address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary documents and affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin. We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting and notarization of the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favor for the transfer. A bank account in any part of the world that you will provide will then facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin.
The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 90% for me and 10% for you. There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be done by the attorney and my position as the Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction. If you are interested, please reply immediately via the private email address above.
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant information that will help you understand the transaction. Please send me your confidential telephone and fax numbers for easy communication.
I beg you to observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require your assistance to invest my share in your country. Awaiting your urgent reply via my email address.
Thanks and regards.
Dr. Masato Chan
In a new twist on a fraudulent money-laundering scheme, a growing number of people who sell goods online are falling victim to con artists who locate their victims through mass emailing. And the con artists are Nigerians.
So far, at least seven state attorney's general have warned about the new ruse, in which the perpetrators, often from Nigeria, use the counterfeit checks to purchase items for sale online, typically overpaying for the goods and asking for the difference to be sent back before the victim of the bank realizes that the check is fake.
It is a new version of an old scheme known as advance fee or 419 fraud, a reference to the Nigerian statute, that makes this type of activity illegal. While 419 fraud has often been perpetrated over the phone or by fax, mass email has in recent years been a preferred method of finding victims.
It is impossible to say how many people have lost money through this type of fraud. But one victim, Shawn Mosch of Bloomington, Minn., who with her husband started an advocacy group called Scam Victims United (scamvictimsunited.com), estimated that she had heard more than 500 cases since November. In March, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation warned banks about the use of counterfeit official checks to defraud online sellers.
Mrs. Mosch said that she and her husband, Jeff, had advertised a 1961 Buick for sale at several Web sites and were contacted in October by a man purporting to be a car dealer in Africa. Adebisi Julius. After agreeing on a price of $1,600, the buyer told the Mosches that a friend in the United States owed him $8,800 and that this friend would send them a cashier's check for that amount. They agreed to refund the difference to the buyer once the check cleared.
Although Mrs. Mosch said she was aware of other forms of Nigerian fraud and thought the terms of the transaction sounded suspicious, she deposited the check- seemingly issued by a Bank of America branch- and asked the teller when she would know it was good. He said, 'Twenty-four hours ma'am, no problem' Mrs. Mosch recalled. She said she then waited 48 hours 'to be extra safe' before withdrawing $7,200 and wiring it to an address in Lagos, Nigeria.
'When he said Nigeria, yes, red flags went up,' Mrs. Mosch said, describing a phone conversation with the man who deceived her. 'But then we looked at the cash in our hands and said, well we have the cash, they said the cash had cleared.'
But the check had not cleared: the Mosches got a call about a week later from their bank informing them the cashier's check turned out to be counterfeit and that the bank was deducting $8,800 from their savings account. (The Mosches still have the Buick, in which the fraudulent buyer was evidently not interested, despite having promised to arrange shipment).
Mrs. Mosch said she and her husband disputed their liability for the money deducted from their account, ultimately reaching out-of-court settlement with the bank. The terms of the settlement prevent her from naming the amount or the bank, she said.
'The best way to stop the scam right now is to educate people about it, 'she said. Although a big part of that effort is alerting Internet sellers to be wary of buyers who overpay for an item and ask for the difference to be wired back - or those who, after sending a check, back out of the deal and ask for refund - another goal is to dispel some misconceptions about cashier's checks.
'The tellers are looking at that check as if it were a legitimate cashier's check and not even considering that it might be fraudulent,' Mrs. Mosch said. She argues that consumers and bank employees need to be educated about the difference between when funds from a cashier's check are available and when the check actually clears.
By law, banks are required to make funds available the next business day if an individual deposits a cashier's check into their own account, in person, dealing with an employee of the bank: if the bank later finds out the check is counterfeit, it can deduct the money from the depositor's account.
So, the burden is largely on Internet sellers to make sure that any check they accept is legitimate before spending the money or sending any merchandise.
Donna Gambrell, deputy director of the FDIC's division of supervision and consumer protection, said "One of the reasons why these scams can be so successful is because crooks know consumers trust these cashier's checks and money orders."
The FDIC advises Internet sellers to confirm a buyer's name, address and home phone number independently and insist that the check be drawn on a local bank or a bank that has a local branch. if that is not feasible, Ms. Gambrell said, the depositor should ask the bank if it will enquire about the check or directly contact the issuing bank to confirm that it is valid.
Beyond these measures, Ms Gambrell said, "Don't wire money or hand over any merchandise until you deposit the check and your bank confirms that it was paid- even if that takes days or even weeks.
At least seven states- Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico and Pennsylvania - have issued warnings to residents about the scheme. In April, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, which refers victims to law enforcement agencies, noted the emergence of this variation on 419 fraud in its annual report, saying that based on the reports it received last year- a fraction of actual losses- 74 individuals lost $1.6 million to some form of 419 scam.
Although automobile sellers seem to have been the initial targets of the counterfeit check variation, there have reports of attempt to defraud people who are selling boats, furniture, horses, dogs and cats. Trading sites like americandreamcars.com, puppydogweb.com and equine.com have warned users about the scheme.
Mrs. Mosch said she had heard that people selling items on eBay had been targets of such ruses, Kevin Pursglove, an eBay spokesman, said he had not heard much about the trend and that eBay had not issued an advisory on that type of scheme.
Culled from the New York Times
419
scammers take US con artist for $750,000
By Lester Haines
A businessman in Winona, Minnesota, has been taken for a cool $750,000 by Nigerian 419 scam artists, the Winona Daily News reports.
Nothing new there, you might think, but $250,000 of the cash did not actually belong to victim Carl Fratzke. Incredibly, Fratzke had pulled a scam of his own and defrauded seven friends to raise the capital. The balance came from his own savings.
Tempted, as ever, by promises of riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice, Fratzke asked chums to invest in a scheme whereby he would buy gloves and sell them to Wal-Mart at a hefty profit. He promptly sent the cash straight to the 419 scammers.
"They sent me a facsimile of the check they were going to send me," Fratzke later testified before a presumably astounded judge. "They said: 'This is coming'."
Well, it didn't, and now Fratzke faces sentencing on 31 March on "two counts of theft by swindle and one count of theft by check". If he's lucky, the beak will hand down a stiff sentence. Jail is probably the only place he'll be safe from his friends and investors - and his own stupidity.
150
Brits x 419 fraud = £8.4m
By Lester Haines
You'd like to think that after all the publicity generated around Nigerian 419 advance fee fraud, the boys from Lagos would be pretty well out of business. Sadly not.
According to figures from the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) - quoted in Scotland on Sunday - no less than 150 Britons got burned last year alone for a total of £8.4m.
That's a sobering average of £56,675 per victim. One of the latest is a man from Fife who, although losing (a comparatively modest) £7,000, luckily did not share the fate of the globetrotting chap who traveled to Africa to collect his booty, only to be beaten and tortured.
UK police are not, happily, standing idly by while this outrageous scam continues to sucker the stupid and greedy.
A London-based unit is tracking emails and attempting to sucker the fraudsters into revealing themselves for the benefit of waiting officers.
We wish them luck, but suggest that an alternative method might be to jail anyone idiotic enough to believe that someone from West Africa is going to give you millions of pounds in the first place. Or perhaps naming and shaming would be sufficient deterrent. ®
Woman falls for Nigerian scam, steals $2.1m from law firm
By Lester Haines
A bookkeeper for Michigan law firm Olsman Mueller & James has been taken for $2.1m by Nigerian 419 fraudsters, the Detroit Free Press reports.
The 59-year-old woman received a fax from one Dr. Mbuso Nelson of the Ministry of Mining in Pretoria, South Africa, asking for help in getting a cool $18m transferred to the US.
We all know what comes next: the hapless victim set up a bank account, only to be told that certain expenses had to be met.
Fuelled by greed and stupidity in equal measure, the woman dutifully wired huge sums to accounts in South Africa and Taiwan. Cue popping champagne corks in expensive Lagos restaurants.
Naturally, the promised $4.5m commission never arrived. This proved a tad embarrassing for the victim, who had funded the entire operation with the contents of her employers' bank account. Incredibly, her bosses only discovered the cupboard was bare when a cheque for $36,000 bounced.
The woman now faces up to three years' jail on 13 counts of wire fraud. Luckily for her, sheer idiocy will not be a factor in sentencing.
Meanwhile, other participants in the drama have been setting new benchmarks in superlatives of incredulity. "It's unbelievable that she fell for this," gasped investigating FBI Special Agent James Hoppe, echoing the sentiments of Jules Olsman, president of Olsman Mueller & James. "This is just absolutely beyond description," he said. ®
Nigerian 419: White farmers up the ante
By Lester Haines
It's all go on the 419 fraud front this week as the latest email circular breaks all previous records of riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. Not to outdone by the Nigerians, the white Zimbabwean farmers have rustled up an impressive $46 million dollars for immediate transfer to an honest and trustworthy partner abroad.
Their contact man is Max Crawford - a good, solid Anglo name to be sure - although Max seems to have learnt his English in downtown Lagos. Still, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. It can't be easy spamming half of the western world while enraged war veterans are firing AK47s through your office window. Yup, this one looks legit alright:
Dear Sir,
I am Max Crawford, the secretary of Commercial farmers Union (CFU) OF Zimbabwe. After the last general elections in my country where the incumbent president Mr. Robert Mugabe won the presidential election, the government has adopted a very aggressive land reforms programme. This programme is solely aimed at taking the land owned by white African farmers for redistribution to black Africans. This programme has attracted worldwide condemnation from world leaders including British Prime Minister, Mr.Tony Blair and also forced several white farmers to flee the country for fear of victimization and physical abuse.
A Few weeks ago, our headquarters in Harare was attacked and looted by black protesters and in the process burnt down the whole building. Fortunately, they did not get access to the huge funds kept in the strong room which belong to the co-operation. This cash was kept at the secretariat rather than in the bank for fear of seizure by the government.
Now I have the funds in my possession and would need to get it Invested in a viable business venture in Europe. The cash in question is US$46Million dollars.
Once I can get your commitment and sincerity of investing this fund on our behalf then I would proceed to get the funds freighted to Europe, where you would be required to pick it up for investment for us.
You do not have anything to worry about as I would undertake all Charges involved in freighting the funds to Europe, and the business proposal is 100% legal and risk free.
You would be adequately compensated for all your effort once we Have gotten the funds to Europe. Please get back to me if you can be of assistance and I would want our correspondence to be via email as most phone lines of white farmers are bugged by the government. Please reply to the following email addresses. William Hamilton ESQ (PRESIDENT CFU ZIMBABWE)
[email protected]
[email protected]
I expect 100% confidentiality and your prompt response to this mail so as to proceed.
Kind regards,
Max Crawford.
E-mail scam 'ruined my life'
By David Green
BBC News Online, Manchester
Ann is a lot more wary these days when she opens her e-mails. Losing £30,000 to internet fraudsters has made her that way.
Ann traveled to Amsterdam to give the fraudsters £4,700 in cash She is one of the many victims of cruel e-mail scams which target the compassionate and the greedy.
And the 58-year-old teacher - who will be in debt for the rest of her life - is an example of how this could happen to anybody.
Ann, who lives in the North West, now admits she was foolish to travel to Amsterdam with £4,700 in cash in the belief she was helping the wife of a former president of the Philippines retrieve her stolen fortune.
She said she thought she was helping a victim of "political oppression" and hoped to spend her share of the money - about £3m - on church charities, orphanages and paying off debts.
But she was faced with escalating demands for cash, including a "tax" payment of more than £100,000.
The lady in the Dutch embassy told me she was almost 100% certain that it was fraud - I really had believed that it was true
Ann, who is still too scared of the gang to give her full name, said: "I had done a bit of research at the local library and had checked out the circumstantial details as to what had happened in the Philippines and the details were as the lady outlined.
"Of course I felt sorry for her and I wanted to help her, being the kind of person who helps people who are in trouble of one kind or another."
She agreed to travel to Amsterdam where she would pay a fee to a firm who had been "looking after" the fortune.
But when she arrived and met the gang - a Dutchman and his African associates - she was told she needed to pay a further £23,450 to obtain a certificate to allow her to take the full amount of money out of The Netherlands.
Unable to find the money herself, she persuaded a relative to lend her the cash, which she then transferred to the gang.
But once the money was transferred, she was told she needed to pay an extra £126,000 in "tax".
'Didn't look right'
It was only at this point that she became suspicious.
She said: "I asked them to send me a faxed copy of this tax demand and it was only at that point that I actually realized it didn't look right.
"It didn't look like a British tax demand and I guessed it wouldn't look like a Dutch one either.
"I contacted the Dutch embassy in London and I also spoke to a Dutch lawyer and both of them said it didn't look anything like a Dutch tax demand.
"The lady in the Dutch embassy told me she was almost 100% certain that it was fraud.
It could happen to anybody - it is very plausible
"I had a dreadful day - I really had believed that it was true."
Since then she has had to fight to rebuild her life. Her modest house has been remortgaged so she can start paying back her relative, with whom she admits her relationship has been badly damaged.
She said: "He is not a rich person who could easily afford it. He just lent me everything he had and he has been in very serious difficulties since then.
Warn others
"I feel really bad about it - I hated asking him for money in the first place, but I really did think it would work out for the best for both of us.
"But I can't raise enough to pay him back and it will take me all the rest of my life to pay him back, I should imagine."
She says she holds out little hope of ever retrieving her money or of the police catching the fraudsters who swindled her.
But she said she wanted her experience to serve as a warning to others.
She said: "I just want to warn other people that the documents look very realistic, the phone calls seem realistic and it is as if you are dealing with straightforward people.
"It could happen to anybody - it is very plausible."
Fraudsters turn to the net... Credit card fraud is on the increase in the US
Fraudsters are increasingly using the internet - instead of mail and telephone - to carry out their cons, according to new US figures. The great thing about the internet is it's easy to find other information, and what consumers should do is cross-check
Federal Trade Commission
Identity theft - where fraudsters run up credit card bills in someone else's name - remains most common consumer fraud.
It accounting for 43% of the 380,000 complaints logged by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
But the FTC also found con-artists were increasingly using bogus websites and "spam" e-mail to lure their victims.
Shadow site
Last month, BBC News Online told how the world's largest online auction site eBay had been targeted by fraudsters using a shadow site to steal credit card details.
The scam involved sending e-mails to customers asking them to log on to a Florida-based website - ebayupdates.com - and re-submit their financial details.
In a statement eBay said it "never asks its users for their user ID and password."
"Fraud constitutes less than 0.01% of all transactions that take place on the site," it added.
The shadow site has been taken down.
Cross-checking
Howard Beales, head of the FTC's consumer-protection bureau, said consumers should make sure they are dealing with a reputable seller before giving out credit-card numbers or other sensitive information online.
"The great thing about the internet is it's easy to find other information, and what consumers should do is cross-check.
"If this product is telling you it's the cure for cancer, then go to the National Cancer Institute's site," said Mr. Beales.
According to the FTC, 47% of consumer-fraud complaints that were not identity theft were internet-related.
This was an increase of 31% in 2000.
Service providers
Internet auction fraud was the most common online-only complaint, accounting for 13% of complaints received.
This was followed by online retailers that did not deliver what they promised.
Disputes with internet service providers, credit-protection schemes and advance-fee loans also generated a lot of complaints.
Advance fee fraud
Foreign-money schemes - such as the Advanced Fee or 419 fraud - where people are sent an unsolicited fax or e-mail offering a share of any cash successfully moved out of Africa - generated 4% of complaints.
Anyone taking the bait in such a fraud is asked to pay increasingly large sums to supposedly bribe uncooperative officials and to smooth the passage of the cash, which never materializes.
Spoof websites are increasingly being used instead of fake banking certificates to lend such cons an air of authenticity.
Greater awareness
In total, US consumers reported losses of more than $343m in 2002 to fraud, a sharp increase from the previous year, the FTC said.
Some of the increase may be down to greater awareness and reporting of offences by consumers.
But while it might be impossible to tell if the total number of consumer scams has increased, Mr. Beales said, the proportion of those that take place online had definitely grown.
Singaporean to lose home after falling for Nigerian Internet scam
Agence France Presse
November 3, 2003
Singapore
A SINGAPOREAN family man who dreamed of getting rich will have to sell his home after falling for a multi-million dollar Nigerian e-mail scam, the Straits Times reported Monday.
The man, who asked to be identified only as Eric, told the paper he had lost almost S$330,000 (US$190,751) he made in payments to the Nigerian fraudster who offered him a share in a non-existent $25-million inheritance payout.
"I'm almost 50. This was my only hope of ever getting rich," the father of four told the newspaper. "I was greedy and I have to pay now for my greed."
Nigeria has become notorious around the world as the centre of a massive e-mail fraud industry in which dupes are enticed to part with large sums of money in return for handling large illegal money transfers from Nigeria.
Eventually, the money transfers do not take place and the dupes find they have lost the money they paid out to facilitate the deal. In Nigeria, the operation is known as a '419', after the part of the Nigerian criminal code dealing with fraud. The present government has pledged repeatedly to crack down on the criminal gangs perpetrating the scams but has yet to do so.
Eric told the Straits Times he received an e-mail from a man claiming to be the manager of the Diamond Bank of Nigeria offering him a 30 percent share of a $25 million inheritance payment, in return for which Eric had to transfer first S$17,000 to a lawyer to handle the transaction and then another $18,000 for the attorney's traveling expenses.
He was then asked to come up with more money including a further $129,000 dollars, to facilitate the deal and flew to London where he was shown a large amount of allegedly counterfeit money.
"After seeing the money and coming so close to getting it, I was determined not to give up halfway," said Eric. But he was duped. "My wife said I use the headphone so much that my brain is damaged. I think she's right. She said my eyes can see only the dollar signs," Eric said.
The fraud victim now owes the bank $40,000 and has borrowed $230,000 from his friends and has put up his house for sale.
Eric said he was desperate after his monthly salary was cut in half to $3000 dollars this year.
"I thought I could give my family a better life, but look what has happened now," he said.
Farmers victims of Nigerian scam
About 200 Mid Canterbury farmers have become the latest unwitting victims of a Nigerian investment scam.
The farmers are out of pocket after the director of an Ashburton stock firm used millions of dollars of their money to buy into the scam.
Peter Bell allegedly used $3.5 million of their money when he saw an opportunity to get rich quick. The company funds he invested are now lost and the company has gone bust, despite repeated endless publicity and warnings about the scam.
Liquidator Warwick Ainger said the judge described the case as just another foolish Nigerian investment. Ainger said he believes such off-shore investments are "about greed".
Bell took money from Cuttle and Isaacs accounts after he and a mate were sucked in by the fraudsters, leaving about 175 creditors.
"They were told they would get a phenomenal return something like 10 times what they'd invested so they went along with it," counsel Willie Palmer said.
Bell went along with the deal even after being asked for a money "laundering" fee.
The disgraced director is trying to recover the lost funds which a high court judge has ordered must be repaid within 14 days.
If the money does not surface by the end of September bankruptcy proceedings are expected to begin.
The Serious Fraud Office is also investigating.
Every Nigerian citizen has had to carry the burden of hatred and suspicion with which they are looked upon by other nationalities worldwide.
All because of the few bad eggs in their midst who have succeeded in creating a bad name for the whole country.
While most people think all Nigerians are involved in the scams in one way or the other, this is far from the truth.
Only a few bad eggs in the country are involved in the scams. In a country of over 120 million people, the people involved in the scams represent just a tiny segment of the population.
Yet, their impact has been so devastatingly profound that most people now erroneously think all Nigerians are involved.
As far as many people are now concerned, "Nigerians are ordinary crooks".
But this statement and assumption is not only wrong but very frustrating to honest Nigerians all over the world.
In actual reality, Nigerians are also been targeted by these scammers in huge numbers.
Without mincing words, it is a fact that there are as many as thousands of cases of similar 'local' victims of the Nigerian scams among Nigerians daily.
The scams actually started in Nigeria among Nigerians before transcending the Nigerian borders with the proliferation of communication gadgets like the Internet.
Most of the scammers were previously targeting only Nigerians in the scams. There have been thousands of cases of Nigerians too who have lost entire fortunes to these similar scams.
A typical Nigerian version of the scam (against Nigerians) work as follows:
A man is working along the streets (or is in his office or home) and he gets approached by another one who first tries to establish a familiarity either by asking for directions to locate somebody or asking for something else.
After a certain bond has been established (usually within minutes), the stranger then informs the potential victim about a deal that involves getting some huge amount of money which will be shared equally among both parties.
The stranger explains to the potential victim how he came across such money- either his boss died and left the money in a secret place to which he alone knows, or he found some bad guys secretly hiding the money.
He goes further to explain with as many convincing words as possible that there is no risk involved for the potential victim. All he has to do is just to help him in claiming the money.
The idea (as is the case even with the one targeted against foreigners) is always to first build up the interest (always powered by greed) in the mind of the potential victim.
At this point, only one thing rings in the victims' minds- 'this is it- finally a way to get out of poverty'.
They don't take the time to ask the scammer certain pertinent questions, like- 'How can you suddenly present a total stranger like me with such an opportunity? Don't you know anyone else in the whole wide world except a total stranger like myself?'
They don't ask such questions mainly because of greed. They are happy to be presented with such opportunities and instantly want a piece of the action.
When the scammer has been able to build that interest in the mind of the Nigerian victim, he then goes further to present more evidence of the money by either taking the victims to see bags or cartons allegedly containing the money or a few thousands as being part of the money.
At this point the victim is so convinced that there is really a lot of money involved and he will soon become a millionaire within the twinkle of an eye.
Alas, this is where the scam begins...
The scammer then tells the victim that the whole money is either locked in a safe and will need money to buy a special key to unlock the safe or the money is secretly kept in a location that will need money to break into.
Note that the scammer has been able to get the interest of the victim completely and knows that the victim will do anything to get his hands on the money as much as possible.
The money to use in either unlocking the safe or breaking into the secret location is always huge. Most victims have been known to sell their belongings or emptied their savings to bring out money for the scammers.
Like the ones targeted against foreigners, the scammers always insist that the victim keep the deal to themselves and not to reveal it to any other person.
There are other variations against Nigerians where the victims will be shown many bags allegedly containing millions of dollars. The dollars are allegedly covered with a certain chemical and would require another kind of chemical to wash.
This is the variation that has led many Nigerians to their doom because the money demanded by the scammers in such cases is always huge.
They try to convince the victims that if they can bring a few millions to buy the chemicals needed to wash the money, they stand the chance of getting millions more.
And the victims get hooked in because of the fact that the money is in dollars. With the low value of the Nigerian currency against the dollar, a million dollars is well over a hundred million Nigerian naira.
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerian millionaires and big business men in Nigeria have been known to lose entire fortunes to such scams...
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerian housewife's have been known to lose their money and those of their husbands to such scams erroneously believing that they would get millions more at the end of the day...
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerian students and youths have been known to steal and sell their parents properties to raise money to give to the scammers...
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerian workers have been known to defraud their companies to fork out money to give to the scammers...
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerian religious leaders have been known to use church money to give to scammers...
In all, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have seriously suffered in the past and are still presently suffering in the hands of these Nigerian scammers.
I will be very correct if I say that there has been as many as 1 million victims of the scams in Nigeria alone.
Like I have said elsewhere NO ONE IS SPARRED FROM FALLING FOR THE NIGERIAN SCAMMERS.
No one, not even Nigerians themselves.
The scammers don't care about anyone. There have even been cases in Nigeria where some scammers have scammed even their relatives and close associates.
So, it is not a matter of Nigerians scamming foreigners specifically.
It is a matter of scammers scamming everyone.
Now, other people from other countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and even America have copied the techniques and strategies of the scams and are now localizing it and scamming people in large numbers.
As far as I am concerned if something is not done as soon as possible to mass inform as many people worldwide as possible, I envisage a situation where the scams will be translated in other foreign languages to defraud unsuspecting foreigners.
The scammers can simply operate in, say China, using Chinese language, location, etc. The Chinese victims would simply think they are helping a fellow Chinese to move huge sums of money out of an unsecured location to a secure location... without realizing that the intent is to defraud them.
Even against the Nigerians, the Nigerian scammers are also using the Internet and its paraphernalia.
Thousands of Nigerians have received and fallen victims for email variations of similar scams where they receive emails from scammers (operating as foreign nationals) asking for their help in moving chunks of money out of their countries (to the victim's account here in Nigeria).
The Nigerian scammers target Nigerians by claiming to be from other neighboring parts of Africa like South Africa, Uganda, etc, especially the countries where there are certain problems like war, prosecution, etc.
The trick is similar. They want to move the huge sums of money to the account of the Nigerians... and in return the Nigerians would get a certain percentage of the money.
I will help you travel to the West
Another variation being used by the Nigerian scammers against Nigerians is the one that promises to help the Nigerian victims to travel to the West (Europe or America).
The potential Nigerian victim receives an email (especially those Nigerians and Africans who visit and post their details in friendship websites) from a foreigner (mostly Americans or Europeans) who is interested in making friends with the Nigerian.
The foreigner can be a male or female depending on the sex of the potential Nigerian victim.
The foreigner would first create the bond between both of them by claiming to fall in love with the Nigerian or African.
When such closeness has been created the foreigner would then present an opportunity to the victim where the victim can travel to the West to meet and marry the foreigner.
This is when the scam starts.
The foreigner would inform the victim of a group that helps people to travel to the West through conferences. He or she would then give the victim the email address (or website) of the group so that the victim can find out more information from the group.
The trick here is that the foreigner is a Nigerian scammer and the so called group are also involved in the scam.
When the victim contacts the group, the group would provide convincing evidence of genuineness to the victim and demand certain amount of money to facilitate the moves.
The group would also convince the victim that he or she needs to bring at least 10 other people who would go for the conference.
Each of these people would have to pay a certain amount of money for making the trip.
In many cases, the foreigner would 'pay' half of the money for the victim to convince the victim of his or her commitment to the moves.
In a nutshell, the victim convinces others to pay the money and after that he hears nothing again from neither the foreigner nor from the group.
The victim now has to contend with repaying the other people for their money which is usually in thousands of dollars.
There have been thousands of such cases in the past and more are still going on daily.
As more Nigerians and Africans embrace the Internet, more and more of them get scammed.
Everyday newer variations come up to scam as many Nigerians and Africans as possible.
The bottom line is that the scammers are not particular about scamming only Westerners. They scam anyone anywhere anytime worth scamming.
Like I have said elsewhere... NO ONE IS SPARRED, NOT EVEN NIGERIANS THEMSELVES!
Some of the red light signals to enable you identify a typical Nigerian scam is enumerated below by the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division as follows:
It is easy to fall victim to a scam. Sometimes, it is impossible to tell a legitimate deal from an outright scam, especially if you do not seek outside help.
Learn how to avoid the bad deals by educating yourself and following some basic, common sense principles.
Always keep your private information private. Do not give your financial account numbers to strangers or companies with which you are not familiar.
A scam artist can use this information to steal money from you just as easily as mugging you at gunpoint or in a darkened alley.
Avoid being the next victim - if you receive an offer in the mail or via fax that sounds too good to be true - throw it away!
If you get an e-mail offer - delete it - DO NOT RESPOND!
As regards scams in general, it is important to take note of the following safety measures:
More safety measures
Source: FBI, Secret Service, and the Better Business Bureau
The following was prepared by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
If a proposed transaction looks legitimate, and a U.S. company (or any other Western company) is interested in pursuing it, the company is strongly urged to check the bona fides of the Nigerian company before proceeding.
However, the legitimacy of a firm is not necessarily a sufficient indication that all solicitations using the firm’s name are legitimate.
The transaction itself must be verified, because many scams use legitimate company names or names of Nigerian Government agencies in fraudulent solicitations.
Until the specific proposal is verified, the U.S. company should not send out letterhead, invoices, bank account information, or product samples.
Domestically, this can be done by requesting a World Traders Data Report (WTDR) through a U.S. Department of Commerce District Office.
These reports, which are prepared by the commercial staff at the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, provide the following types of information: types of organizations, year established, principal owners, size, product line, and financial and trade references.
Due to specificity and detailed nature of the service, the WTDR takes 4 - 6 weeks and costs (about) $100.
Overseas, the U.S. company representative should contact American Citizen Services Unit of the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Remember, it is important to verify both the transaction and the company. Through prudent skepticism, American (and other Western) companies can avoid falling victim to individuals involved in fraudulent business activities, yet continue to take advantage of lucrative business opportunities with legitimate companies.
In all likelihood, there are many people who do not report their losses to authorities.
This is usually due to either fear of implicating themselves in a fraud being committed on the government of Nigeria or because of the embarrassment from being deceived.
They are often reluctant to cooperate with police because they believe that they could be prosecuted, either in their own country or in Nigeria and may also fear reprisals being directed against them by the organized criminals involved.
Other problems which plague investigations of this nature are bank confidentiality and the fact that courts are less likely to empathize with victims if greed was the motivation for falling for the scam in the first place.
The Nigerian Federal Police have set up a special unit to investigate the scheme but due to the reluctance of victims to travel to Nigeria, prosecutions are difficult to institute.
In a bid to outsmart Nigerian police surveillance, some of the perpetrators are now operating in the nearby Republic of Benin, Ghana, and Burkina-Faso where foreign nationals now fly into in compliance with the directives of their Nigerian invitees.
Accordingly, Interpol has now extended its surveillance to these countries, while alerting their counterparts about the activities of the fraudsters.
A few years ago, Nigerian Letter Scams constituted the third biggest consumer fraud on the Internet, trailing auctions and the sale of merchandise, according to the National Consumer League.
The Secret Service, under its mandate to protect U.S. currency and financial institutions, has since 1995 been working with the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Nigerian and other foreign authorities to try to counter the operations, which range from the crude to quite sophisticated.
They indicate that they get 13,000 complaints a month from people who have received the dubious solicitations, about 80% of which now come by e-mail.
In the past three years, the U.S. victims who have come forward state they have been swindled out of $100 million, according to the Secret Service, but as most fraud victims are too embarrassed to come forward this figure likely represents a tiny fraction of the actual losses.
If you have been victimized by one of these schemes, please forward appropriate written documentation to the:
United States Secret Service,
Financial Crimes Division,
419 Task Force
950 H Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20001-4518
Or telephone
(202) 406-5850
Fax:
(202) 406-8203,
(202) 406-6390
You can report this crime online to the
U.S.
Treasury Department Secret Service (Nigerian Frauds)
Materials sent in should still be labeled No Financial Loss - For Your Database if that is the case and Loss - and whether or not there is a US Connection - if there was a loss. If you are from outside the US, you should also note the country you are from.
If you receive such a letter in the mail, do not respond. Send it to:
Inspection Service Operations Support Group
Two Gateway Center, 9th Floor
Newark, NJ 07175-0001
Anyone in the UK receiving such a letter or e-mail is advised not to reply and forward the correspondence to the
National Criminal Intelligence Service,
PO Box 8000,
London SE11 5EN
Or by e-mail to [email protected]
Specialist Crime OCU Fraud Squad
Wellington House, 67-73 Buckingham Gate,
London, SW1E 6BE
+44 (0) 20 7230 1220
www.met.police.uk/fraudalert
[email protected]
PhoneBusters -
Reporting Canadian-based telemarketing frauds and
Nigerian Fraud.
South African Police
Contact: Captain SC Schambriel
Commercial Crime, Head Office
Telephone number (012) 339 1203
Facsimile number (012) 339 1202
To date, it remains accurate to say that in the vast majority of cases, since the authorities will not recover it for you, once you lose money to the 419ers you will never see it again.
Recovery Scams
Reports received by INTERPOL indicate that the criminals are becoming so brazen and confident that they are contacting earlier victims of the fraud.
Then, posing as Nigerian government officials investigating the fraud in a so-called attempt to get the victims' money back, request payment of an up-front fee.
Another source of international trade info is International Trade Web Resources
To see a comprehensive list of Nigerian scammer pseudonyms along with banking info.
The 419 Coalition - One of the earliest privately run awareness sites.
Greater Things: A numerological perspective of the 419 fraud from a religious point of view.
Others from Lagos section of the Scamorama site.
Tanko Zuba - has taken the time to investigate the claims cited in letters.
Internet Fraud's Nigerian Scams section. Lots of documentation images.
Freeman Institute - Anatomy of 419 fraud.
Teen nearly scammed of $9,000
By Michael Burke
RACINE - People have used the Internet to sell everything from linens to land, so Jennifer Runke of Racine naturally tried to peddle her car online.
However, Runke, 18, came very close to parting with $9,000 instead of her 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse. In exchange, she would have had a very authentic-looking, but entirely worthless, cashier's check for $20,000.
The scam that targeted Runke was another from Nigeria, home of the persistent con game that claims there are millions of dollars in oil revenues just waiting for an American partner to share the loot.
In this case, a con artist operating as "Dickson Mills," and using a Yahoo e-mail account, picked up Runke's car ad either on eBay or AutoTrader.com. Claiming to be an agent for a buyer, "Mills" contacted Runke by e-mail, feigning interest in her car. That began a flurry of e-mails back and forth as Mills tried to seal the deal.
"He didn't tell me where he was from," Runke said. "... I just assumed he was from around here."
It sounded that way at first, when Runke thought she had a buyer for her Eclipse at $11,000. On Jan 2, the alleged agent wrote saying he wanted to set up a time to inspect and test-drive the car.
On Jan. 7, "Mills" wrote that his client had limited means of payment "but he desperately needs a car." The client was expecting a refund on another vehicle purchase he had supposedly backed out of.
That's where the fictitious $20,000 payment came in because, "due to company policy and bookkeeping, this refund payment which he is expecting can only be made out in this one whole amount ..." Mills claimed.
He proposed sending Runke the $20,000 check, which she was to deposit, then wire back the $9,000 difference. That supposedly would offset shipping charges and other commission charges.
There were lots of detailed instructions about how it was all supposed to be conducted. The cashier's check for $20,000 arrived by FedEx early last week, bearing a return address of Atlantic Research Survey in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Runke's parents, Bob and Maureen Runke, were watching this unfold. Maureen, feeling something was amiss, took the $20,000 check to her employer, the Bank of Elmwood, to see if it was genuine.
Of course, it wasn't. The check would have bounced, and Runke would have been $9,000 poorer, had she wired the money.
Her father said the ruse could have worked. "Take away the $20,000 check and the $9,000, and it sounds legit," he said.
Officials at the Gainesville, Fla., bank on which the phony check was to be drawn "said they'd had seven this week out of Nigeria."
"We didn't know that you could make fraudulent cashier's checks," Jennifer said.
"I'm glad it didn't happen to me, because I don't have a lot of money."
She does still have her car. "I was really upset," she said, "because I've turned down a couple of people" who were interested in the car she'd reserved for her mysterious buyer.
The FBI is aware of the various Nigerian scams but largely powerless to stop them. "It's been running rampant for ages," said Monica Shipley, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee FBI office.
The only thing the agency can do is try to work through its attaché in Nigeria and seek the cooperation of that government, she said.
People who encounter Internet fraud cases may report them to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center: www1.ifccfbi.gov
Police warn of Internet scam
By JOHN RICHMEIER, Times Staff Writer
Local residents are asked to be on their guard against fraudulent e-mail and other scams being perpetrated over the Internet.
Leavenworth police Lt. Pat Kitchens said over the last month his department has been contacted by a number of people concerned about e-mail they have received.
He said people should be cautious of any e-mail that asks questions about personal information.
"That is a growing and continuous way for people to engage in identify theft," he said.
Kitchens said "no legitimate corporation will send an unsolicited e-mail and ask for personal information."
He warned that some e-mail used in scams may seem "very, very realistic and sound very, very important."
For example, one e-mail that has been showing up purports to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The message reports that the FDIC has been advised by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to suspend deposit insurance on an account belonging to the recipient of the e-mail.
The insurance is being denied "due to suspected violations for the Patriot Act (a law passed to help combat terrorism)," the e-mail says.
The recipient is asked to verify information through a Web site. The e-mail says failing to verify the information will result in a termination of the account and all records of the account history being sent to the FBI.
A local bank received this e-mail and reported it to Police Cpl. Joseph Dressler. He tried to visit the Web site cited in the e-mail but it had already been shut down.
He contacted a regional investigator for the FDIC and was told the e-mail had been traced to Poland. An electronic crimes unit was trying to locate those who were responsible, according to Dressler's report.
The same fraudulent "FDIC" message also was sent to a Leavenworth woman as well as other e-mail that caused her concern.
One e-mail purported to be from her bank and indicated her account had been blocked because it "may have been compromised by outside parties."
The woman was asked to verify her identity by visiting a Web site.
The woman apparently contacted her bank and was told not to respond to the e-mail.
Kitchens said there are other ways the Internet can be used for scams.
A Leavenworth man reported to police last month about a scam played on his son who'd tried to sell a pickup truck over the Internet.
The seller was contacted through e-mail by a man who said he lived in Paris, France. The man indicated he wanted to purchase the truck for his brother who lives in Nigeria.
The seller was sent a check for more than what he was asking for the truck. The buyer asked that the extra money be sent to his brother in Nigeria.
The check was cashed and the extra money was wired as had been agreed. The check was later returned as "no good," according to the police report.
The Leavenworth man was told his son could be held responsible for the money from the cashed check.
Kitchens said people who have something up for sell should be immediately suspicious anytime they are asked to make side arrangements. The involvement of foreign countries in such a deal can be another red flag.
"I always tell them, 'If you're not sure then don't do it,'" he said.
Seniors are targeted for fraud and scams
February 4, 2004
That 'friendly' voice on the other end of the line may turn out to be a criminal!
Older adults are continually targeted for scams and fraudulent business practice. You may have heard of the recent scam where telemarketers contact older people pretending to be the person’s bank and say that there is a question with the older person’s bank account. The caller then asks for the older person’s bank account number.
Here’s a wise consumer strategy for people of any age - never give your bank account number to anyone, especially someone calling over the phone!
The Consumer Division of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office provides excellent information to alert people to the dangers of consumer fraud directed at older people including telephone fraud.
Prevention continues to be the most effective way to attack the fraud problem.
One of the most important guidelines is that older people should never do business over the telephone with unfamiliar callers.
That 'friendly' voice on the other end of the line may turn out to be a criminal! Before making any decision regarding a telephone solicitation for information or to sell a product, the consumer should always ask for written material that describes the intent of the call.
Another scam that happens this time of the year is the 'prize' scam. The seemingly good news from a telephone caller that you’ve won a prize of some kind may raise our excitement, but as the Minnesota Attorney General warns, 'do not let it override your good judgment'.
Be skeptical because the prize may never be awarded or may not be worth collecting. Often before you can receive the prize, you are asked to pay some taxes.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER accept this offer for anything!
The telephone is one of three methods that fraud “artists” use to contact potential victims. The other two methods include mail and door-to-door sales. Most frauds are a combination of these methods.
Scams of frauds can be large or small, sophisticated or simple, and originate anywhere. All fraudulent people have two things in common - they want to steal your money, and they don’t want to get caught!
Because many older people live on fixed retirement incomes, the economic consequences can be devastating. With a fixed monthly income, it becomes nearly impossible to replenish financial accounts when it is taken by a scam artist.
Therefore, it is imperative that all consumers including older people avoid becoming involved in things any financial scam including look-a-like businesses; work-at-home schemes; Nigerian schemes; lotteries not approved by the state of Minnesota; home improvement scams; bogus charities; 'you have won' calls/mail; investment frauds; medical equipment quackery; as well as vacation scams.
This time of year, Minnesotans are often ready to exit the cold for a little warmth. Unfortunately, there are also frauds when it comes to vacations.
Like any other purchase, buy from a reputable business; watch for hidden costs; avoid immediate payments; verify all necessary information; and consider using a credit card for the purchase.
If you don’t get what you paid for, you may be able to dispute the charges with the card issuer easier that getting a refund. Wise buying decisions begin with a savvy consumer!
419
scammers start working the phones
By Jan Libbenga
Posted: 26/01/2004 at 11:51 GMT
Nigerian scammers increasingly are calling US companies on the phone, using relay phone services. These are normally free calls made by supposedly deaf people using keyboards which go to a phone company operator, who places a phone call and speaks for them. Companies such as AT&T offer these services at no cost.
The scams can take several forms, experts say. Very often, scammers order goods with fraudulently obtained credit cards and have them shipped to Africa. They tell their victims it is a rush job that must be in the hands of the air freight company within hours.
The orders have several characteristics. The scammers often type in all caps and their English is poor. They usually want fast shipment (with shipping cost no objection) and most orders are huge in size. Most favorable are commodity item that can be quickly resold.
Never trust Internet relay calls unless you actually know the person calling you, a "worn out relay operator" warns. "They will give you a sob story, they will claim they have a business, they will even pretend to be religious leaders.....they are all liars. Chances are your Nigerian friend is multi tasking and placing numerous calls at once." ®
Check in mail could just be Internet scam
Article published Sunday, February 8, 2004
By CHRISTINA HALL
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Mike Biddle posted an ad on a Web site to sell a musical instrument.
The Anthony Wayne High School senior previously used the site for buying and selling without any problems. So he didn't expect any snafus when he received an e-mail from a man in England interested in buying his organ.
The buyer said he'd cover the shipping and that someone in the United States who handles his money would be in contact with him.
"But he never did, and one day I came home from school and there was a check in the mail. A $6,500 check for my organ that I was selling for only $800," the Waterville teen says. "I was shocked. Even with shipping, it wouldn't cost that much."
The youth called his dad, who recognized his son was being scammed. The 17-year-old then checked the Web site of the bank identified on the payment check. The logo on the site didn't match the one on the check, which turned out to be bogus.
The Biddles did the right thing, but authorities say many people don't.
Consumer advocates and law enforcement agencies say they're getting complaints about similar scams in which someone selling an item on e-Bay or other Internet sales sites are getting checks from buyers for more than the purchase price.
The buyers tell the sellers to use the money to cover the cost of the item and shipping, then return the remainder of the funds to the buyer's designated shipping agent.
What the seller doesn't know is the check is counterfeit. If they don't wait for it to clear the bank, they'll lose their item, the shipping fee, and the money they returned to the buyer.
"They're doing this with motorcycles, automobiles, campers, even candles," says Jim DeLong, special agent in charge of the Toledo FBI office.
He says FBI agents in northwest Ohio have received nearly a dozen complaints about this scam in cities from Waterville to Vermilion. Some victims were duped, others were not.
Such is the case of Mark Branham of Norwalk. Last fall, he was selling a pickup truck for about $3,500 through a vehicle sales Web site.
A man who indicated he was an overseas auto dealer stated that he was interested in the pickup, and that he would send money for the truck to a man he knew in the states to carry out the transaction.
In December, the interested buyer called Mr. Branham, who had already sold the pickup. The buyer said he had sent Mr. Branham a cashier's check for $7,500. He told Mr. Branham to cash the check, keep $1,000 for his time, and to wire the rest to the buyer's shipping agent in the states.
"I went to the bank and they said it was a good check. They said they would keep it for seven to 10 days to see if it clears, but I could get $5,000 and they would hold $2,500 for security reasons," Mr. Branham says. "I said to keep all the money to see if it clears because it didn't seem right."
It wasn't. The check was fraudulent. Mr. Branham, who has sold items online before, says he's going to stick to putting ads in newspapers or journals from now on.
Richard Eppstein, head of the Better Business Bureau office for northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, has had plenty of similar complaints.
"I'm hammering away at this exact scam," he says. "We've had a car, a snowmobile, boats, even a funeral cemetery plot.
"It used to be that it cost you money to scam people," he notes. "Now it costs you nothing but a key stroke."
Authorities are being inundated with reports of this scam and other Internet crimes, such as bogus lotteries and stolen and counterfeit goods being sold on Web sites.
Toledo police Detective Bart Beavers, who investigates computer crimes, calls e-Bay the "21st century pawn shop." He says, "The person on the other side of the keyboard may not be the person they represent to be."
Mr. Eppstein agrees. "We are literally at the mercy of the con artist. The Internet is the Wild West. There's no law."
Mr. DeLong says authorities think the scam involving the inflated, fraudulent checks is connected with Nigerian scams that have plagued victims and authorities. He says authorities believe those running the Nigerian scams are saying they are from other countries, such as the United Kingdom, to win people's trust.
Although U.S. authorities investigate scam complaints, it's tough to get arrests and convictions in the cases, especially when overseas governments have different laws.
"Don't expect the BBB, Secret Service, State Department, or FBI to get the money back because it's gone," Mr. Eppstein says. "I've never talked to anyone who got their money back and they're in big trouble with the banks."
Mr. Biddle, who says he could have given the potential buyer of his organ thousands of dollars of his own money, has advice for sellers, especially younger ones.
"Listen to your parents because they're wise," he says. "If I hadn't and I would have followed through, I probably would have been cheated out of my money. When a 17-year-old gets a $6,500 check in the mail, they flip out a little bit."
Be on guard against these Internet scams
IRIS TAYLOR
CONSUMER WATCH Jan 18, 2004
Be vigilant in 2004, consumers, especially you Internet users. Already, scammers are at work trying to steal your money and identity. Here are four scams to watch out for:
The scam: A Blacksburg resident called the Office of Consumer Affairs in Richmond and reported receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be from his brokerage firm assigned to handle his account.
The caller informed him of a change in the company's calling system and gave him a new contact number to use in the future. He said he would be back in touch.
The recipient grew suspicious and called his brokerage house, BB&T. As he suspected, the company had not called and does not notify clients of important changes by telephone. Rather, it informs customers of changes through its monthly newsletter or monthly statements.
Stuart Ashby, consumer affairs compliance officer, said, "what they were trying to do is gain his confidence" in order to later get pertinent information and drain his brokerage account.
The lesson: Verify that unfamiliar callers are who they say they are.
"They can verify who we are by asking us questions," said a BB&T official. If callers are legitimate, they already know your account information because it's right on their computer screen, the official said. So, don't disclose any sensitive information.
Also, "If someone calls you up with something generic, hang up," said Ashby. The caller to the Blacksburg resident never identified by name the company he supposedly was affiliated with.
He made the generic statement, "I am from your investment company." That was a tip-off.
. . . The scam: Lawrence Barry, chief division counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Richmond, said a new Nigerian scheme targets Internet chat room users.
Initially, the predators acquired stolen credit card numbers, then went online and ordered merchandise from any number of companies and had it shipped to them in Africa, he said. But, the companies caught on and stopped shipping to Africa.
Now, they go into chat rooms and take time to develop a relationship with vulnerable Internet users. Once gaining their confidence, they convince them to accept merchandise as middlemen, offering the explanation that the manufacturer does not ship to Africa.
The victim falls for it, not knowing the merchandise has been purchased using a stolen credit card.
The scammer may provide the credit-card number so the victim can pay to mail the package to Africa, he said.
He may even let the victim open up the package and keep something, say, a laptop computer, as a thank you, or he simply re-labels and re-ships the package and the scammer sends back a token gift.
The lesson: "If someone asks you to essentially be a re-shipper, avoid it, especially if they are from Africa" where this scheme originates, Barry said. Also, "people have to be very careful who they're chatting with" online.
. . . The scam: Guard your bank account or the following fake check scam may drain it. Susan Grant, a director at the National Consumer League in Washington, said consumers who sell things online are the victims.
A scammer from overseas expresses an interest in buying the relatively high-dollar item or products you are selling online - a car, computer equipment, your motorcycle, whatever.
You're elated. You strike a deal and the buyer sends a check, maybe even a cashier's check. But, the check will be for a larger amount than you agreed upon, which is where the scammer makes his money.
You contact the buyer and he says it was a mistake, just wire him the overage. Or, in a different twist on the scam, the buyer tells you from the start that someone owes him money and would you mind accepting that person's check and wiring the difference. You figure as long as you've got the money up front, it's fine.
The scam is the check you received and deposited looks real, but it's a fake.
Meanwhile, you've wired the overage from your bank account and that's real. By the time your bank ascertains that the check is no good, the scammer's gone and you're responsible for whatever money you've drawn from your account.
"The bank may not find out for weeks that the check is bad," said Grant. "The bank is going to ask for the amount you took out. That's usually thousands."
The lesson: Be wary of accepting checks from overseas buyers unless you wait until they clear, and just say no if anyone proposes to purchase your online product using a check made out for more than you are owed.
. . . The scam: If you receive an authentic-looking e-mail from your bank or another company you deal with asking for verification of your account number, pin number or automated teller machine personal identification number, watch out. It may be an old scam that popped up again this week.
This go-round, New York-based Citibank's customers are among the targets, said spokesman Mark Rodgers.
They receive e-mails, some with a Citibank logo, samples of which Citibank has put on its Web site so customers won't be duped by them.
One starts with the message, "On January 10th 2004 Citibank had to block some accounts in our system connected with money laundering." It ends urging customers to "Click Here to Login" and enter their account information.
If customers click on the link, it takes them to a bogus 'Citibank' site, said Rodgers. The intent, Citibank warns, is "to then use this information to commit fraud."
Bad grammar and atrocious spelling are hallmarks of the e-mails posted on Citibank's site, www.citibank.com. One that I read informs Citibank customers: "This e-mail was sent by the Citbiank server to verify your e-mail address." Yikes!
The lesson: "Do not respond to these," said Rodgers. "Delete them immediately. If you have any questions, call the customer service number on your bank card.
"We never ask our customers to provide information this way"
Also, always type in (or bookmark) a company's Web address instead of clicking on a link, in order to ensure it's a legitimate site.
Consumer Watch appears weekly except for the first Sunday of the month, when The Times-Dispatch publishes the Small Business column. If you have consumer concerns, call Iris Taylor at (804) 649-6349 or write to her c/o Richmond Times-Dispatch Business News Department, P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293. Her e-mail address is [email protected]
Co-op sidesteps credit swindle
By MIKE KALIL
Special to the Reformer
Friday, January 30, 2004 - 2:37:20 AM EST
BRATTLEBORO -- Police have issued a warning to local business owners to beware of a scheme that has already targeted some Vermont companies.
An overseas grifter, probably from Nigeria, called the Brattleboro Food Co-op Wednesday around 11 a.m. and nearly swindled the business out of $5,000 worth of vitamins, Robyn Flatley, manager of the natural living department, said.
The person used several relay systems, which are usually used by the deaf, making it impossible for the number to be traced. However, the address the person gave was in Nigeria, Flatley said.
The buyer wanted 80 bottles of 1,000-milligram vitamin E tablets, she said, and haggled the deal down to roughly $2,800. The first credit card number the person gave exceeded the limit, but the second one, a MasterCard, was accepted.
There was only one problem: Both credit cards were stolen. "My gut kept saying 'something's wrong here,'" Flatley said.
Her gut reaction was correct. She backed out of the deal soon thereafter. A MasterCard representative told her the credit card was probably stolen, she said.
When the person called back Thursday morning, she said, the business was unable to trace the call.
Detective Robert Perkins of the Brattleboro Police Department said it's nearly impossible for police to track down the numbers, because there could be five to 10 operators involved.
When the person was told the co-op had retracted the deal, Flatley said, the caller hung up.
The incident is tough to remedy because the United States has no government office in Nigeria and no jurisdiction, Perkins said. Because the perpetrators use relay systems, tracing the calls is impossible for small-town police departments.
"If (businesses) became a victim, there's really not a lot, right now, that law enforcement can do to get their money back," Perkins said.
And though some may lose large amounts of money, sometimes in the millions, Vermont police departments lack the funds to crack down.
"It's just the resources that won't allow for us to go follow these people," he said.
The U.S. Secret Service told Perkins that these frauds are perpetrated by cartels overseas, usually in Nigeria or the Philippines, he said. They typically purchase bicycle parts, magazines, toothpaste -- anything that can be resold on the black market.
No one at the Secret Service was available for comment Thursday.
The best thing for small businesses to do is be wary.
"What we have to do is warn the little stores about the scam and make sure they don't fall for it," Flatley said.
Flatley called other co-ops and small health food stores on Wednesday, she said, and found that the Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier had gotten a similar phone call that morning.
The giveaway: When asked whether the purchase was for commercial or personal use, the person first said "commercial" and then said "personal," she said.
"Plus, it's so huge," she said. "It's a huge amount of money to ship to another country."
Perkins has seen scams from overseas transform over the years.
In the past, this type of fraud has appeared in the Brattleboro area through the Internet, via e-mails and instant messaging. It wasn't until recently, he said, that people have begun using telephones to get money.
Overseas phone calls requesting bank account numbers, Social Security number or any personal information should be scrutinized, Perkins said.
Also, he said, businesses should be cautious of large telephone orders that are shipped overseas and placed by first-time customers.
Mike Kalil can be reached at [email protected]
Check Scams Continue To Plague Area, Sheriff Issues Alert
By James B. Bartle,
Jan 7, 2004, 21:00:00
The Sullivan Police Department has received counterfeit check reports from not only private personal bank accounts but cashier's checks as well.
The problem creates serious issues for local banks and many unsuspecting customers.
This week Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke released a statement to the Independent News reminding local residents to be alert to another crafty scam being executed by individuals looking to take advantage of unsuspecting people.
According to Toelke, a few months ago the sheriff's office released information involving the sale of merchandise to individuals overseas.
The scam was conducted either by mail, phone, or over the Internet. Recently, the sheriff's department and the local Federal Bureau of Investigation have received an increase in the number of reports of this type.
Toelke states that the recent scam works as follows, "The victim will be someone who is wanting to sell an item, usually but not limited to, a vehicle or something of substantial value. They may have advertised it in the local news, billboard or any Internet site.
The individual will be contacted by someone usually overseas, but not limited to an overseas contact, wanting to purchase the item. The buyer will state that they will send a check, possibly a cashier's check, for the item to the subject that has the item for sale.
The buyer tells the seller that when the check is received, the seller should cash the check. The buyer states that they will have someone contact them, a second party, that will ship the item to the buyer.
The buyer requests the seller notify them immediately when the check is received, so they can notify the shipper."
Toelke stated that a check is actually sent to the seller from the buyer and the check does appear to be an authentic cashier's check and does contain a legitimate name of a bank in the United States.
"When the check is received, it is usually written for more than the seller is asking for the item," said Toelke. "The buyer then requests the seller to cash the check, keep the sale amount for themselves, and send the overage back to them, or give it to the shipper when they arrive to pick up the item.
Before the cashier's check has had time to clear the bank, the buyer will again contact the seller and state that the deal is off. They will request the seller to refund the entire amount of the check to them.
The seller later finds out that the cashier's check is not valid. If the seller has returned the money, it's too late."
Authorities state the individuals that commit these scams are usually in a hurry for you to cash the check. The bank listed on the check is not local, so it takes time for the check to reach that bank before it can be determined whether it is invalid.
"Citizens selling items over the Internet, through newspaper advertisements, or bulletin boards should be very cautious," said Toelke.
"No matter how legitimate the deal may sound, or how legitimate the method of payment may seem, it is very important that the seller wait until the check or method of payment clears the bank the check is drawn on before any transaction is made or money exchanged."
Officers report that there are several variations of this scam and, the majority, but not all of these cases, involved individuals from Nigeria. Prosecution of these subjects is very unlikely, which could leave residents responsible for the money.
"Anyone that becomes involved in a similar situation is requested to contact your local law enforcement or local FBI office," concluded Toelke.
Nigerians running lucrative swindles; Trail leads to man in North Versailles
Sunday, January 18, 2004
By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A small game of deceit played out two weeks ago in North Versailles.
On Jan. 2, a United Parcel Service deliveryman showed up at a Della Drive apartment with a package addressed to Ken Smith.
A man answered the door and signed for the parcel, which contained more than $200,000 worth of cashier's checks.
But nothing was as it seemed.
The UPS man was really a U.S. postal inspector.
Ken Smith was really a Nigerian named Adebayo B. Adedimila.
And the cashier's checks? Counterfeit.
Adedimila, 28, was taken into custody and faces charges in federal court of trying to defraud 20 people in an Internet auction scheme that is increasingly popular among endlessly resourceful Nigerians.
The con is a version of the old "Nigerian 419" scam, named for Section 419 of the Nigerian penal code.
"That's their latest trick," said Jeff Eisenbeiser, head of the U.S. Secret Service in Pittsburgh.
Adedimila's arrest represents a tiny victory in the battle against Nigerian rip-off artists who have been preying on Americans for 20 years.
The schemes started in the early 1980s with letters and faxes sent to businesses. But the Internet has opened up a world of potential marks, leading to a flood of e-mail solicitations.
Among them are the familiar spam messages from West Africans who have a "VERY URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL" and need your help transferring millions of dollars from a secret account in Africa to yours in America.
But it's the auction scheme that is proving more lucrative.
"This is 10 times larger than that," said U.S. Postal Inspector Andrew Richards, head of the Financial Crimes Task Force of Southwestern Pennsylvania. "Instead of going for $60 million, they're going for $6,000. They're going for smaller amounts and they are being incredibly successful."
Typically, a Nigerian will contact a person trying to sell something on Internet auction sites such as eBay.
He tells the seller that he has a "friend" in the United States who owes him money. He says the friend will send the seller a cashier's check, but the check will be for a few thousand dollars more than the item costs.
The check is then shipped to the cohort in the United States -- this was Adedimila's role, federal agents say -- who sends it to the unsuspecting seller through the U.S. mail.
Finally, the buyer asks the seller to send back the extra money by Western Union wire. Some do, and never see their money again.
"Often, the sellers act as requested and wire the additional funds prior to the cashier's check being returned as counterfeit to the seller's bank," said Postal Inspector Joseph Bell in a search warrant affidavit for Adedimila's apartment. "This scheme has affected thousands of victims across the United States and resulted in the loss of millions of dollars."
Some potential victims are smart enough not to be taken.
Two men in Michigan and Georgia were potential marks for Adedimila and his partner in Lagos, Nigeria, who sometimes used the name David Nelson online.
Chris Odom, a photographer from Athens, Ga., was contacted by Nelson last month when he was trying to sell a Nikon camera for $3,750 on a professional sports photography auction site.
Nelson initially bid $4,000.
But later he sent this note, written in the kind of halting English that agents say scammers use to make themselves seem authentic:
"Hello Chris, I must tell you that payment will be in excess of $8,000. I have contacted a friend of mine owing me in USA to make the payment on my behalf to you. I have also instructed him to issue out the check for the amount of $8,000 on your name. After you might have received the check from my client you will need to deduct the cost (of the camera) and have my balance sent to me through Western Union money transfer to London, England, and through my personal assistance name. Reason is because I'm presently out of town for a professional conference in South Africa. David Nelson."
Odom thought the request was bizarre.
"I had a suspicion it was some sort of scam," he said last week.
"If you are serious, you do not need to send a money order to me for $8,000," he wrote back. "The [camera] is for $4,000 and that is well enough with shipping and insurance."
William Corne III, 19, of Saginaw, Mich., didn't fall for the scheme, either. He was selling a subwoofer on eBay for $170, but Nelson wanted to send him $5,000.
"I thought it was ridiculously strange," he said.
Nelson sent the cashier's checks anyway, and did the same for 20 others he had contacted in the U.S. and Canada.
Agents say that's typical, because while most potential marks won't wire back any money, one or two might.
"It's definitely a volume business," Eisenbeiser said.
It works in part because the cashier's checks look so good.
"I've seen them. I defy you to tell they are not real," said Barbara Petito, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office.
But Nelson apparently didn't count on "Operation Tidalwave," an international crackdown on Nigerian fraud.
On Dec. 23, British customs agents at London's Heathrow Airport intercepted a package of checks originating from Lagos and bound for Ken Smith in North Versailles.
Inspectors found $226,000 worth of phony cashier's checks in the names of Odom, Corne and 18 others. Postal inspectors set up a delivery in which one of them would pose as a deliveryman. That's what happened Jan. 2, when Adedimila was arrested.
The U.S. attorney's office asked that he be detained as a flight risk, but a federal magistrate released him to stay with a Nigerian friend in Turtle Creek. No one there could be reached for comment.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said she couldn't comment on whether investigators had arrested or were seeking Nelson or anyone else working with Adedimila.
But she said the case would be among several local prosecutions highlighted next month when her office and the Financial Crimes Task Force conducts an awareness program on 419 schemes and other cons.
"We plan to educate the public about these," she said. "We are going to focus on international fraud schemes."
Those include more traditional 419s, such as the spam messages flooding in-boxes worldwide.
The sender often claims to be an "official" or perhaps the son of some deposed leader who was murdered, imprisoned or killed in a terrible plane crash. He's the only one who knows millions of dollars were hidden away just before the tragic death. But the funds will remain frozen until they can be secretly transferred to a private account -- yours.
If you help, you're supposed to get a cut of the total. But as you get drawn in, you are eventually asked to help finance the transaction, sometimes to the point of traveling to Nigeria or a neighboring country.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gets pitches like this every day, including this one last week:
"I am contacting you because of my need to deal with persons whom my family and I can lay trust and personal relationships on. Since the murder of my father, I have been subjected to all sorts of harassment and intimidation with lots of negative reports emanating from the Government and the press about my family. The present Government has also ensured that our bank accounts are frozen and all assets seized. It is in view of this that I seek your cooperation and assistance in the transfer of the sum of Thirty Million United States Dollars (US$30,000,000.00) being the very last hope for my family and I."
Lately these e-mails seem to be coming from other nations besides Nigeria, such as Liberia, Sri Lanka and even China and the United Kingdom.
Some are from copycats, but most are sent by Nigerians, either in those countries or routed through someone there, according to investigators.
"It's all Nigerian," said Charles Pascale of Harrisonburg, Va., head of the 419 Coalition, a citizens group devoted to educating the public about the schemes. "It's really a cottage industry in Nigeria. It might be said that, after football, it's the national sport of Nigeria."
No one can say for sure why.
"The Nigerian government blames the growing problem on mass unemployment, extended family systems, a get-rich-quick syndrome, and, especially, the greed of foreigners," says a Secret Service 419 advisory.
The Secret Service fields 450 complaints a day, but stopping the scammers is difficult. Agents have arrested some 250 people there in recent years, but the 419 Coalition says most of those suspects were never punished because Nigerian authorities are uncooperative.
Federal agencies have long identified specific versions of the 419. There's the bogus real estate deal, the crude oil for below-market-prices deal, even the "bill-washing" scam in which the mark travels to Nigeria, eyeballs a suitcase full of cash and is talked into paying thousands for chemicals to clean black powder off the bills.
The e-mails introducing these deals seem like obvious scams. So why do people fall for them?
"Greed is a major reason," Buchanan said. "Second, people are often more trusting than they should be. Particularly older people."
Many victims are too embarrassed to pursue a prosecution, Buchanan said, but her office has received complaints. Some victims have flown to Nigeria to try to collect, a very bad move. An American was murdered in Lagos in 1995 pursuing a 419 payoff.
"There's a perception that no one is prone to this kind of thing," Eisenbeiser said. "But a large number of individuals are enticed into believing they've been singled out to share in a windfall. The victims run the gamut. The elderly. Businessmen. Doctors. Lawyers. No one would think it could happen to them."
Torsten Ove can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-2620
Woman tricked by Internet fraud
Bob Sofaly/Gazette
Bettie Brown of Lady's Island was defrauded recently when trying to sell her late 1988 Chevrolet Corsica over the Internet. Brown still has the car and, thanks to a fake cashier's check, owes a local bank $3,000.
Bettie Brown was swindled for $2,500 when she tried to sell an old car on the Internet for $500.
On Christmas Eve, after telephone and e-mail correspondence with the purported buyer, the Beaufort woman received a check for six times the asking price: $500 for the car plus $2,500 to pay a tow truck company to get the car to California.
No negotiation. No handshake.
Her bank, Wachovia on Lady's Island, allowed her to cash the check that was later determined fake. Two days later she wired the money to what she believed was a towing company. But Wachovia would soon notify her that she owed $3,000 for the fraudulent check.
"I'm not a trusting person no more," Brown said.
In the past month, at least six Beaufort residents have unwittingly pursued inquiries to participate in advanced-fee scams, which usually originate in Africa, said Secret Service Agent John Kenney of Charleston. Authorities or banks stopped these Beaufort residents before they sent money, Kenney said, and Brown is the most recent known local victim to lose money.
In September, Ann Judith Justice, 36, of Beaufort reported to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office that she was nearly taken when she tried selling her boat on the Internet for $4,600.
She said she received e-mail from an individual claiming to be from England and interested in buying the boat. Justice received a check in the mail for twice the advertised amount with the stipulation that she mail $4,850 to a broker in Maryland who would come to Beaufort to pick up the boat and arrange to have it sent to England. But Justice was skeptical and a bank confirmed the check was fake.
"I had a real eerie feeling about the whole deal," she said. "Sometimes in the e-mails, he would talk about our car. I thought he was buying our boat."
Most people delete the e-mail, but occasional responses and rare victims are enough to keep the scam alive. A Hilton Head Island man was convinced to wire $75,000 in an Internet scam, Kenney said.
Known as "419 Fraud" after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, a similar scam uses unsolicited e-mail seeking a bank or business to shelter several million dollars in the United States.
The victim is asked to provide bank account information so a large deposit can be made in return for a generous reward. Instead, the bank account is emptied, Kenney said.
A recent e-mail claiming to be from the Ivory Coast states, "I know my message will come to you as a surprise. Don't worry, I was totally convinced to write you in reference of the transfer of US $20.2M to your account for onward investment (hotel industries) in your country. I am MR. Bakarri Agbosubles the son of the former chief of defense-staff Late General Moses Agbosubles of Guinea Bissau." The e-mails are usually filled with grammatical errors and poor English.
In 2002, 48,252 U.S. complaints in which people lost $54 million in Internet scams were referred to various agencies by the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, according to the center, a partnership between the FBI and National White Collar Crimes Center.
Brown, who is an office manager at Beaufort Air Conditioning, said she will struggle for many months to get out of debt.
"I live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "I just want other people to realize that it's right here at home with the Internet."
Three weeks have passed since Brown reimbursed her bank, but on Wednesday, she reported to the Sheriff's Office that another check had arrived in the mail for $4,700. Her instructions were similar to the first transaction: If she would be so kind to keep a portion of the money and send the remainder by Western Union to a location to be named in a future e-mail. The letter came from Kalamazoo, Mich., with a return address of Lebanon, Pa., she said.
"I guess they just think my bank account is just so huge that I wouldn't notice," Brown said.
Contact Glenn Maffei at 986-5531 or [email protected].
Nigerian Fraud Scheme Hits
eBayers
By Ina Steiner ([email protected])
Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher warned of a suspected Nigerian-based money scheme involving the use of counterfeit U.S. bank cashier's checks to buy merchandise from consumers selling goods on the Internet.
Many of the perpetrator's checks initially clear, making sellers feel more confident in completing transactions.
Two victims from Southeastern Pennsylvania reported losses of $9,800 and $12,500. A third victim from Centre County said she lost $4,200, and a fourth Pennsylvania resident from Bucks County was contacted by one of the suspects, however, the phony check did not clear.
"This particular money scheme is extremely dangerous because consumers consider cashier's checks to be the same as cash and would have no reason to doubt the check's authenticity," Fisher said. "Even worse, these counterfeit checks are impressive replicas that are difficult to spot, even by the banks that are clearing and cashing the checks."
According to investigators, the con artists target individuals selling merchandise over the Internet, specifically large-ticket items such as collector cars, motorcycles and boats.
The buyer, who is from Africa, emails the seller to express an interest in the item and states that the method of payment will be a U.S. bank cashier's check.
At the last minute, the buyer makes an excuse for sending a cashier's check that is several thousand dollars more than the price of the item being purchased.
The buyer asks the consumer to wire back the difference between the check and the purchase price after the check clears. Once the consumer's bank cashes the check, the consumer then wires the balance to the buyer in Africa.
Typically within seven to 21 days, the consumer learns from his or her bank that the check was counterfeit and that they must return the full amount to the bank.
Fisher urges consumers to be extremely skeptical of any emails from Nigeria or Africa offering to purchase items online with a U.S. bank cashier's check.
Online sellers are also urged to avoid contact
with individuals asking you to send or wire money abroad. Victims of the
cashier's check scam are asked to immediately contact the U.S. Secret Service at
(202) 406-5850 or write to: U.S. Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950
H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20223. Complaints can also be filed
electronically by visiting
:
http://www.secretservice.gov/contact_fcd.shtml
You can also get more information about Internet fraud at AuctionBytes Fraud Resource Page: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/fraud
Victims of online scams hit hard... More consumers fall prey to con artists
By TERRI SANGINITI
Staff reporter
25 MAY 2003
From The News Journal, Delaware US:
Jim and Kay Perry said they never had any problems buying or selling cars over the Internet.
So when Jim Perry put his brother's 1938 Packard up for sale in January, he had no reason to be suspicious when a buyer who said he was from another country contacted him to buy the classic car for $19,500.
What the couple from Hartly did not realize was that they had just been snared in an international scam that costs American consumers over $100 million a year, according to the U.S. Secret Service, which enforces federal laws related to counterfeiting and other financial crimes.
And, by depositing the buyer's $45,000 cashier's check into their Dover Federal Credit Union account, the Perrys took the first step toward losing the money they had been saving for 17-year-old daughter's college education. The deposit also sparked a battle between the Perrys and the credit union over who is liable for their financial loss.
Secret Service officials say more people are falling for the scam. The con artists typically use fake cashier's checks to purchase items that individuals are selling online. The scammers overpay for the goods and later ask that the difference be returned to them before the victim or bank realizes the cashier's check is counterfeit.
Kay Perry said when the $45,000 check arrived Jan. 15 by Federal Express, she immediately e-mailed the agent for the buyer, who identified himself as Samuel John, that he sent too much money.
John telephoned the Perrys. Speaking in a thick accent that Kay Perry said was hard to decipher, he apologized repeatedly for the mistake by his client's secretary, she said.
John followed up with an e-mail to the Perrys, saying there was a "simple solution" to the problem, which was to have the over-payment wired back to his client. On Jan. 18, Kay Perry said, he called again to report his client had not yet received the money.
The couple wired the $24,460 in overpayment to the buyer in the United Arab Emirates. Only later did they they learn the cashier's check was worthless. The 1938 Packard never changed hands.
Officials said the counterfeit checks being used are well- crafted fakes. It is difficult to confirm their authenticity without calling the banks whose names are on the checks. Both certified checks and cashier's checks have been used.
Federal Reserve rules require banks to make money from cashier's, certified or teller's checks available within one to five days of deposit. In some cases, that is less time than it takes for the check to be cleared in the financial system, a process in which the check is routed back to the bank of origin, where the check can be verified and an account can be debited. That leaves time for a victim to wire money to a scammer before anyone realizes the check is worthless.
Banking officials say depositors need to find out whether a cashier's check cleared the issuing bank before they use the money.
"It's important to not only ask whether the money is available, but also whether the check has cleared," said David Barr, a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. spokesman.
The FDIC also recommends that Internet sellers verify a buyer's name, address and home phone number, and make sure that the check is drawn on a local bank, or one with a local branch.
U.S. Secret Service Agent Robert Sica, who is in charge of the agency's Wilmington office, said the current scam is a new twist on the Nigerian 419 money transferring fraud, named for the section of the Nigerian penal code on fraud.
In that scam, individuals were contacted by unsolicited faxes, e-mails or letters promising a one-third cut of $60 million if they provide a U.S. bank account number where the money could be deposited. The victim, who thinks he has been singled out for a lucrative proposition, typically deposits $25,000 into a new account as instructed. While he's waiting for his cut, the scam artist withdraws the money the victim deposited using the account information provided.
In this new scheme, which surfaced late last year, the con artists are posing as potential buyers of high-price merchandise advertised for sale over the Internet.
Sica would not release the number of Delaware residents scammed in this sting. He would not discuss the Perrys' case.
The money consumers send to these scam artists goes through multiple overseas bank accounts until it ends up in Nigeria, where the money is used to finance heroin smuggling, Sica said. The Secret Service has set up an office in Lagos, Nigeria, to work with law enforcement there to combat the problem. But arrests are infrequent and victims are rarely reimbursed for their losses, he said.
"The scope is significant," Sica said. "The problem is following the money." Lori Sitler, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office, said the office has received 10 complaints in the last eight months.
Sites such as The Classic Car-Section, where the Perrys listed their vehicle, are posting warnings in bold red text to alert sellers to the scam.
"I am getting extremely upset that so many scams are being perpetrated on innocent enthusiasts of old cars," said Norm Nicholson, who operates the site. "My site is intended to be a big help, not a means of getting ripped off."
Nightmare continues
The state Attorney General's Office issued a consumer alert about the scam March 24. Two days later, the FDIC alerted financial institutions about it.
But the warnings came too late for the Perrys.
Kay Perry said when they deposited the $45,000 cashier's check Jan. 16 at Dover Federal Credit Union, the teller told them they could conduct business on the check that day.
The credit union would not comment on what the teller told the Perrys, or any other details of the case. The teller, who could not be reached for comment, no longer works at the credit union.
The next day, Jim Perry wired the $24,460 overpayment to Peter O. Akande in an account in the United Arab Emirates.
It wasn't until Perry tried to use his MAC card on Jan. 23 that he learned there were insufficient funds in the couple's account. The Perrys said the credit union had frozen their assets Jan. 22 to cover the counterfeit check.
Credit union officials have demanded the Perrys repay about $17,000 immediately or they say will take legal action, the Perrys said. The amount represents the difference between what the Perrys had in their account and the amount wired to the buyer.
The Perrys contend it is the credit union that should be held liable for the loss.
Kay Perry said the cashier's check, which bore the name of National City Bank of Indiana, was improperly deposited by the teller as a cash transaction, as is noted on the Perrys' bank receipt, rather than as a check.
The Perrys claim their check deposit should have had a hold on it for at least five business days, a procedure they claim is the credit union's policy for handling checks.
A booklet on account information for Dover Federal members says that money from cashier's checks will be made available on the first business day after deposit. However, the booklet, provided to The News Journal by the Perrys, also notes "safeguard exceptions" that may delay availability of some deposits, including a deposit of checks totaling more than $5,000.
"They will generally be available no later than the 11th business day after the day of your deposit," the booklet says.
The credit union would not comment on its policies.
The Perrys contend the "safeguard" hold on the funds would have prevented them from wiring the money. They said they were never notified by the credit union that the $45,000 in cash was not in their account.
Holly M. Whitney, an attorney for the Perrys, sent credit union president David Clendaniel a letter Jan. 31 contending the Perrys should be liable for a bounced-check fee only.
Credit union attorney David T. Pryor responded by letter on Feb. 6, saying it was irrelevant whether the check was processed by the teller as cash or a check.
"As sympathetic as the Credit Union may be to the Perrys' predicament, the Perrys as the indorser of the check are legally liable for its dishonor," Pryor wrote.
In a written statement May 12 to The News Journal, credit union president Clendaniel said the credit union "has always treated our members' financial information with the highest confidentiality; therefore, out of respect for our members' privacy, we are not able to comment on specific situations."
Clendaniel said the credit union "has always complied with applicable state and federal regulations in the processing of negotiable instruments, and will continue to do so."
The credit union said it is taking additional steps to ensure members are aware of the scams.
The Perrys have filed a complaint with the National Credit Union Administration, an independent federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. The credit union administration, in turn, asked Dover Federal Credit Union to investigate the complaint the Perrys lodged against them.
A spokesman for Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., said the congressman is not satisfied with the credit union administration's response. Castle on May 15 sent a letter to the credit union administration asking the organization to tell him what steps it planned to take to resolve the dispute between the Perrys and the credit union.
'The luckier ones'
Shawn and Jeff Mosch, of Bloomington, Minn., who said they lost $7,200 in the same car scam as the Perrys, posted their story on the Internet. In the Mosches' case, the agreed- upon price for the car was $1,600; the purported buyer sent a check for $8,800, and convinced the Mosches to send back the difference.
The Mosches disputed their liability for the money deducted from their account. Eventually, their bank settled out of court.
"We're one of the luckier ones," Shawn Mosch said.
"Everybody thinks that banks check these certified checks before they deposit them," she said. "The bank told me that I should have called the bank the check was issued from to verify it."
Officials agreed that public awareness is the key to combating scams.
"If you present a check for a large amount, I would speak to a banker to verify there are existing funds in the account so if there is a problem it can be addressed right there," Sica said.
Kay Perry said she will keep on fighting to get her money back.
"We can't afford not to," she said.
PROTECT YOURSELF
Scam Victims United cautions that if you are selling online, be skeptical of offers:
From overseas parties you do not know
To make a purchase by cashier's check (there is no guarantee that a cashier's check is authentic unless the drawn-upon bank verifies that the funds are available)
From buyers sending more than the price of an item
From buyers who are more concerned about return of the overpayment than shipment arrangements
If you are victimized, notify the online site involved to post a warning to other sellers about the scam.
If you have any questions about a suspicious cashier's check, contact the U.S. Secret Service in Wilmington at 573-6188.
CASHIER'S CHECK
A cashier's check is one that is drawn by a bank on itself, authorizing payment to the person or entity named on the check.
A certified check is one that is stamped with the paying bank's certification that the signature on the check is genuine and there are enough funds in the account to cover the check. Once certified, like a cashier's check, it becomes an obligation of the bank and is paid out of bank funds.
Officials said the con artists' counterfeit checks appear to be authentic issues of the banks named on the supposedly official checks.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Federal Trade Commission offers helpful consumer-protection information in the online brochure: Online Scams: Potholes on the Information Superhighway. The FTC also recommends the following resources:
The National Fraud Information Center maintains a toll-free Consumer Assistance Service, 1-800-876-7060, to provide information about telephone or mail solicitations and online scams. They also tell consumers how and where to report fraud and how to file complaints.
The Federal Trade Commission publishes free brochures that explain fraudulent sales practices and how you can avoid them. For a complete list of publications, write for Best Sellers, Public Reference, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326-2222; TDD (202) 326-2502.
Reach Terri Sanginiti at 324-2771 or mailto:[email protected]
Five Nigerians charged in $242 million '419' fraud trial
Friday, February 6, 2004 Posted: 4:54 PM EST (2154 GMT)
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian prosecutors leveled 86 counts of fraud and conspiracy against five people Thursday for allegedly swindling a Brazilian bank of $242 million, in the biggest crackdown yet on the West African nation's advance-fee fraud or "419" scams.
The five are accused of luring an employee of Sao Paulo's Banco Noroeste into siphoning off the funds from his employer, persuading him he could land a share in a lucrative Nigerian construction contract if he just paid enough handling fees up front.
The five appeared in court in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, in handcuffs to hear the charges Thursday. All the suspects, including housewife Amaka Anajemba, lawyer Obum Osakwe, and businessman Emmanuel Nwude -- described by prosecutors as "a major shareholder" in a leading Nigerian bank -- pleaded innocent.
Penalties for each of the counts range between seven and 10 years.
Four Nigerian companies -- Ocean Marketing, Fynbaz, Emrus, and the African Shelter Bureau -- also accused of involvement in the alleged crime were not represented in court.
Presiding Judge Lawal Gumi entered innocent pleas on behalf of the companies and postponed proceedings until Wednesday, when he will consider requests for bond.
There was mild drama in court when suspect Nzeribe Okoli, while making his plea, declared he would make "shocking revelations" during the trial.
"There are so many hidden things which Nigerians should know," Okoli said before he was interrupted by the judge, who told him to restrict his answers to the questions he was asked.
Nigeria's anti-fraud body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleges in court papers the suspects told the Brazilian bank worker he would receive $13.4 million from an $187 million Nigerian airport contract -- if he invested money up front.
The bank worker allegedly dug illegally into his bank's funds, transferring the $242 million -- in segments as high as $4.75 million at a time -- to accounts around the world designated by the suspects, the papers showed.
Nigeria has gained global notoriety as a base for such advance-fee fraud, known as '419' schemes after the section of the country's criminal code that prohibits fraud.
In most of the cases, scam artists proposition victims with e-mails claiming to have millions of dollars from inflated contracts, the estates of dead dictators, or other illicit proceeds, and seeking help to transfer the money abroad.
The victims are then made to pay never-ending "service fees" and other charges -- the object of the scams.
Nuhu Ribadu, who heads the commission set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo's government in December 2002 to combat sophisticated fraud and money-laundering rings, told a news conference on Wednesday he intended to use this case to prove that "no one is above the law."
The case was also the subject of criminal investigations in Switzerland, Britain, the United States and Brazil, Ribadu said.
SCAMS KEEP LOCAL POLICE BUSY
By Leann Eckroth, Staff Writer
Willieston Herald
Scam and con scheme complaints are inundating the Williston Police Department. Fraud is just a ring or e-mail away, warn local authorities.
"It's becoming an epidemic," said Williston Police Det. Tom Ladwig. "We used to get about half a dozen complaints a year. Now, we're getting calls weekly."
The elderly are often vulnerable targets of such schemes. Yet, just about anybody can be taken.
A common swindle being attempted is the so-called "Canadian lottery" phone call.
"One woman sent $9,000 to collect," said Det. Jeff Fender.
"We've had two or three reports of this," Ladwig noted.
"She did send the money. In both cases, the family got the money orders stopped. They were lucky to get it stopped," Fender said.
"If you are notified you have won the lottery, you won't have to pay anything," Ladwig stressed. He said the Internal Revenue Service will take tax money upfront or the individual would pay taxes later.
This scam originates on the telephone. One victim was even told her deceased husband had won the lottery and the only way to collect was to send cash.
Seniors are not the only ones susceptible to a scam. Some con artists take their time, as one Williston businessman discovered.
He and what he thought was a sincere female friend chatted on the Internet for a period of six months. When "she" notified him "she" was working overseas and needed him to cash a check and send to a Nigeria address, the man complied. He cashed the $3,500 cashier check and passed it on via Western Union.
"Within a week, he discovered he owed the local bank $3,500 because the check was fraudulent," Fender said. To send that large amount of money costs the victim another $200.
Fender said it is easy for con artists to misrepresent themselves over the Internet. "They can send anyone's picture. You might think you're e-mailing a 29-year-old blonde and you're talking to a 50-year-old, 300 pound man from Nigeria. They could have several of these scams going at one time."
Those behind the cons want money orders and cashier checks. "They want their money guaranteed," Fender explained.
"If someone sends you a check, hang onto to it until you know the check is good, or have your bank check," Ladwig said.
Be particularly wary if the caller or your person of contact attempts to rush you, saying the payment must be made now.
"Beware, if it's coming out of Nigeria," said Williston Police Det. Mark Hanson.
Ladwig said there is likely no way to be compensated for lost money because the United States has no treaties with Nigeria, and scams are a frequent money maker there.
An even more devious Internet scheme involves somebody selling a large-ticket item like a vehicle through ebay. An unsuspecting seller can easily get taken when a supposed buyer overbids, sends a phony check and picks the car up immediately. The check is found to be no good, the seller is out thousands of dollars and the item up for sale disappears with it.
Confirm a check is valid before cashing it in, advised Ladwig.
Hanson said a new scheme involves using local residents to send merchandise off to Nigeria.
"These items are purchased through fraudulently obtained or stolen credit cards," Hanson said. "They want the items shipped to a U.S. address and then want it shipped on to Nigeria." There is the possibility the unsuspecting victim could be charged with possession of stolen property.
Fender said not to make any major transactions with somebody who contacts you that you do not know.
"Be highly suspicious of someone who wants to do business with you on a chat room on the Internet," Ladwig said. "A legitimate business does not do business on a chat room ... Do not give personal information on the chat room on the Internet."
He said the Internet is a good place to order something when you initiate the call. However, the risk comes when doing business with unsolicited e-mails with a person you met on the chat room.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Hanson said.
Ladwig said there has been a stream of angry callers who are frustrated about being taken. "There is not much we can do. The perpetrators can be from anywhere in the world ... Federal agencies are swamped with this."
The best prevention is common sense. "Have a family member check it out, before you send any money," Ladwig advised.
If you feel you have been a victim of one of these schemes or been contacted and want to confirm the legitimacy of an offer, call the Consumer Fraud Division of North Dakota Attorney General's Office at 1-800-472-2600.
Area residents also have been affected by a recent Social Security fraud scheme. "All we heard was, they asked somebody from Williston to come to a Minot apartment to discuss an elderly person's retirement," Fender said. "We have a Social Security office in Williston."
According to an Associated Press report, perpetrators of this fraud are using people posing as agency employees in an effort to obtain personal information. One caller claimed that due to power outages, they needed to verify the recipient's information. Social Security on-hold recordings also were used.
People who may have been victims of this scheme or who were contacted, are asked to call a hotline at 1-800-269-0271.
The latest aspect of the Nigerian scam that is rarely mentioned in many of the scam busting websites is the theft and use of stolen credit cards by Nigerian scammers.
It is very true that many honest Nigerians abound in different countries of the world engaging in legitimate jobs. However, the few that make up the Nigerian scammers are spread out all over the world spending their time plotting ways of stealing credit card information from unsuspecting people.
When they have stolen such credit card information, they then use them to either shop directly on the Internet or sell them over to other criminals all over the world.
This ebook therefore will not be complete without looking at how you as an ordinary credit card holder and a webmaster with products and services to sell on the Internet can prevent losses from credit card theft and usage of stolen credit card.
This special section will help you know how to protect your credit card from being stolen by Nigerian or other scammers for that matter, and also show you what to do when you suspect that your credit card has been stolen.
It will also show webmasters how they might be losing thousands of dollars to scammers using stolen credit cards and go a step further to show the best ways of limiting the losses from those using stolen credit cards to shop on your websites.
Unlike the typical 'Advanced Fee' Nigerian Scam, this Credit Card scam does not work by emailing the victims with promise of huge sums of money to send to their bank accounts.
Instead, how this credit card works is when either the physical credit card is stolen to shop with offline.
Or the credit card information is used by the fraudsters and their colleagues all over the world to buy things on the Internet.
Even when it is eventually discovered that the credit card is stolen, the thieves would have already bought as many things as they wanted to online.
These days, the scammers now have sophisticated methods of not only stealing credit card information from unsuspecting victims, but also now sell such information to criminals in Nigeria, Indonesia and other 'high-risk' countries.
You should do all the following in order to secure your credit card from being stolen by a Nigerian or other credit card thieves:
For best results, carry your credit cards in a zipped compartment, a
business card holder or another small pouch with the least possibility of
getting lost or stolen.
With cash there is a limit to what they can buy, but with your credit card
there are lots of disadvantages. Apart from over-spending with your credit card, your family and friends
that you lend the credit card to could be careless with it and enable scammers
to steal the credit card information to use for their own purchases.
Protect Your Personal Identification Number (PIN): It is very important to protect your PIN as much as possible. The below tips will help you in doing this:
Be Careful With Your Use Of ATM Machines: Occasionally, your credit card can become stuck inside of the ATM machine. When this happens, be very suspicious of anyone you don't know offering to help you out. They could be criminals and can obtain your PIN by either shoulder surfing or direct questioning.
Take Your Billing Statement More Seriously:
This is one of the most important thing as regards your credit card protection.
It is with your billing statement that you can see if you indeed ordered for all
the goods and services charged to your credit card yourself or a thief did. The
following tips will help you:
Be aware of Mail Fraud:
To get access to your credit card, many thieves can forge your signature and
have your mails forwarded to them. This is so that they can be getting
information about you or obtain credit cards being mailed to you. To protect
yourself against this, do the following:
Be aware of Trash Fraud:
Many criminals always check your trash looking for discarded receipts or carbon.
They do this knowing that they could find information therein containing your
account numbers. The following tips will help you in this regard:
What to do when your card gets lost or
stolen
The following tips will help you as regards lost or stolen credit card.
This is so that you will not lose too much money. The more you delay in reporting it, the more chances that the thieves would spend more money from your credit card.
Also, by law, once you report the loss or theft of your credit card, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges made to the card. Your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card (U.S.).
The FTC specifically warns that if the loss involves only your credit card number (not the card itself), you have no liability for unauthorized use.
To protect your credit card itself from being stolen {or the information contained in it}, do the following:
This is because you are not completely certain who the other person at the other end could be. The person could be a thief who could steal the credit card information for personal use.
Even when you are dealing with a reputable company, extreme care is necessary to ensure your credit card number doesn't go to a wrong hand.
Also, there is the possibility of thieves tapping into your phone to steal your credit card information as you give it out over the phone.
These days, with the new camera cell phones, they can take a picture of
your credit card, which gives them your name, number, and expiration date.
When this happens, Verify directly with the credit card company using the
telephone number on your card, not the number the caller may give you because
the number will definitely be a fake one.
Unlike cash, scammers can still use your credit card even when they don't have it physically!
All they need is to get your credit card information and they can use it or sell it to others to use in purchasing anything, especially over the Internet and on the phone.
Most of the time when you can loss your credit card information to scammers is online. To prevent this, take note of the following protective tips:
To know if the website is secure, look for a small key or lock symbol at the bottom left of your browser's window. If the website doesn't have one, DON'T pay for anything. Also, looking at the page’s URL can also provide a swift check. The URL of a secure page begins https:// instead of the normal http:// which indicates a website that is not secure.
You need to protect your computer from viruses because these days certain
viruses can contain programs capable of extracting information from your
computer and sending it to the virus's author. Some of these programs are known as 'keystroke loggers'. They work by
recording passwords as the user types the password into a form. So, if you
have such virus in your computer, it could send your vital information to
scammers without your knowledge.
A firewall prevents unauthorized outside access to a computer that is
connected to the Internet. When a firewall detects an attempted intrusion, it
blocks the intruder's access to the computer and alerts the user.
And since browser updates are generally free, it is always necessary for
you to always install the latest version.
Also check the site's statements about the security provided for your
information. Some websites' disclosures are easier to find than others -look
at the bottom of the home page, on order forms or in the "About" or "FAQs"
section of a site. If you are not comfortable with the policy, consider doing business
elsewhere.
This will enable you to know exactly what to expect and what not to expect
as regards the transaction.
Opening such file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program
that could hijack your modem, as explained above.
There is a new way in which scammers get hold of your credit card and bank account details these days. This new way is called 'phishing'.
Phishing is a new variation of the scam of getting credit card and bank account information from victims dubiously.
This scam involves the sending of emails to victims designed to look as if they come from a bank or financial institution. Such emails direct the recipients to a website where they are asked to 'verify' personal data or credit card numbers.
As soon as they enter their real personal data or credit card numbers, such vital information become the property of the scammers.
A new survey by Gartner Inc, on this scam reports that "some 57 million US internet users have received emails luring them to fake websites in an effort to obtain bank or credit card information".
The survey also estimated that this type of fraud cost US banks and credit card issuers about $1.2-billion in 2003 alone.
Gartner analysts said that based on the survey, some 30 million adult internet users are almost certain to have received one of these pitches and another 27 million may have received them.
These schemes have a higher success rate than many other fraud attempts, according to the Gartner survey completed in April 2004.
Gartner also estimates that about 19 percent of those receiving the phishing emails, or nearly 11 million US adults users, have clicked on the link in a phishing email. And some three percent, or an estimated 1.78 million adults, report giving phishers their financial or personal information.
The data indicate that "phishing attack victims are almost three times as prone to identity-theft related fraud as other online consumers," according to Avivah Litan, vice president and research director at Gartner.
Phishing attacks are not new, but they have become more pervasive in the past 12 months. According to the Gartner survey, 76 percent of the known or suspected phishing scams occurred since October 2003, and another 16 percent occurred during the six months before then.
To protect yourself from 'Phishing', take note of the following:
"CNN recently reported that the big travel site Expedia.com suffered losses of $4.1 million in credit card fraud."
While most people think that the victims when it comes to credit card fraud are the customers, this is very untrue. Neither are the credit card companies the victims. The real victims in most cases of credit card fraud online are the online merchants.
According to Better Business Bureau, "this is because for the credit card owner, you are usually only liable for the first $50 of fraudulent charges.
Many credit card companies will waive this liability entirely when a fraudulent charge on your credit card is reported promptly. Contrary to popular belief, the credit card company does not suffer the loss in most cases. Our local merchants and service providers do"
If you are a online or offline merchant you will find the following information not only very revealing but also extremely helpful.
The ways in which merchants lose money in such fraudulent credit card transactions are two-fold.
First, you as a merchant lose money because the product or service ordered has already been sent or provided.
Second, whenever there is a chargeback demand, your bank charges you a chargeback fee of US$ 10 and upwards per transaction.
A relevant example will throw more light on this...
... if on your website you sell a book for $20 through a credit card transaction and the cardholder later contests the sale, you will end up paying your bank the $20 PLUS a chargeback fee of $10 and upwards.
And by the time you add the amount that it cost you to mail it to this the cost of the ebook, you will find out that you have lost far more than you thought you gained on that sale initially.
Many banks, these days, even ask for a sizable deposit to protect themselves in the event that YOU, as the merchant, is unable to cover the chargeback costs at the time they occur.
The worst thing about this chargeback problem that online merchants face is you, as an online merchant, incurs too many chargeback's. When this happens, you stand at a great risk of losing your merchant account completely.
Once you've lost your merchant account you are placed on the Visa/MasterCard Terminated Merchant File (TMF/MATCH list) for several years which all Merchant Account Providers have access to. And if they find you on the list they will not reissue a merchant account to you.
So, at the end of the day you as the online merchant has lost in two ways. Both the fraudsters and the credit card providing banks have made profit at your expense.
Read on and in other chapters of this ebook, you will know what chargeback's are and what you can do to protect your online business.
During my course of researching and writing this ebook, I had to travel to commercial capital of Nigeria- Lagos state- to find out more information about the rumors that stolen credit cards were common feature among Internet criminals.
Within a short time, I was able to gather enough information to show that there were many Nigerians using stolen credit cards to shop on the Internet.
Most of these credit card information have been sent to them by their criminal friends and associates in the developed world who are engaged in stealing physical credit card or just the credit card information.
The following stories in the news will tell you more about Nigeria's involvement in credit card fraud:
Relay Phone Scam Hits Fargo-Moorhead Area
By Craig McEwen, The Forum
Published Wednesday, June 02, 2004
A scam using stolen credit card numbers to make purchases using a relay calling service reserved for the deaf has hit Fargo-Moorhead.
On Thursday, Alan Evans Bridal of Moorhead received a call taken by Mark Bayer, one of the store's owners.
"This is Mark from Nigeria. I'm interested in purchasing 30 wedding gowns," the caller told a telephone operator, who relayed the message to Bayer.
"I'm not interested in selling them to you over the phone," Bayer said, telling the caller to stop in the store and he would gladly sell him 30 wedding dresses.
The operator relayed that message back to the Nigerian customer, who said, "Thank you very much," and hung up.
Bayer knew right away what was going on after reading about similar calls from warnings posted on the Internet.
"Our industry has alerted us," said Valerie Softing, another Alan Evans store partner. "They order 20 to 50 wedding gowns from store stock, put it on stolen credit cards and ask to have it shipped overnight to Nigeria."
It can take several days, even weeks to find out if the credit card purchase went through, Softing said. "By that time you've lost all your merchandise."
The same thing has been happening in Fargo. "We see this scam surface from time to time," said Parrell Grossman, director of the North Dakota attorney general's consumer protection division.
North Dakota businesses need to be very careful when they get suspicious large- quantity, large-ticket orders from outside the state or country, Grossman said.
To report an incident in North Dakota they should call (800) 472-2600, he said.
Leslie Sandberg, press secretary for the Minnesota attorney general's office, said victims of such scams can also call the U.S. Secret Service financial crimes division at (202) 406-5850S.
Ron Peterson said Crown Jewels of Fargo has received about 10 calls in the past month.
A store employee came "very close" to shipping out $1,500 worth of gold chains, Peterson said.
The caller gave the employee a Master Card credit card number, registered to an account in Nigeria. But store personnel wondered why anyone from Nigeria would be purchasing anything in North Dakota, Peterson said.
Master Card's fraud division said the credit card number the store clerk was given did not match the name on the card.
Another customer wanted to order 10 Rado stainless steel watches by phone.
"I said, wow, this is a good deal," Peterson recalls. "But we didn't have 10."
Peterson said he told the potential customer how many Rado watches the store had. The customer wanted prices, he said.
Peterson told the customer to call back. The call never came.
Telephone companies offer the relay calls to assist disabled persons.
For instance, Sprint's Website www.sprintrelayonline.com says Sprint Relay Online is a service offered to deaf and hard of hearing individuals that allows them to play relay calls over the Internet between locations in the United States (including its territories).
International calls will either be blocked or terminated, the Web site says.
AT&T Internet Relay Service enables deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled people to place text calls through the Internet to hearing people who use standard phones to communicate.
Users access the relay site and are connected to a communications assistant to whom they type messages. The assistant relays the messages verbally to the hearing person on the other end of the line, who then types a return message.
AT&T advises that anyone receiving unwanted Internet relay calls request that a relay block be placed on their telephone line. For more information check out www.consumer.att.com/relay/internet/faq.html
Bayer said he thinks the scam artists are using the relay call system because it's more difficult to track.
Readers can reach Forum Business Editor Craig McEwen at (701) 241-5502
Ordering Used Books With Stolen Credit Cards
Archive: Online bookselling
An order from Indonesia made me a bit wary this morning. Along with Nigeria and Eastern Europe, Indonesia is one of the places where stolen credit cards are used to order books.
That the customer asked for Global Express shipping made me less wary. I figured he was a journalist who needed the book (a collection of Door’s lyrics) for an article.
When I started to reply to his email I noticed his name appeared as “Stolen CC’s.”
I guess when you are using someone else’s credit card there’s no reason to worry about the shipping cost.
Stolen Credit Cards Stick Businesses With Big Losses Through "Nigerian
Repackaging Scam"
A Consumer Alert From Your Better Business Bureau.
April 14, 2004
For More Information:
Sarah Rolfingsmeier
(502) 588-0043
(Louisville, KY - April 14, 2004) The Better Business Bureau serving Louisville, Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky is alerting businesses to be aware of a scam involving e-mail and telephone orders for merchandise, where payment is made using one or more credit cards.
Businesses accepting credit card orders by telephone should be especially cautious in view of "smarter tactics" being employed by Nigerian scam artists.
For good reason, businesses are cautious about shipments to foreign addresses, especially to "high fraud" destinations such as Nigeria and Eastern Europe.
Unfortunately, scam artists from these high-fraud countries have found a way around such precautions. Merchandise is being ordered for shipment to a U. S. address, where an arguably innocent "repackage" is hired to ship the merchandise to a foreign destination.
Cases that have come to the attention of the BBB and local law enforcement have mostly involved shipments to Nigeria.
Several Better Business Bureaus have received reports of fraudulent orders placed with businesses using TTY devices and relay operators serving the hearing-impaired.
The scammers may believe a company will "let its guard down" when the company believes it is dealing with a hearing-impaired customer.
Both "repackagers" and businesses selling merchandise have been victims of these scams.
"Repackagers" provide domestic shipping addresses to which the original sellers are instructed to ship merchandise. The "repackagers' arrange for shipment of the merchandise to overseas addresses.
In cases that have come to the Bureau's attention, "repackagers" were recruited through "help wanted" ads offering employment.
Although promised payment for their work, "repackagers" have not paid for their services or have been paid using counterfeit checks subsequently charged back to their bank accounts.
"Repackagers" have been left "holding the bag" on shipping costs they expected would be paid by overseas recipients of merchandise.
Businesses shipping merchandise are learning later that credit cards used to purchase the merchandise were stolen, or had been secured using stolen identities.
In many cases, businesses that made the original sales must take the loss, even if the business obtained authorization on the credit card prior to shipping the merchandise.
Products purchased by these scammers have included CDs and DVDs, computers, printers, electronics and office supplies of all types, toner, medicines and medical supplies - indeed, any product that can be sold by telephone or e-mail and shipped.
Foreign Fraud Hits
U.S. E-Commerce Firms Hard
Top offending countries: Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Romania
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent, MSNBC Updated: 7:56 p.m. ET April 01, 2004
Selling stuff online? Beware orders from Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Romania, Pakistan and Indonesia.
A study released Thursday claims that more than 40 percent of all credit card fraud suffered by U.S. companies online is committed by overseas crooks, with orders from those five countries the most likely to be cons.
But selling internationally isn't automatically risky. The study also showed that fraud rates among sales to New Zealand, Switzerland, Japan, France and Italy are lower than fraud rates for domestic U.S. sales.
Yugoslavia ranked first among high-risk countries, the study found. About 13 percent of purchases initiated from that country were fraudulent. By comparison, the fraud rate in the U.S. is about 1.7 percent, according to Cybersource Corp., which sells anti-fraud software.
Many online merchants just avoid global sales all together. A full one-third of medium and large Web sites simply won't sell to international customers, according to a separate recent survey, conducted by Cybersource.
International fraud rates are four times higher than domestic rates, the company says.
Despite the high risk of selling overseas -- better than 1 in 10 purchases made from Romania are fraudulent, for example -- the Merchant Risk Council says electronic commerce Web sites shouldn't shy away from the potential revenue source.
The council is a consortium of 1,500 companies that do business on the Web.
"Our recommendation is you should always ship internationally," said Julie Ferguson, a council board member. "But if you are shipping to a higher risk location you ought to mark it for review."
4
Nigerians Arrested For Internet Frauds
Source: News Now
Police have arrested four Nigerians for allegedly stealing credit card numbers and using them to purchase products through the Internet.
These products were re-sold at higher prices, it claimed. Charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy, the four have been sent to CBI custody for seven days.
According to the CBI, the four accused were living in Delhi after allegedly enrolling themselves at computer education institutes. ‘‘Abdul Aziz claims to be studying at Aptech computer institute.
The others could not even tell us the name of the institutes they were studying in,’’ a CBI officer said.
With the arrest, the CBI has recovered two floppies containing 1,500 credit card numbers. On inquiry the agency found that most of the cards had either been surrendered or reported lost.
The CBI has seized photocopies of blank cheques of a foreign bank, a seal of the Nigerian high commission, a forged letter from the Agra SP, recommending residential permit for the Nigerians and a forged diplomatic identity card issued by the ministry of external affairs.
Chargeback's happen when a cardholder disputes a credit card purchase. There are a variety of reasons a cardholder may dispute a charge. Some of reasons can include:
In the event of a chargeback, the card-issuing banks will initiate a chargeback against the online merchant.
The funds for that sale are pulled from the merchant's bank account and the merchant may or may not be notified of the chargeback and be given the opportunity to dispute the chargeback.
It is always easier to identify and deal with credit card fraud offline because this is an in-person transaction and you can easily verify the credit card information live.
However, the following tips can help you prevent fraud and chargeback's in your offline business transactions:
All it takes is for a credit card thief to use a 'valid' credit card to buy goods worth several thousands of dollars from your website, and repeat it again and again and again.
Within a very short time, you will not only have lost so much money but will end up paying huge amounts in chargeback fees when the 'real' credit card owner finds out.
So, it will pay you to educate yourself on the dangers as well as the 'advantages' of selling online. Know what you are up against and how best to reduce your risks online.
State BOLDLY on your website that you have measures in place against fraud and will prosecute fraudsters to the full extent of the law.
Such warnings (even if not necessarily backed by facts) will make most of them scared because they will have the feeling that you know about them and are prepared for them.
Many will not waste their time on your site but find other sites, among the hundreds of millions others, to use their stolen credit cards on.
Such warnings you can put can include:
This could be a result of the company details not appearing on the Billing
Statement of the customer. To solve this problem, always include on your website the information that
will appear on the Billing Statement of the credit card owner so that they
will know what to expect when their Billing Statement comes out. This is especially very important if the name of your payment service is
different from the name of your company or website. So, if you use a 3rd party processor, and even if you don't, make sure the
customer knows what name will appear on their Billing Statement at the end of
the month.
AVS is a computerized system that automatically compares the statement
billing address on file with the credit card issuer with a customer's billing
address provided with each order. In other words, it checks to ensure the address entered on the order form
matches the address to where the cardholder's billing statements are mailed
to. AVS helps to give added assurance that the customer is the real owner of
the credit card in question. The few limitations of AVS are:
But there could be instances when the real credit card holder might want to
buy the product for someone else and wants the product shipped directly to
such a person. The best thing to do in such cases is to call the credit card holder on
phone or even the credit card company directly to confirm if it is indeed a
legitimate order.
So, if someone is accessing your website from, say Nigeria, your log
analysis will tell you from reading the IP address that the order is from
Nigeria. To make this more efficient, you can include a Time Stamp on each submitted
web site order form. This will help you review all the orders you have
received before shipping the items. While most commercially hosted domains will have a server log running,
there are dozens of website traffic tracking utilities available now all over
the Internet. These website traffic tracking utilities will not only return very valuable
demographic data, but can also assist you in pinpointing the origins of all
those accessing your website and those placing orders for you products.
It is a 3 digit number for major cards except for American Express where it
is 4 digits. It is located on the back of the credit card (the last three
digits, after the account number). According to Visa, this tactic alone can reduce the cases of chargeback's by
26%. This is because by requiring customers to provide the CVV2 number, you
have fairly high assurance that the buyer is holding the physical card and
actually making the order in question.
This hidden field will then serve as a tracking device for you. As the
order pulls through, it allows you to know about the computer used to send the
order, including the domain name and the IP address. This knowledge can then help you whenever any problem arises with the
order. Since you will then know the IP address and other information about the
customer, you can contact the ISP if any fraud arises.
The voice recorded order verification is then automatically e-mailed to the
merchant for filing in the event the customer tries to dispute the charge on
their account. This will help you to greatly reduce cases of chargeback's because the
customer cannot deny the voice. Though expensive, it is important for you to
use this solution when you are selling highly expensive items on your website.
For example, technology now makes it possible to place a real-time,
automated phone call to the customer while they are shopping on your site,
asking them to enter the confirmation code appearing on their screen. If they respond, this gives you great assurance that they are authentic,
but if not, you know that something is wrong.
Such addresses include free e-mail addresses. They NEVER use real email
addresses in these frauds because they can easily be traced. There are thousands of free e-mail service providers all over the Internet.
The quickest way for you to know if the order is from a free e-mail type in
the word after the @ sign and before the .com in your address bar to check it
out. For example, if you receive an email from [email protected], simply type
in www.DomainName.com in your address bar to check if it is a free e-mail
provider. If it is, carry out other checks before you ship the order. This is because
not everyone using a free e-mail address is a credit card thief. If other
requirements are met by the customer, you can go ahead and ship the order. You can find a detailed list of free e-mail domains on the
Antifraud
website.
To do this, use
Network Solutions' database to search for the records. But note that even if the addresses do not match, it is not a total sign of
fraud, except in cases where you have completely different countries on both
the domain and credit card. You can take this further by actually visiting the website of the customer-
following the domain of the e-mail address. On the website you will be able to
judge if indeed the customer is genuine. If you find out an 'under-construction' sign or a suspicious looking
website, this should warn you that the owner might not be genuine.
Nigeria is number three in the list of such 'high-risk' countries after
Indonesia and is followed closely by most of the Eastern European countries.
Below are some of the major 'high-risk' countries in order of notoriety:
This list is by no means exhaustive, but the above involve the most
reported cases of credit card fraud. However, this list nonetheless, there are still many people based in such
'high-risk' countries that DO have genuine credit cards with which to shop
online. They could be in such countries on a trip and just need to make
payments online. And there are also other honest people in such countries that really asked
their friends and relatives in the West to use their genuine credit cards to
make purchases for them and have the items shipped to them in such countries.
This fact nonetheless, you should not ignore such countries completely. And
with a country like Nigeria having a population of over 120 million, it will
not be wise to just ignore the whole country just because of a few bad eggs in
their midst. What you should do in this case is to carry out other extra measures to
verify the authenticity of the order. If the other information provided is correct and the credit card is
genuine, you can go ahead and make the shipment (via any of the private
couriers- to be certain that the customer receives the order).
Such alternative means of payment can include sending an International
check. Note that even when you do receive the check, make sure the check
finally clears at your bank before you ship the products. It should take about
2-4 weeks for an International check to clear. Or you can demand for a Telegraphic Transfer to your bank account.
This, though more expensive for the customer, takes just a few days to get to
you. And after receiving your payment, make sure you don't send the product by
regular mail. The customer can complain of not receiving the product. The best way is by sending it through either FedEx, UPS, DHL or the other
known courier services. This way you will be sure that the customer receives
the product. Other alternative means of payment include:
Such orders should put you at alert. Make sure you are on guard and use all
the above safety measures to verify the authenticity of such an order. Stolen credit cards have very short life span. The thieves therefore want
to make the maximum use of the card in the minimum time allowed before the
real owner finds out about the theft.
For example, if you receive an order that wants overnight delivery, be
cautious, especially if the order is huge. Like I have said, credit card thieves are always in a hurry to spend as
much money from the card as possible before the real owners report the theft.
This will help you confirm that the credit card owner is the actual person
making the order.
Also, you can call the credit card company and ask them to verify the
credit card information to see whether the credit card has been reported
missing. This extra time in making this phone call can save you thousands of dollars
that you would have otherwise lose to fraud. More so, the customer will appreciate the fact that you seem to be taking
good care of your business.
Even when they are not available at home or office, the courier will not
drop the package 'at the door' unlike the public courier services. This will help you in cases of chargeback's because you will have evidence
that the credit card holder actually received the product.
Merchants keep losing money to chargeback's because of the futility of
winning most cases, but with adequate information you can win a chargeback
case.
Some of the reasons for chargeback's apart from fraud involve the credit card
owner not remembering ever making an order from certain companies.
Make sure that the processing equipment or software provided by your merchant
provider supports AVS.
In other words, make sure that the "ship to" address matches with the "bill
to" address on the credit card. This gives you full assurance that the credit
card is not stolen.
An IP address is a unique network identifier issued by an Internet Service
Provider to a user every time they are logged on to the Internet.
This is an anti fraud feature designed to prove that the person placing the
order is in fact in possession of the card.
The various form handlers like FormMail, cgimail, etc have this facility in
place which allows you to add a hidden field called the Environment Report
field in your order forms.
This is a new technology that works by collecting a "voice stamp" or voice
authorization and verification from the customer before the online merchant
ships the order.
"Out-of-band" verification is a procedure of verifying the authenticity of the
buyer outside of the Internet. When you receive an order on the Internet you
can use this system to find out other information from the customer using
other means other than the Internet.
Since the objective of most credit card thieves is to defraud you, they will
always want to avoid detection. They therefore hide behind addresses that
cannot be traced back to them.
For those customers who have websites, you can check out their domain name
information to verify if the address and name they used on the credit card
matches with that on the domain registration.
According to a recent study, as reported by MSNBC, more than 40 percent of all
credit card fraud suffered by U.S. companies online is committed by overseas
crooks, with orders from about 10 'high-risk countries'
To still sell to honest people in such 'high-risk' countries like Nigeria, you
can include in your website that for orders coming from such 'high-risk'
countries they should use other means of payment.
Watch out for large or expensive orders. Don't get carried away because you
have just received an order for 10 laptops or a $15,000 Rolex from a first
time customer.
Watch out for orders from customers that seem to be in a 'rush'. Such 'rush'
shows that something is amiss and the thieve wants the item's) as fast as
possible.
For suspicious orders you can simply ask the customer to fax you the photo of
the credit card or the photocopy of the credit card billing information.
When you still have serious doubts about a particular order, spend the extra
time and money to call the customer in question using the phone number
supplied in the order.
Using private courier services like FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc helps you to greatly
reduce cases of frauds and chargeback's. With such services, you will be able
to get your customers to first sign up before receiving their packages.
To give yourself greater protection and a bigger fighting chance against the
consumers, document all contacts you have with them. In particular, you should
use caller ID, a voice mail box and keep all emails to show as proof in
fighting your case.
Whenever you receive an order that appears suspicious, use common sense and
take extra time to review the order carefully.
Thanks for reading
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