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06-29-2007, 02:20 AM
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Be Aware & Beware
Consider yourself lucky if you are not familiar with Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud (payment wired in advance of receiving monies or goods). Nigerian 419 gang members prey upon anyone looking for a bargain (check out Escrow Fraud in General Scam & Spam Discussions), a job, a roommate, a romantic connection, or a puppy. These cyberspace outlaws are predatory in character. Their formats, which are fraudulent letters, are pandemic by nature.
Nigerian scams have infected ebay, monster.com, craigslist, paypal, myspace, match.com, Internet chat rooms (see Love Scams in General Scam & Spam Discussions) and so on. As soon as their latest venture is exposed, their fraud scheme mutates; it becomes even more seductive or ridiculous. (Go to Scam o Rama: The Lads from Lagos to view 125 Advance Fee Fraud letters.) The US National Consumer League reports Nigerian-based fraud via the internet increased 900 percent in 2001. This means an unsolicited too good to be true promotion - such as a lottery win or business proposal - may magically appear in your inbox because of spam software. (Read Avoiding Spam Email in this forum) Crime organizers: (1) create bogus companies with fake addresses, (2) assume false names and identities, (3) print counterfeit cashier's checks, (4) charge hefty fees to open fake online bank accounts, (5) use fraudulent online escrow services (6) steal a person's financial information and identity, (7) hide behind a handsome hunk or sizzling babe photo copied from other websites (8) and use stolen/clone/prepaid cell phones to further a big, fat lie. (To learn how to spot Advance Fee Fraud, open http://www.chase.com/ccpmweb/shared/.../fbi_flyer.pdf.) They are, in fact, professional liars. Once a guyman, a lower level scam artist, hooks a victim, he works the job like a consummate actor. He is a ticket to riches, a business partner, a hard luck story, or a soul mate. The guyman and his boss, an oga, morph into whatever the victim desires. The best way to avoid becoming a victim is not to take a lottery promotion/business deal/sob story/romantic connection at face value. Do your homework first. The Internet - and its search engines - are a powerful research tool. Open Internet Fraud Tips at Tips for Avoiding Internet Fraud, from the Internet Fraud Watch to learn about all kinds of online scams. Besides 419legal, the following websites offer information on scams and scammers: 1.) Fraudwatch International - Anti-Phishing Specialists > Known Lottery Scam Operatives is a web page with an alphabetized list of lottery/business names used by scam operatives. The problem is that fraudulent letters mutate at such a rate it's hard to keep the list current. As soon as the e-scam is exposed - or, doesn't net enough income - 419 gangs change the lottery name, the country it comes from and tweak the letter's format. If your scam operative isn't listed, view example letters anyway. For one may be similar in format. To do this, enter the lottery/business name into the site's search engine. Once the page appears, click on fraud info at the bottom of the screen. 2.)Ripoff Report: By Consumers, For Consumers All kinds of complaints and fraud reports are listed in their database. Just type the suspicious business/company name into their serach engine. Since this site has an extensive database, there is a greater chance of receiving the information you need here than at the Better Business Bureau's website. 3.) Main Page - aa419 stands for Artists Against 419. According to these scambusters, they have the largest repository of websites used in 419 and Advance Fee Fraud on the internet. They are into busting fake banks. Check out any suspicious URL address here. 4.) www.ic3.gov/ The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). It is, in essence, an information gathering center and a reporting mechanism for cyber crime. Check out the FBI's home-page before leaving their website. While there, open What we Investigate, then click on Internet Crime Schemes. The screen that appears describes eighteen (18) to-be reported fraud schemes, such as Auction Fraud, Counterfeit Cashier's Check Fraud, Credit Card Fraud, Re-shipping, Phishing and the Nigerian Scam Letter, etc. This site offers prevention tips and advise on how to protect your computer, too. 5.) The Federal Trade Commission's website at Federal Trade Commission - Home is the agency interested in pyramid schemes, money-making chain letters, credit card scams, credit repair scams, weight-loss plans, fraudulent business opportunities, etc. They have a Consumer Complaint link on their home-page. Or, forward spam to spam@uce.gov. They say their database generates cases against people who use spam to spread false or misleading information about their products or services. 6.) See Insider Information under Identity Fraud link for resources that guide you through the Identity Theft nightmare. To better secure personal information, read Phishing Refresher in the Reporting Fraud section. 7.) If you are conducting business on ebay or paypal, forward suspect emails to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com to find out if you are being scammed. __________________________________________________ __________________________________ Enter Nigerian Mafia into Ask.com's search engine and learn more on how 419 gangs separate victims from their loot. For instance, an ebay blog titled, Nigerian Mafia Overruns Ebay, talks about [i]overpayment[/I rip-off schemes. A link on screen page three, Nigerian Crime Network, takes you to a well-written article by David Simcox (PDF form). This piece goes into how Nigerian criminals - entering the US on student visas - bilked the government out of $1 billion in 1989. __________________________________________________ ___________________________________ If you are a US citizen who is a Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud victim and has suffered a significant financial loss, open United States Secret Service: Frequently Asked Questions to learn how to report the fraud incident to the agency. Click on the How do I report a case of advance fee fraud (also known as "4-1-9 fraud")? link, which is located in the "Protecting Yourself" section. After that, visit United States Secret Service: Field Office Contact Information to find your nearest Secret Service field office, or look in a telephone directory under "US Government Information." __________________________________________________ ____________________________________ Important note: The US Secret Service says it is not a crime to ask a stranger's assistance in a financial matter. If you wired dollars to a stranger with a hard luck story, the FBI won't be interested, either. Sorry. (Check out Local Police Department in Reporting Fraud) __________________________________________________ ____________________________________ Fraud victims from other countries should visit Interpol. See Interpol Connection in the Reporting Fraud forum for additional information. I use this website when researching the US Department of Justice (DOJ). It's Police-Justice page at Links - Police-Justice has links to the many DOJ divisions and offices. __________________________________________________ ____________________________________ Update 8/9/07: Victims defrauded by scammers originating from South Africa need to return to 419legal's home-page, scroll down to the Important Contact Information link, click on it, then open SAPS Commercial Branch & SAPS Crime Intelligence for further details. Last edited by S. Tomas : 10-02-2007 at 08:34 PM. Reason: Revise 
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