Money Mules: Fraud from overseas are baiting locals for help
Photo by: Drawings Of Light - Paul
Officials from San Diego County Sherriff’s department busted an online auction fraud early this month. They arrested Kevin Harper of Vista California for allegedly helping a Nigerian fraudster carry out a scam on American soil. He made an acquaintance with the fraudster, a member of the opposite sex, online.
He is suspected to have played a key role in the scam. Apparently, it was his part to make fake checks and to have them delivered to victims of the scam. He was also supposed to receive payments made by them via Western Union money transfer and to wire these to Nigeria after setting aside a fat commission.
Harper is alleged to have been doing this since the last six months. He is said to have siphoned off $600,000 to his Nigerian partner during this period. And also to have helped himself to $50,000 along the way. Unfortunately for him, he ended up being a money mule to the scam.
Role of Money Mules
Fraudsters use money mules for laundering money in scams involving stolen credit cards. This is an easy way for them to bypass anti-fraud mechanisms setup by the banks. The main advantage of such an arrangement to fraudsters is obvious: they go scot-free while the mules get arrested and convicted for the scams!
But fraudsters are looking for some essential qualifications. The candidate must be residing in the country where the scam is to be run. He is also expected to have a running bank account there.
Email ads are the first point of contact for potential recruits. The ads are mass-mailed to all the addresses that fraudsters can get hold of. They are targeted especially on people who register themselves at online job sites.
The candidates are asked to be a broker or to help with processing of payments or to do something as simple as managing the mail for a business. The positions are tantalizingly titled: designations include money transfer agent, country representative, shipping manager, correspondence manager, client manager, and financial managers. They are promised with generous payments for their efforts.
It is the young or the naïve who usually fall prey to their offers. They are misled into believing that they are part of a legal enterprise. Sometimes, people knowingly take up such offers assuming their roles in the scam to be insignificant.
Source: signonsandiego.com
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- Perry Belcher: Mr. Cure All arrested and charged with con
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- The Reshipping Scam
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:06 am
Hi - just wanted to say good design and blog -
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Now you can add “”Anatoliy Krutikov” ” from Russia.
I almost got caught in one of these via email/IM chat, but something told me it felt too wrong and I never followed through with it. I then passed it on to local athorities and my bank, but they said they could do nothing about it because I did not follow through and they were overseas. That was almost 2 years ago.
Today I received the following:
-
Dear Partner
I am Mr. Anatoliy Krutikov a personal treasurer to Mikhail Khodorkovsky,the
Richest man in Russia and owner of the following companies: Chairman CEO:
YUKOS OIL (Russian Largest Oil Company) Chairman CEO: Menatep SBP Bank (A
well reputable financial institution with its Branches all over the world)
SOURCE OF FUNDS:
I have a profiling amount in an excess of US$100.5Millions Dollars, which I
seek your Partnership in accommodating for me.You will be rewarded with 4%
of the total sum for your partnership. Can you be my partner on this?
INTRODUCTION OF MY SELF As a personal consultant to him, authority was
handed over to me in transfer of money of an American oil merchant for his
last oil deal with my boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Already the funds have left the shore of Russia to a European private Bank
where the final crediting is expected to be carried out. While I was on the
process, My Boss got arrested for his Involvement in politics by financing
the leading and opposing political parties (the Union of Right Forces, Led
by Boris Nemtsov,and Yabloko,a liberal/social democratic party Led by
Gregor Yavlinsky)which poses a treat to President Vladimir Put in Second
Tenure as Russian president. You can catch more of the story on this
website:
http://newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/03/29/58914.html
http://www.interfax.ru/default.asp
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mikhail-Khodorkovsky
YOUR ROLE: All I need from you is to stand as the beneficiary of the Above
quoted Sum and I will re-profile the funds with your name, which will
enable The European bank transfer the sum to you. I have decided to use
this Sum to relocate to American continent and never to be connected to any
Of Mikhail Khodorkovsky conglomerates. As Soon as I confirm your readiness
to conclude the Transaction with me, I will provide you with the details.
Thank you very much.
Regards
Anatoliy Krutikov (Mr.)
Email:[email protected]
October 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
and he’s at it again, i received this via e-mail earlier this week….BEWARE
March 31st, 2009 at 11:39 am
i was arrested and have felony charges from online where i applied as work was offered a job as book keeper accepting payments and sending western union for 10 percent/ well they were conterfiet and i got arrested for it, so i lost my job. now im a felon and still have feloneys pending and im 50 years old.stay away from them scams also the use f,b,i, robert muller to say it 100 percent true.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:41 am
and they threatenn you with federal arrest. i turnes checks and money orders over to local authorities so now they threaten they know where i live and will get me
November 29th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
DAMN , I JUSS GOT ONE OF THOSE LETTERS IN MY E MAIL , AND IT SOUNDED TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE , SO I LOOKED IT UP , AND HERE I AM JAJAJA , IT WOULDVE BEEN NICE TO HAVE THAT MONEY THEY OFFERIN , SHYT I WAS ABOUT TO DO IT, I HOPE PEOPLE DONT FALL FOR THIS