There are parts of the world where internet cafes are busy churning
out scam emails promising untold riches to the gullible person on the
receiving end of an irresistible offer.As we all know,
people are not who they seem on the internet, so keep your personal
data secret and don't reply because then they know your email address
is active and you're likely to be targeted by more fraudsters.
The 419 emailOriginating
largely from Nigeria, The Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), South Africa,
Angola, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, they beg the recipient for help to
transfer millions of dollars into a foreign bank account, on the
promise of a large share of a non-existent fortune which has been
languishing in a foreign bank account for years.
They're called 419 scams by the international community as the fraud is mentioned in section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code.
Bullying
UK gets a dozen of these emails a day. Some of the senders cheerfully
confess to corruption as the way they came by their ill-gotten gains.
On one day alone our 'inheritance' totted-up to £25,000,000!!!
The common theme is:
- The untimely and unfortunate death of the money's owner, often in a plane crash, by murder or in a land dispute
- The donor is suffering from a fatal illness
- The donor is someone with a conscience working for a bank, or is a
relative of a government minister, a civil servant or a barrister
| - You are the only person they trust
- You must keep the transaction secret
- The sender wants your bank account details
- The transaction is 100% risk free
|
These
emails often contain detailed accounts of the sender's address and
phone number and add that the person is employed by a large corporation
in a bid to gain credibility. Often they have British sounding names.
In
other cases the person needing your help is the wife of a murdered
government minister, a prince, a chief or the son of a military
figure. Alternatively they may be a barrister or a doctor. They
usually have access to cash which they want to transfer abroad and they
ask you to be their 'next-of-kin'.
If you're interested in the
deal with these new-found and generous adopting relatives, you may be
asked to provide bank account details, letterheads and invoices. They
insist that you hurry to take advantage of these dubious offers.
The idea is that the money is put through your account and then you get a large percentage of the proceeds.
Of
course it has to be secret and the scamsters rely on greed to complete
their dodgy deal. You're not going to tell anyone about something you
think may be not quite on the right side of the law.
There's
nearly always a sob story involved, apart from the unfortunate demise
in a plane crash, torture and murder, other email hopefuls have had
their land stolen or other reversals of fortune.
Religion also plays a part. Multiple blessings are promised to those foolish enough to go along with the scam.
How it worksBefore
the transaction can go ahead you are likely to be asked for money to
cover various fees - and then for more money to cover unforeseen
difficulties.
The reality is that if you part with your bank details your account will be emptied of money.
The
senders of these emails use anonymous addresses like hotmail.com,
yahoo.com and others. It isn't unusual to have similar emails in the
names of different people as the scamsters forget who they are supposed
to be.
It's difficult to know how many people have been taken
in by these scams, embarrassment may prevent them being reported to the
authorities.
Where to report the scamIn
the UK, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS)has taken
action on these fraudsters and they are well known to council trading
standards officers who issue regular warnings. Many police forces also
have warnings about them. The Metropolitan Police have a particularly
good account of how they work. www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/419.htm .
The
NCIS say that if you receive one of these scam emails, print it out
including the header and take it to your local police station, marked
for the attention of the Fraud Squad. If you've lost money on the fraud
contact the West African Organised Crime Section on 0207 238 8012.
The best claim we have seen with one of these scams is the assurance: "Honesty is the watchword in this transaction".
Lottery scamsIf you fall for one of these scams you'll be a loser, not a winner.
Often
originating in Spain or Holland, these tell you that you've won a
lottery you haven't even entered!. Bullying UK trustees have even
received one from Liverpool using a genuine National Lottery logo!
The
idea is either to get you to pay some fees up front (which you'll never
see again) or for you to ring an expensive phone line where you have to
listen to a long message, costing you pounds.
The prize doesn't exist and as with all these scams, if it sounds too good to be true then it is.
You've got to be in it to win it.
Hard luck storiesThese
pretend to come from parents in Russia or the US who need money to put
food on the table or to heat their homes. Sometimes they come from
'students' who need funds to complete their studies.
The aim is the same as other scams, to extract money from kind people who believe they are genuine.
World
tragedies like famines, war and tsunamis can also prompt a spate of
bogus emails so if you ever receive one saying it's from a charity look
the charity up on the
Charity Commission
website and check that they are doing an appeal and that the donation
details are the same as those on the website. Better still, donate to
someone like the Red Cross or Oxfam so that you know your money is
going to a genuine cause.
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