Fraudgrams

[R. Richard]

I have received my third fraudgram this week. All of the fraudgrams were from Africa and they promised me millions, if I would just furnish my personal information and send in a LOW, LOW 'processing fee.'

I have been forwarding the fraudgrams to the authorities, in the vain hope that the scumbags might take some sort of action to stop the flood of fraudgrams. However, the flood continues.

From Wiki:
419 Scams operate as follows: the target receives an unsolicited fax, email, or letter often concerning Nigeria or another African nation containing either a money laundering or other illegal proposal OR you may receive a Legal and Legitimate business proposal by normal means. Common variations on the Scam include "overinvoiced" or "double invoiced" oil or other supply and service contracts where your Bad Guys want to get the overage out of Nigeria (Classic 419); crude oil and other commodity deals (a form of Goods and Services 419); a "bequest" left you in a will (Will Scam 419); "money cleaning" where your Bad Guy has a lot of currency that needs to be "chemically cleaned" before it can be used and he needs the cost of the chemicals (Black Currency 419, also called Wash-Wash) ; "spoof banks" where there is supposedly money in your name already on deposit; "paying" for a purchase with a check larger than the amount required and asking for change to be advanced (cashier's check and money order 419); fake lottery 419; chat room and romance 419 (usually coupled with one of the other forms of 419); employment 419 (including secret shopper 419) ; and ordering items and commodities off "trading" and "auction" sites on the web and then cheating the seller. The variations of Advance Fee Fraud (419) are very creative and virtually endless, so do not consider the above as an all-inclusive list!

Don't fall for it!

 

[JackLuis]

I got one the other day that said, they found a trunk full of money that was sent to me and held up in customs. If I just gave them proof of my identity, they'd authorize the shipment to me.

They just needed my SS# and a bank account #.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I especially love the ones that make it very explicit that you are going to be stealing money from an impoverished nation like Sierra Leone. Or the ones that tell you how the writer is a Sister or Brother In Christ-- very often, the same message.

 

[Feotakahari]

I've got to wonder how they get our emails in the first place. (Then again, the ones that come to my college email have apparently been coming to every student at the college, so it's possible something got leaked.)

 

[LucyH]

I've read some websites with correspondence where people bait the scammers and lead them on a wild goose chase. Some of them made me snicker a lot.

Personally, I've had so many rich, long lost relatives die in car accidents in Africa that I'm afraid to claim the millions of dollars that I've inherited, lest some law enforcement types get the idea that I'm somehow responsible for the carnage.

 

[Handley_Page]

I got one the other day that said, they found a trunk full of money that was sent to me and held up in customs. If I just gave them proof of my identity, they'd authorize the shipment to me.

They just needed my SS# and a bank account #.

It's almost worth opening a Bank Account just for the job. . .
Personally, I worry about paying the taxes on the money.

 

[R. Richard]

I'm assuming that African banks operate on much the same basis that USA banks do. If I were in charge of things, I would make up fake cashiers checks and send them off. I would then wait a few days (exact time to be determined by banking experts) and then notify the African banks that the checks were phony. Let the 419 scammers get eaten up by bank charges. Let the African banks face losses because of the fraud operations. I suspect that the 419 scams would come to a quick end.

By the way, Nigeria is known, in Africa, as 'The land of ten million magicians.' They don't trust Nigerians there, either.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I always wonder how the Western Union scam is safe for the scammers. At some point, somehow, someone has to make contact to get the money. Seems like it would be pretty easy for the FBI to stake out the office, or get the bank info.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

There's a new scam going round.

The other day I got an email appeal for money from an 89 year old relative of mine. The email said he he was in Africa, in jail, and needed bail from me. My relative's been in a nursing home for a while, but someone got into his email account.

Friends report theyre getting similar email appeals that look legit but arent. Change your passwords occasionally.

 

[Feotakahari]

My father got one of those, supposedly from a friend who'd gotten stranded in Britain without money for a plane ticket. They can be surprisingly convincing.