Advance Fee Fraud

An advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money in the hope of realizing a significantly larger gain.Among the variations on this type of scam, are the Nigerian Letter (also called the 419 fraud, Nigerian scam, Nigerian bank scam, or Nigerian money offer the Spanish Prisoner, the Black money scam as well as Russian/Ukrainian scam (also extremely widespread, though far less popular than the former). Both the so-called Russian and Nigerian scams stand for wholly dissimilar organised crime traditions, they therefore tend to use altogether different breeds of approaches.

The 419 scam originated in the early 1980s as the oil-based Nigerian economy declined. Several unemployed university students first used this scam as a means of manipulating business visitors interested in shady deals in the Nigerian oil sector before targeting businessmen in the west, and later the wider population. Scammers in the early-to-mid 1990s targeted companies, sending scam messages via letter,fax, or Telex. The spread of email and easy access to email-harvesting software significantly lowered the cost of sending scam letters by utilizing the Internet. In the 2000s, the 419 scam has spurred imitations from other locations in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, and, more recently, from North America, Western Europe (mainly UK), and Australia.

The number "419" refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code (part of Chapter 38: "Obtaining Property by false pretences; Cheating") dealing with fraud. The American Dialect Society has traced the term "419 fraud" back to 1992.

The advance-fee fraud is similar to a much older scam known as the Spanish Prisoner scam in which the trickster would tell the scam victim that a (fictitious) rich prisoner had promised to share (non-existent) treasure with the victim if the latter would send money to bribe the prison guards.

Insa Nolte, a lecturer of University of Birmingham's African Studies Department, stated that "The availability of e-mail helped to transform a local form of fraud into one of Nigeria's most important export industries."

Embassies and other organizations warn visitors to various countries about 419. Countries in West Africa with warnings cited include Nigeria,Ghana,Benin,Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast),Togo,Senegal and Burkina Faso.Countries outside of West Africa with 419 warnings cited include South Africa, Spain, and The Netherlands.

Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminally fraudulent activity if it is determined that the activity involved electronic communications of any kind, at any phase of the event. As in the case of mail fraud, this statute is often used as a basis for a separate federal prosecution of what would otherwise have been only a violation of a state law.

The crime of wire fraud is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and reads as follows:

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.
In one important case (United States v. LaMacchia (1994) -- text at eff.org), an MIT student was charged with wire fraud when he could not be charged with criminal copyright infringement (having not personally profited from the online distribution of millions of dollars worth of illegally copied software). The United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, dismissed the charges, noting they were an attempt to find a broad federal crime where the more narrowly defined one had not occurred. Congress promptly amended the copyright law to limit further use of this loophole.

The alleged misrepresentation to support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 must be a material misrepresentation. Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 23 (1999). A misrepresentation that is capable of influencing or has a "natural tendency" of influencing a decision is material. Id. at 13.

Thus, the essential elements of the crime of wire fraud are:

(1) Devise or intend to devise a scheme or artifice to defraud another person based on a material representation; (2) With the intent to defraud; (3) through the use of interstate wire facilities (i.e. telecommunications of any kind).

See 8th Circuit Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions, 242 & 250.

A fourth element will be included where the alleged victim is a financial institution, to enhance sentencing as provided in the statute.

Pump And Dump Scheme

False and/or fraudulent information is disseminated in chat rooms, forums, internet boards and via email (spamming), with the purpose of causing a dramatic price increase in thinly traded stocks or stocks of shell companies (the "pump"). As soon as the price reaches a certain level, criminals immediately sell off their holdings of those stocks (the "dump"), realizing substantial profits before the stock price falls back to its usual low level. Any buyers of the stock who are unaware of the fraud become victims once the price falls. When they realize the fraud, it is too late to sell. They lost a high percentage of their money. Even if the stock value does increase, the stocks may be hard to sell because of lack of interested buyers, leaving the shareholder with the shares for a far longer term than desired.

Fraud In paypal Account

This is new form of fraud where a buyer (a scammer) will target ebay auctions which are "Collection in person" and will have a fake address or storage address with P.O Box (as ebay/paypal now allows un-confirmed address and these transactions are not covered by seller protection.). What they will do is buy item from you and pay with paypal and will collect in person. This person will collect item and will put paypal claim back stating he hasn't received the item. Paypal have user policy IF they don't have tracking number they will grant the money back to the scammer (Paypal does not take video evidence,signature proof or any other proof as valid collection).

It is strongly suggested if you are selling item with "collection in person" do cash transaction by handing the item and collecting cash don't fall into ebay trap by accepting paypal payment for collection in person items else the scammer will part with your money and your item!.

Ticket Fraud Of Internet

This is a fast-growing area of internet fraud perpetrated by dishonest internet marketing and retail sites. A variety of products and services are involved. The customer is tricked by a legitimate-looking site and effective marketing into giving their credit card information and CVV number, or sending cash by other means, in exchange for what they believe to be the goods or services. The goods never arrive, turn out to be fake, or are products worth less than those advertised.

Where a credit card is involved, the perpetrators may also aim to use the customer's credit card information to obtain cash or to make purchases of their own. A common example of this type of fraud are pornographic websites that advertise free access. Upon further inspection, however, a credit card is required "for age verification purposes only". The scammers then use your credit card information to make large charges to the credit card.

In cases involving fake or worthless goods, many are health products, related to health fraud. These products might advertise anything from a quick way to lose weight to a cure for a serious disease, and may:

• promise a lot, claiming they can "do it all"
• claim to be a "scientific breakthrough", featuring fake doctors or scientists making claims for the product, with technical jargon that only experts in the field know is used falsely
• feature a long list of "personal testimonials", with no way to check if they are true or fake.

Once your credit card information is given to these type of scam companies, they usually will charge you no matter what type of cancellation you attempt to go through. This can often be overcome by contacting the credit card company. Credit and consumer protection laws in many countries hold the credit card company liable to refund their customers' money for goods or services purchased with the card but not delivered. The loss is then suffered by the card company, but ultimately passed on to customers in higher interest and fees.

Chinese version

This is a variant of the East European Version, in which criminals recruit people through spam. The criminals present themselves as a growing Chinese company trying to establish a presence in the U.S. or Europe and agree to pay an agent whatever the unsuspecting victim is looking to make, and more. Here is an example of a recruiting email:

Dear Sir/Madam, I am Mr. XXX XXX, managing XXXXXXXXXXX Corp. We are a company who deal on mechanical equipment, hardware and minerals, electrical products, Medical & Chemicals, light industrial products and office equipment, and export into the Canada/America and Europe. We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our costumers in the Canada/America and Europe as well as making payments through you to us. Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be glad. Please contact us for more information. Subject to your satisfaction you will be given the opportunity to negotiate your mode of which we will pay for your services as our representative in Canada/America and Europe. Please if you are interested forward to us your phone number/fax and your full contact addresses. Thanks in advance. Mr. XXX XXX. Managing Director

Version Of East Eurapean

This is a variant of the Nigerian Version, in which criminals recruit people through classified advertising. The criminals present themselves as a growing European company trying to establish a presence in the U.S. and agree to pay whatever the job applicant is looking to make, and more. The fraudsters explain to the unsuspecting victim that they will buy certain goods in the U.S. which need to be re-shipped to a final destination in Europe. When everything is agreed they start shipping goods to the re-shipper's house. The rest is similar to the Nigerian Version. Sometimes, when the criminals send the labels to be applied to the boxes, they also include a fake cheque, as payment for the re-shipper's services. By the time the cheque bounces unpaid, the boxes have been picked up already and all communication between fraudster and re-shipper has stopped. Here's an example recruiting email received via SPAM on Oct 2, 2007:

XXXXX Inc. invite residents of the various countries to cooperation. We found your resume on some Job Website because we are searching for reliable professionals or your information has been passed to us by your friends/relatives. Our clients need to accept goods from the various countries. Therefore we creating a network of regional agents which functions are reception of goods and further transferring goods to our shipping managers. We pay you 40$ per received package. We guarantee worthy payment of your work. This job is for you If you want to earn from $150 to $800 per week and work Only 2-3 hours then! This job requires punctuality, good organizational skills and proficiency with Microsoft windows and office programs to maintain inventory and fill forms if necessary. This job is ideal for: housewives, students, older persons, people with restrictions. No money needed to start. This is a business requiring only limited amount of your time. Requirements: 1. A computer with access to the Internet, e-mail 2. We don't work with persons under 18 3. 1-3 hours free during the week 4. Check your e-mail several times a day (each hour is perfect) 5. Reply to e-mails immediately 6. PayPal account to receive payments (optional, WU is also accepted) 7. Be responsible, hard working and communicable We offer competitive compensation, including commission and expense reimbursement. Please send your resume to xxxxxxxxxxx.com Thank You XXXXXX XXXXXXX Manager XXXXXXX Inc.

Version Of Nigerian

In the Nigerian version, the fraudsters have armies of people actively recruiting single women from western countries through chat and matchmaking sites. At some point, the criminal promises to marry the lady and come to their home country in the near future. Using some excuse the criminal asks permission of his "future wife" to ship some goods he is going to buy before he comes. As soon as the woman accepts the fraudster uses several credit cards to buy at different Internet sites simultaneously. In many cases the correct billing address of the cardholder is used, but the shipping address is the home of the unsuspecting "future wife". Around the time when the packages arrive, the criminal invents an excuse for not coming and tells his "bride" that he urgently needs to pick up most or all the packages. Since the woman has not spent any money, she sees nothing wrong and agrees. Soon after, she receives a package delivery company package with pre-printed labels that she has agreed to apply to the boxes that she already has at home. The next day, all boxes are picked up by the package delivery company and shipped to the criminal's real address (in Nigeria or elsewhere). After that day the unsuspecting victim stops receiving communications from the "future husband" because her usefulness is over. To make matters worse, in most cases the criminals were able to create accounts with the package deliverer, based on the woman's name and address. So, a week or two later, the woman receives a huge freight bill from the shipping company which she is supposed to pay because the goods were shipped from her home. Unwittingly, the woman became the criminal re-shipper and helped him with his criminal actions.

Check Cash System

In some cases, fraudsters approach merchants and ask for large orders: $50,000 to $200,000, and agree to pay via wire transfer in advance. After brief negotiation, the buyers gives an excuse about the impossibility of sending a bank wire transfer. The buyer then offers to send a check, stating that the merchant can wait for the check to clear before shipping any goods. The check received, however, is a counterfeit of a check from a medium to large U.S. company. If asked, the buyer will claim that the check is money owed from the large company. The merchant deposits the check and it clears, so the goods are sent. Only later, when the larger company notices the check, will the merchant's account be debited.

In some cases, the fraudsters agree to the wire but ask the merchant for their bank's address. The fraudsters send the counterfeited check directly to the merchant's bank with a note asking to deposit it to the merchant's account. Unsuspecting bank officers deposit the check, and then the fraudster contacts the merchant stating that they made a direct deposit into the merchant's account.

In other cases, fraudsters approach merchants for smaller orders: $2000 to $10,000 offering to pay with a check. They send the check and the instructions state that the merchant has to deposit the check, wait for it a couple days to clear and send the "excess" funds vira Western Union money transfer to an account in another country. The fraudsters send fake

Online Fraud

There are two basic schemes in online automotive fraud:

1. A fraudster posts a vehicle for sale on an online site, generally for luxury or sports cars advertised for thousands less than market value. The details of the vehicle, including photos and description, are typically lifted from sites such as ebay motors or Autoscout24 and re-posted elsewhere. An interested buyer, hopeful for a bargain, emails the seller, who responds saying the car is still available but is located overseas. He then instructs the buyer to send a deposit via wire transfer to initiate the "shipping" process. The unwitting buyer wires the funds, and does not discover until days or weeks later that they were scammed.
2. A fraudster feigns interest in an actual vehicle for sale on the Internet. The "buyer" explains that a client of his is interested in the car, but due to an earlier sale that fell through has a certified check for thousands more than the asking price and requests the seller to send the balance via wire transfer. If the seller agrees to the transaction, the buyer sends the certified check via express courier (typically from Nigeria). The seller takes the check to their bank, which makes the funds available immediately. Thinking the bank has cleared the check, the seller follows through on the transaction by wiring the balance to the buyer. Days later, the check bounces and the seller realizes they have been scammed. But the money has long since been picked up and is not recoverable.

In another type of fraud, a fraudster contacts the seller of an automobile, asking for the vehicle identification number (VIN), putatively to check the accident record of the vehicle. However, the supposed buyer actually uses the VIN to make fake papers for a stolen car that is then sold.

COUNTERFEIT CASHIERS CHEQUE SCAM: This recent scam has been reported in Atlanta and Minneapolis. Real estate property owners placing advertisements on Craigslist or rent.com receive an e-mail response from a "24 year old in the U.K. on a research program in the United States". Addresses include john.yearwood__@yahoo.co.uk and kevin_taylor@excite.com.

The first inquiry seems legitimate. The second usually comes with request for more information, and a bogus attachment from JAPAN TOBACCO INC (who has posted information about this scam on its site) indicated the "student" has won a part time scholarship from the JT UK office. The scam comes with the third e-mail, a request for name and address so that the counterfeit cashiers cheque can be sent. The amount supposedly includes the rent and fees plus an overage for the "student's" travel.

The owner is instructed to cash the cheque and wire the difference back to the student so that they can travel to the U.S. The photos often include a young man in graduation uniform from his college. (Note: U.K. colleges are the equivalent to high schools, not universities. One photo includes a rather dumpy, depressed looking girlfriend who must be aware of the scam.) Because of the lag between the cashing and clearing of the cheque, the owner does not realize he/she has been had until their account is debited the counterfeit cost and the wired sum. Greedy owners may even decide to keep some of the cheque, only to be had themselves later. It is best not to respond to this type of e-mail and requiring background checks before cashing first rent payments

Counterfeit Postal Money Orders(Internet Fraud)

According to the FBI and postal inspectors, there has been a significant surge in the use of Counterfeit Postal Money Orders since October 2004. More than 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders (CPMOs) were intercepted by authorities from October to December 2004, and according to the USPS, the "quality" of the counterfeits is so good that ordinary consumers can easily be fooled.

On March 9, 2005, the FDIC issued an alert ^[1] stating that it had learned that counterfeit U.S. Postal Money Orders had been presented for payment at financial institutions.

On April 26, 2005, Tom Zeller Jr. wrote an article in The New York Times^[2] regarding a surge in the quantity and quality of the forging of U.S. Postal Money Orders, and its use to commit online fraud. The article shows a picture of a man that had been corresponding with a woman in Nigeria through a dating site, and received several fake postal money orders after the woman asked him to buy a computer and mail it to her.

Who has received Counterfeit Postal Money Orders (CPMOs):

• Small Internet retailers.
• Classified advertisers.
• Individuals that have been contacted through email or chat rooms by fraudsters posing as prospective social interests or business partners, and convinced to help the fraudsters unknowingly.

The penalty for making or using counterfeit postal money orders is up to ten years in jail and a US$25,000 fine.

Direct solicitations(internet fraud)

The most straightforward type of purchase scam is a buyer in another country approaching many merchants through spamming them and directly asking them if they can ship to them using credit cards to pay.

An example of such email is as follows:

From: XXXXXX XXXXXX [XXXXXXX@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 11:35 AM Subject: International order enquiry

Goodday Sales, This is XXXXXX XXXXXXX and I will like to place an order for some products in your store, But before I proceed with listing my requirements, I will like to know if you accept credit card and can ship internationally to Lagos, Nigeria. Could you get back to me with your website so as to forward you the list of my requirements as soon as possible. Regards, XXXXXX XXXXXX, XXXXXXXX Inc. 9999 XXXXX street, Mushin, Lagos 23401, Nigeria Telephone: 234-1-99999999, Fax: 234-1-9999999, Email: XXXXXXXXX@hotmail.com

Most likely, a few weeks or months after the merchant ships and charges the Nigerian credit card, he/she will be hit with a chargeback from the credit card processor and lose all the money.