The black money scam first appeared around the year 2000. It is yet another variation of what is known as advance fee fraud.

Phases of the scam

Typically the scammer will send out thousands, if not millions of e-mails to known and random e-mail addresses, hoping for a few replies. The initial message may read something like this:

I am a lawyer in Belgium and I am charged with seeking the rightful heir to certain assets which were deposited many years ago with a security company here in Brussels by a man who died a few years ago. We have made extensive searches to find any living heirs, but without success. A man with your name is named in the Will and Testament as being the only beneficiary of these assets. We believe that you may be the person entitled and are writing to enquire if you have any dead relatives or friends who may have named you as a beneficiary of these assets in their will and testament. If so please let us have their names and any other information so we can check if you are indeed the beneficiary. The amount of the assets is $150'000, and one large trunk, contents unknown. Please reply soonest since the time period for claims is expiring in the next few weeks and any un-claimed assets will be forfeited to the government. If you are the beneficiary, we will make immediate arrangements to pay the funds to your bank and to ship the sealed trunk to your home.

The victim may reply with details of some dead relatives, and then receives a reply informing him that indeed one of them is the deceased. The beneficiary (victim) is urged to keep quiet about the funds in case other claimants come forward. The victim is asked to complete certain paperwork, or provide proof of identity and bank account details. Certain discussions may take place on the phone between scammer and the victim in which the scammer attempts to obtain information about the victim and the deceased relative, which will be used as needed later to embellish the story and to give credibility to the existence of huge sums of money being hidden in the safety deposit box/trunk. All this is fiction of course, as there is no money, no trunk and the dead person never left any assets in Belgium. But the victim does not know he is being hoodwinked.

Advance fees: the fraud starts
As the communications between the two parties continue, it will become necessary for certain fees and expenses to be paid, including government taxes, or death duties. In reality, there are no such taxes to be paid. However the need to pay fees or taxes is used as an excuse to make any free funds vanish, and/or to extract funds from the victim.

A trunk full of black money?
Eventually by various means and devices the victim will be persuaded that the trunk contains a very large amount of cash which had a legitimate, or not so legitimate, reason for all this money to be in cash. Furthermore, the money has all been stained black to avoid detection by customs. A valid reason for this will be given: "The deceased traded in African artifacts and had to pay for some expensive items in cash before he died. To avoid customs problems and theft the money had to be stained black" The victim is assured that the chemical needed for washing the money is also in the trunk.

The victim may have already coughed up some money to pay fees and taxes, and he may now be invited to pay the shipping expenses of the trunk to his home country. Whether paid or not, the trunk will not be shipped and further sums will be demanded on various pretexts, such as taxes, security company fees, money transfer fees, legalization fees, export permissions, etc. The list is endless.

Victim goes to see the money
When at some point the victim is having doubts, or showing reluctance to pay any more, he will be invited to inspect the contents of the safety deposit trunk himself. With much ceremony and pomp, the box will be opened to reveal the black paper. The victim will be informed that these are banknotes stained black with an almost unwashable chemical but that a chemical exists which can clean the banknotes.

Washing a small sample of the black "money"
Then the conman will produce a small vial of the washing liquid and ask the victim to select any black bank note at random. This done, the conman proceeds to wash the banknote in the chemical, performing a sleight of hand, substituting real note which is washed. There will be insufficient liquid to wash any more money, or the conman may simply "knock" the bottle on the floor.

More funds needed to pay for washing chemical fluid
The victim cannot take away the trunk, or any notes, since he is informed that the taxes have not been paid, but once the notes are "washed", it will be easy to pay the taxes and there will be millions left over. The victim is persuaded that he must buy the chemical to wash the notes, and of course the chemical cleaning fluid is "very expensive". Once again the victim parts with money to the fraudster. Sometimes the fraudsters will set up a website purporting to be a seller of the cleaning fluid, which obviously has such a unique and unusual name that it can not be found anywhere else. This adds to the credibility of the story and the victim may even contact the website directly to buy the fluid, allowing the conmen yet another chance to con the victim.

Delay after delay, more fees, no money
The fraudsters will continue to find excuses as to why the victim cannot have his money just yet, but will always & always promise it after one "last and absolutely final step", which obviously involves the payment of yet another fee by the victim. The scammers will continue to milk the victim until they are sure he has no more money, and that he cannot get any by begging and borrowing from friends or banks, or until the victim realises that he is being scammed, and gets the police involved. Needless to say the fraudsters themselves and the victim's money is usually long gone by the time the police are involved.

Reporting of the crime
Most such frauds are not reported by the victims for several reasons. Firstly they may feel terribly ashamed that they could be so stupid and naïve. Secondly, many of the scams will involve the victim knowingly agreeing to receive the proceeds of a crime - e.g. he may be informed that it is drug money, tax evasion money, or simply stolen. Sometimes the scammer will have persuaded the victim to incriminate himself, e.g by falsifying a document, or lying on a tax declaration etc. The victim may thus be reluctant to come forward and admit that he was knowingly participating in what he thought was a criminal scheme.

Chemicals Used

A Ghanaian native caught perpetrating the scam revealed to ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross the tricks of the trade: Real hundred dollar bills are coated with a protective layer of Elmer's glue and then dipped into a solution of tincture of iodine. The bill, when dried, looks and feels like black construction paper. The trunk full of notes are real construction paper; When the victim picks a "note" for cleaning, it is switched with the iodine coated note. The "magic cleaning solution" is actually crushed vitamin C tablets dissolved in water.

The scams typically involve lucrative offers of employment in Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, or South Africa with money demanded to be paid to an agency or travel agent for visas or travel costs. These companies often present themselves with official looking websites and documentation. Once the victim has paid the advanced fees for employment, the business either declines employment or ceases operating as soon as the transfer is finalized.

This type of scam has become more and more frequent recently due to the popularity of Nigerian 419 scams, and growing suspicion towards e-mails offering to transfer money from bank accounts, especially those originating in Africa. Unlike 419 scams, job scams tend to mostly target persons looking for employment in other nations such as hopeful immigrants or contractors and operate out of nations with high immigrant and foreign employment rates.

It is advisable to be wary of any job offerings which arrive in e-mail unsolicited and eventually require anyone to pay a fee in advance, particularly if the fee is asked to be paid through a financial services company such as Western Union, or if one must pay the amount to a bank or person in a third country (especially a West African nation) that is suspiciously unrelated to either party. Most reputable companies and/or agencies will absorb these costs themselves if they are the ones seeking the employee.

Types of job scams

Resume blasting
The simplest form of employment scamming offers guarantees of employment within a fixed time period for a fee (such as 30 days). These "seeker companies" then distribute your resume to prospective employers (known as CV or resume “blasting”) in hopes of tricking the victim into believing the authenticity of their business. The victim then pays money to have his or her details sent to employers who are hiring, but what the fraudsters do instead is spam hundreds or thousands of employers, industry websites, and online magazines with a victim's details in hopes of having the companies send them correspondence they can use to scam new victims. Occasionally, they will also have the company pay for travel and other work related expenses by passing themselves off as the victim, thus scamming both the employers and job seekers.

Some of these "employment agencies" offer a money back guarantee as an incentive so as to bait victims who do not wish to pay money for a failed employment search. Very few job seekers ever receive a refund, though it has been known to occur. Recently, a Canadian company was being investigated by authorities for carrying out and continuing to advertise such a scheme.

Bogus job offers
More sophisticated scams advertise jobs with real companies and offer lucrative salaries and conditions with the fraudsters pretending to be recruitment agents. A bogus telephone interview may take place and after some time you are informed that the job is yours. To secure the job you are instructed to send money for your work visa or travel costs to the agent or a bogus travel agent who works on their behalf. No matter what the variation, they always involve the job seeker sending them or their agent money, credit card or bank account details.

Another form involves bogus jobs being placed on legitimate Internet job boards. For example, a fraudster places a bogus job listing on a legitimate employment site, which is then e-mailed to thousands of job seekers wishing to find a job meeting that criteria. The fraudsters then take advantage of those who contact them, by asking for employment, visa, or travel fees in advance before they can consider the person for employment. Often, they create fabricated websites mirroring the real company sites, or create fake websites parodying a non-existent company which is legitimately registered in their origin country for the sole purpose of scamming victims.

Most often, fraudsters will use stolen credit card information to pay for posting their job opportunities on legitimate sites, as well as paying for the hosting of a bogus company's site.

A newer form of employment scam has arose in which users are sent a bogus job offer, but are not asked to give over financial information. Instead, their personal information is harvested during the application process and then sold to third parties for a profit, or used for identity theft. Popular Internet Job Boards are used to harvest email addresses in which to then offer the non-existent jobs to users in their database.

Detecting employment scams
Be wary of unsolicited job offers in other countries which arrive through e-mail. If soliciting the job yourself through a legitimate site, pay attention to the wording in e-mails as most companies will try to use the best grammar and spelling possible and will not use slang words. Watch the domain from which the correspondence is sent. Large companies that hire foreigners do not use free e-mail providers such as yahoo or hotmail, but rather their own personal domain names. Check and see whether the e-mail has been sent to multiple users, or if the recipient of the e-mail is the same as the sender, this implies that the e-mail has been sent to hundreds or thousands of users and not just you.

It is important to note that genuine employers or agencies will never ask for money for visa processing or travel costs. They will either absorb the costs themselves or deduct from your salary once you start the job. You may be required to provide your own air fares, but you should do this through your means unless they are willing to pay for the costs themselves. Be aware that travelling and meeting with these individuals can be dangerous and it is not advisable to have them pick you up at the airport or meet you at a hotel, nor is it advisable to allow them to accommodate you anywhere but a public hotel in major city. Decline any offer to stay with them while there, and insist instead to be allowed to book your own accommodations. Decline to go anywhere with them, and instead opt for meeting them at the desired location, or a more public location at your own discretion. Do not meet with them in private, unless it is at an office in a public business plaza in a major business or industrial center or a company headquarters building. Treat this employment much the same as you would in your own home nation where you would not interact with an employer when seeking employment outside of a business environment. If you are asked to meet in an area that seems suspicious to you, do not proceed and decline to meet them unless it is in a public, or more formal location as there is the risk of kidnapping. If you are threatened in any way, immediately seek help from the local authorities.

Always ask for and verify all details for the company you are looking to work with including phone, fax and the main address of the business, or corporation. This should also be done for any third party employment agencies who might be using real information stolen from a real company. These details can usually be verified through international directory inquiries or the local Chamber of Commerce of the city it is located in, if the given information is difficult to verify, incorrect, suspicious (such as the phone number for a company based in Dubai having a country calling code in Nigeria), or the agent is reluctant to give these details, it is best to report them to authorities or disregard them entirely.

Lastly, only consider working for International Companies, especially in West Africa. Always make sure to contact the head office, or an office outside of the host country, to confirm the identity of the person that has contacted you.

Investigation
Lalu had ordered probe into these massive irregularities in accounts by constituting a committee. However motives of these people were questioned by a Public Interest Litigation and Supreme Court of India handed over the case to CBI. Many people who were in this probe committee themselves became accused. Charges were filed against Yadav too and later on Mishra was also framed. Developments of the case has been the deciding factors in political situations both at state and national level.

CBI Role
The political situation of 1996 was the main factor in deciding the fate of the case. The then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who was dependent on allies and saw Yadav as his potential threat[citation needed] for the coveted post is said to have connived with CBI Director Joginder Singh who got a free hand in the case and broke established norms to file charges against Yadav. Because of his unfair handling of the case he was given a technical promotion to be shunted from the hot seat by succeeding Prime Minister I K Gujral who too depended on Yadav for support. However the cat had already gone out of the bag and Yadav was soon convicted in record breaking numbers of cases booked under conspiracy angle involving him, his family, bureaucrats and many other politicians.

Charges Framed
CBI filed 69 different cases related to this scam 31 of which has been in Jharkhand and remaining in Bihar. The charges were framed under:

Sections 420 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Accused
There are a total of 76 accused, of whom three have died and three turned state witnesses.

Some of the people against whom charges were framed include:

• Former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra
• Former MP Rajo Singh
• Former Bihar animal husbandry minister Vidyasagar Nishad
• Former central minister Chandradeo Prasad Verma
• Four bureaucrats of the Indian Administrative Service, veterinary doctors and other government officials.

It was only after Special Investigation Team(SIT) under U N Biswas was constituted that investigation started at a brisk rate. Soon many heads started rolling and Yadav and members of his party had to loose their ministerial berths both at centre and state facing corruption charges.

There are 20 truckloads of documents in the case.

Impact
Thus began the post-mortem of one of India's greatest financial irregularities after Independence. In the years to follow, the Fodder Scam became the most talked about topic in state and national level politics involving nearly whole generation for the kind of impact it had on Government and State. Because of this case Lalu Prasad Yadav has the distinction of being the only person ever on whom the Lok Sabha debated for a complete session as an official agenda. The then Member and ex-Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar had severely criticised this and called it an unfortunate event.

BIHAR

The Heat Is On

By Farzand Ahmed

The world's most famous Yadav, Lord Krishna, was born in a prison. That is small consolation for Laloo Prasad Yadav, the beleaguered "Raja of Bihar". Last week, as he returned to Patna after campaigning in West Bengal, Laloo was greeted by the disturbing report that the CBI had filed yet another chargesheet against him in the multi-crore rupee fodder scam case. The CBI Court in Ranchi had even issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.

This particular case relates to the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 182 crore over several years from the Doranda treasury in Ranchi by officials of the Animal Husbandry Department, senior bureaucrats and several politicians.

The rebels who plan to upstage the Laloo-Rabri applecart with NDA support
RANJAN YADAV: Laloo's former aide lacks mass base yet poses the biggest threat		NAGMANI (left) and DHAMMAVIRYO: Despite having stood by Laloo in the past crises, the two have rebelled against the RJD chief's attempt to perpetuate family rule

Though it was the eighth case filed by the CBI listing Laloo as a "conspirator" in the looting of state treasuries, the former chief minister was clearly panicky this time. After all, the case had been filed in Ranchi, capital of the new Jharkhand state, which has a hostile government led by the BJP's Babulal Marandi. "I am not surprised. This is a part of the bigger conspiracy against me by the BJP and the NDA Government at the Centre, which has been using the CBI as a tool. I will face this case too. I will expose them," thundered Laloo.

As soon as news of the chargesheet and the warrant reached the chief minister's house at Patna's 1 Anne Marg, the iron gates were shut for visitors and mediapersons. Laloo and his wife, Chief Minister Rabri Devi, held hurried consultations with trusted lieutenants and it was decided to call an emergency meeting of the RJD Legislature Party the same evening to chalk out strategies to meet the challenge.

The meeting led to rumours that Laloo and Rabri might prop their eldest daughter, Misa Bharati, as the new chief minister (see box). However, it also threw up a new line of argument to counter the situation: that the filing of the chargesheet in the Jharkhand court amounted to contempt of the Patna High Court, whose full bench had ruled only four days ago that all the 36 fodder scam cases pending before the court should be heard in Bihar.

Laloo's supporters claim the high court had ruled that all cases pertaining to the "larger conspiracy" angle fell within Bihar authorities' jurisdiction. "The CBI has suppressed facts and misled the court while filing the chargesheet. This amounts to contempt of court," his supporters argue. They also think it is an obvious ploy to discredit their leader. "The CBI has no evidence against Laloo but since its Joint Director U.N. Biswas has to serve the political interests of his masters in the NDA Government-which has given him an extension for two years-he has falsely implicated Laloo in the case," alleges RJD spokesperson Shivanand Tiwary.

In the past, he was lodged in the Beur Jail in Patna. With wife Rabri running the government, nothing seemed amiss. He fears that if he is lodged in a Jharkhand jail he will lose grip over the party and the Government. Jharkhand's BJP Chief Minister Babulal Marandi has said Laloo will be regarded as any other prisoner and will get no special treatment. NDA leaders believe that if Laloo stays in jail for a long time, it will be easy to lure RJD MLAs and topple the Rabri regime. His once trusted aides like Ranjan Yadav and Nagmani are working overtime persuading old contacts in the RJD to dump Rabri and join an alternative government. Laloo has been to jail thrice already in fodder scam-related cases but this time, he looks jittery.

Laloo is no stranger to prison, having been to jail five times-the first time during the Emergency. Of the remaining four stints, three related to the fodder scam cases, staying for as long as 90 days in jail on one occasion. This time, however, there is a clear sense of panic among his loyalists, maybe because, unlike in the past, Laloo might not be able to rule by proxy from within the prison.

Perhaps for the first time in his 11-year rule, Laloo too feels hemmed in, both politically and legally. Trusted friends like Ranjan Prasad Yadav, the Rajya Sabha member and the RJD working president till recently, and Nagmani, the Lok Sabha MP, have walked out of the party to form the splinter RJD (Democratic). They have taken with them fellow MPs Bhante Dhammaviryo, Anwarul Haque and Sukhdeo Paswan, all of whom rebelled against Laloo's attempts to perpetuate family rule. Dissidence has led to cracks in the Cabinet as well, with Shakar Prasad Tekriwal resigning as finance minister.

However, Laloo is trying to draw comfort from the fact that no one from among the 115 MLAs has come out openly in support of Tekriwal or Ranjan Yadav. "We have faced many such crises in the past but the Government has survived. This time too all party legislators, MPs and allies (Congress with 11 MLAs, each of whom is a minister) are solidly behind Laloo and Rabri," claims Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD leader in the Lok Sabha.

The confidence is rooted in the fact that none of the dissidents, not even Ranjan Yadav, has enough mass appeal to mobilise the MLAs against the Laloo-Rabri leadership. Four days before the filing of the chargesheet, Nagmani had boasted that the Rabri Government's days were numbered. In fact, the dissidents were just waiting for Laloo to be arrested and lodged in a Jharkhand jail before beginning their final assault.

Their strategy is simple: to win over at least 39 of the 115 RJD legislators in order to split the party. Subsequently, they hoped, the split would be formalised and Ranjan Yadav would be elected as the leader of the new group. The NDA allies in the state-Samata, with 30 MLAs, BJP (35), Janata Dal (United) (12) and Lok Janshakti (6)-besides the Bahujan Samaj Party (5) and some of the Independents would extend support from outside to the alternative government.

The dissidents hoped that they would easily muster an outside support of more than 100 MLAs and banked on the assumption that the formation of a new government would be attractive enough a proposition for a majority of RJD MLAs to cross over to their camp.

But the master manipulator that he is Laloo has so far managed to stay a step ahead of his opponents, knowing well enough how to break the enemy ranks and spread confusion. The day the dissidents held a meeting in Delhi to set a deadline for the ouster of the Rabri Government, Laloo telephoned some of the potential defectors and warned them of the supposed BJP-NDA game plan.

As word spread in Patna about Laloo's possible arrest, anger among his supporters mounted. Fearing widespread trouble in the wake of his anticipated arrest, the state's Special Branch sounded a red alert and asked all district magistrates and superintendents to take precautionary measures. The Special Branch feared the RJD supporters would attack the CBI offices, gherao or attack its officials, ransack Central government establishments and target all those opposing the Rabri Government.

The anger was not quite misplaced, considering that hardcore Laloo supporters have for years been convinced the CBI has been acting vindictively. Several remarks by senior party leaders alleging that the CBI was trying to harass Laloo to please its political masters, seemed to have added fuel to the fire.

These scams might include churning of customer accounts for the purpose of generating commissions, selling software that is supposed to guide the customer to large profits, improperly managed "managed accounts", false advertising, Ponzi schemes and outright fraud. It also refers to any retail forex broker who indicates that trading foreign exchange is a low risk, high profit investment.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which loosely regulates the foreign exchange market in the United States, has noted an increase in the amount of unscrupulous activity in the non-bank foreign exchange industry.

An official of the National Futures Association was quoted as saying, "Retail forex trading has increased dramatically over the past few years. Unfortunately, the amount of forex fraud has also increased dramatically..." Between 2001 and 2006 the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has prosecuted more than 80 cases involving the defrauding of more than 23,000 customers who lost $300 million, mostly in managed accounts. CNN also quoted Godfried De Vidts, President of the Financial Markets Association, a European body, as saying, "Banks have a duty to protect their customers and they should make sure customers understand what they are doing. Now if people go online, on non-bank portals, how is this control being done?"

The highly technical nature of retail forex industry, the OTC nature of the market, and the loose regulation of the market, leaves retail speculators vulnerable. Defrauded traders and regulatory authorities, can find it very difficult to prove that market manipulation has occurred since there is no central currency market, but rather a number of more or less interconnected marketplaces provided by interbank market makers.

CFTC warnings
The CFTC lists 9 warning signs for foreign exchange trading fraud:

1. Stay away from opportunities that seem too good to be true

   Always remember that there is no such thing as a "free lunch." Be especially cautious if you have acquired a large sum of cash recently and are looking for a safe investment vehicle. In particular, retirees with access to their retirement funds may be attractive targets for fraudulent operators. Getting your money back once it is gone can be difficult or impossible.

2. Avoid any company that predicts or guarantees large profits

   Be extremely wary of companies that guarantee profits, or that tout extremely high performance. In many cases, those claims are false.
   The following are examples of statements that either are or most likely are fraudulent:

   "Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit." "Make $1000 per week, every week"
   "We are out-performing 90% of domestic investments."
   "The main advantage of the forex markets is that there is no bear market."
   "We guarantee you will make at least a 30-40% rate of return within two months."
   

3. Stay Away From Companies That Promise Little or No Financial Risk

   Be suspicious of companies that downplay risks or state that written risk disclosure statements are routine formalities imposed by the government.
   The currency futures and options markets are volatile and contain substantial risks for unsophisticated customers. The currency futures and options markets are not the place to put any funds that you cannot afford to lose. For example, retirement funds should not be used for currency trading. You can lose most or all of those funds very quickly trading foreign currency futures or options contracts. Therefore, beware of companies that make the following types of statements:
   "With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day."
   "We promise to recover any losses you have."
   "Your investment is secure."
   

4. Don't Trade on Margin Unless You Understand What It Means

   Margin trading can make you responsible for losses that greatly exceed the dollar amount you deposited.
   Many currency traders ask customers to give them money, which they sometimes refer to as "margin," often sums in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. However, those amounts, which are relatively small in the currency markets, actually control far larger dollar amounts of trading, a fact that often is poorly explained to customers.
   Don't trade on margin unless you fully understand what you are doing and are prepared to accept losses that exceed the margin amounts you paid.
   

5. Question Firms That Claim To Trade in the "Interbank Market"

   Be wary of firms that claim that you can or should trade in the "interbank market," or that they will do so on your behalf.
   Unregulated, fraudulent currency trading firms often tell retail customers that their funds are traded in the "interbank market," where good prices can be obtained. Firms that trade currencies in the interbank market, however, are most likely to be banks, investment banks and large corporations, since the term "interbank market" refers simply to a loose network of currency transactions negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies
   .

6. Be Wary of Sending or Transferring Cash on the Internet, By Mail or Otherwise

   Be especially alert to the dangers of trading on-line; it is very easy to transfer funds on-line, but often can be impossible to get a refund.
   It costs an Internet advertiser just pennies per day to reach a potential audience of millions of persons, and phony currency trading firms have seized upon the Internet as an inexpensive and effective way of reaching a large pool of potential customers.
   Many companies offering currency trading on-line are not located within the United States and may not display an address or any other information identifying their nationality on their Web site. Be aware that if you transfer funds to those foreign firms, it may be very difficult or impossible to recover your funds.

7. Currency Scams Often Target Members of Ethnic Minorities

   Some currency trading scams target potential customers in ethnic communities, particularly persons in the Russian, Chinese and Indian immigrant communities, through advertisements in ethnic newspapers and television "infomercials."
   Sometimes those advertisements offer so-called "job opportunities" for "account executives" to trade foreign currencies. Be aware that "account executives" that are hired might be expected to use their own money for currency trading, as well as to recruit their family and friends to do likewise. What appears to be a promising job opportunity often is another way many of these companies lure customers into parting with their cash.

   
   
8. Be Sure You Get the Company's Performance Track Record

   Get as much information as possible about the firm's or individual's performance record on behalf of other clients. You should be aware, however, that It may be difficult or impossible to do so, or to verify the information you receive. While firms and individuals are not required to provide this information, you should be wary of any person who is not willing to do so or who provides you with incomplete information. However, keep in mind, even if you do receive a glossy brochure or sophisticated-looking charts, that the information they contain might be false

   
   
9. Don't Deal With Anyone Who Won't Give You His Background

   Plan to do a lot of checking of any information you receive to be sure that the company is and does exactly what it says.
   Get the background of the persons running or promoting the company, if possible. Do not rely solely on oral statements or promises from the firm's employees. Ask for all information in written form.
   If you cannot satisfy yourself that the persons with whom you are dealing are completely legitimate and above-board, the wisest course of action is to avoid trading foreign currencies through those companies.

   
   

A typical lottery scam begins with an unexpected email notification that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery. The recipient of the message — the target of the scam — is usually told to keep the notice secret, "due to a mix-up in some of the names and numbers," and to contact a "claims agent." After contacting the agent, the target of the scam will be asked to pay "processing fees" or "transfer charges" so that the winnings can be distributed, but will of course never receive any lottery payment. Many email lottery scams use the names of legitimate lottery organizations, but this does not mean the legitimate organizations are in any way involved with the scams.

There are several ways to recognise a fake lottery email:

• Unless you have bought a ticket, you CANNOT have won a prize. There are no such things as "email" draws or any other lottery where "no tickets were sold". This is simply another invention by the scammer to make you believe you've won.
• The scammer will ask you to pay a fee before you can receive your prize. It is illegal for a real lottery to charge any sort of fee. It doesn't matter what they say this fee is for (courier charges, bank charges, various imaginary certificates — these are all made up by the scammer to get money out of you). All real lotteries subtracts any fee and tax from the prize. They never ask you to pay it in advance.
• Scam lottery emails will nearly always come from free email accounts such as Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, etc, and no real business will use a free email account.

Email lottery scams are a type of advance fee fraud. A typical scam email will read like this:

PRIME LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Customer Service
Ref:ABC/34085746305872/34
Batch: 293/34/3473

                WINNING NOTIFICATION:

Another type of lottery scam is a scam email or web page that tells the recipient he has a sum of money in the lottery. The recipient is instructed to contact an agent very quickly, in some cases offering extra prizes (such as a 7 Day/6 Night Bahamas Cruise Vacation, by Sundance Vacations if the user rings within 4 minutes). After contacting the "agent", the recipient will be asked to come to an office, where during one hour or more, the conditions of receiving the offer are revealed. For example, the prize recipient is encouraged to spend as much as 30 times the prize money in order to receive the prize itself. In other words, although the offer is in fact genuine, it is really only a discount of a few percent on an extremely expensive purchase. This type of scam is legal in many jurisdictions.

Once the scam moving company has secured your move by providing a non binding estimate they will arrive to pack and deliver your goods. Often the scam movers use deceptive pricing or weight measurements including prices based on cubic feet of space used in the moving truck. After packing and loading, the client is informed that their goods went over the expected cubic foot allotment and "reserved space" in the truck was used which will now have to be paid for at a substantially higher rate. Often rogue movers will not inform a client of these discrepancies until the client's goods are in transit. The new price rates can be 4 or 5 times higher than the original estimates. The scam movers know that most people will be forced to pay these exorbitant rates based on their need for the personal effects which may now be anywhere.

Currently the moving industry is overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT). Only a small staff (fewer than 20 people) is available to patrol thousands of moving companies, making enforcement difficult.

Warnings issued by United States government
The United States Federal Trade Commission has issued a consumer alert about the Nigerian scam. It says:

"If you receive an offer via email from someone claiming to need your help getting money out of Nigeria — or any other country, for that matter — forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov."

If there is a financial loss, people are asked to file a Financial Loss complaint form online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the National White Collar Crime Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, at http://www.ic3.gov.

History
The 419 scam originated in the early 1980s as the oil-based economy of Nigeria went downhill. 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. Early variants were often sent via letter, fax, or even Telex. The spread of email and easy access to email-harvesting software made the cost of sending scam letters through the Internet extremely cheap. In the 2000s, the 419 scam has spurred imitations from other locations in Africa and Eastern Europe.

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 a derivation of a much older scam dating back to 1588 in the form of a Spanish Prisoner scam. The fictitious prisoner would promise to share non-existent treasure with the person who would send them money to bribe their guards.

Implementation
The 'investors' are contacted, typically with an offer of the type "A rich person from the needy country needs to discreetly move money abroad, would it be possible to use your account?". The sums involved are usually in the millions of dollars, and the investor is promised a large share, often forty percent. The proposed deal is often presented as a "harmless" white-collar crime, in order to dissuade participants from later contacting the authorities. Similarly, the money is often said to be the embezzled funds of a recently deposed or killed dictator. The operation is professionally organized in Nigeria, with offices, working fax numbers, and often contacts at government offices. The investor who attempts to research the background of the offer will often find that all pieces fit perfectly together.

If they then agree to the deal, the other side will first send several documents bearing official government stamps, seals etc., and then introduce delays, such as "in order to transmit the money, we need to bribe a bank official. Could you help us with a loan?" or "In order for you to be allowed to be a party to the transaction, you need to have holdings at a Nigerian bank of $100,000 or more" or similar. More delays and more additional costs are added, always keeping the promise of an imminent large transfer alive. Sometimes psychological pressure is added by claiming that the Nigerian side, in order to pay certain fees, had to sell all belongings and borrow money on their house, or by pointing out the different salary scale and living conditions in Africa compared to the West. Most of the time, however, the needed psychological pressure is self-applied; once the victim has put money in toward the payoff, they feel they have a vested interest in seeing the "deal" through.

In any case, the promised money transfer never happens. The money or gold does not exist.

Such spam is often sent from Internet cafes equipped with satellite Internet. Recipient addresses and email content are copied and pasted into a webmail interface using a standalone storage medium, such as a memory card. Many areas of Lagos, such as Festac, contain many shady cybercafes that serve scammers; many cybercafes seal their doors during afterhours, such as from 10:30 PM to 7:00 AM, so that scammers inside may work without fear of discovery .

Nigeria also contains many businesses that provide false documents used in scams; after a scam involving a forged signature of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in summer 2005, Nigerian authorities raided a market in the Oluwole section of Lagos. The police seized thousands of Nigerian and non-Nigerian passports, 10,000 blank British Airways boarding passes, 10,000 United States money orders, customs documents, false university certificates, 500 printing plates, and 500 computers.

Some London-based gangs have been known to use spamware on laptops which they surreptitiously connect to the cafe's network, but even this software is notably out-of-date. While this method is significantly more labour-intensive per mail sent than others, it offers near-total anonymity and allows them to very quickly and easily relocate. The often very professional layout of web pages and so on used in the scams suggests that they do not lack technical sophistication.

Variants
Invitation to visit the country
Sometimes, victims are invited to a country to meet real or fake government officials. Some victims who do travel are instead held for ransom. In some rumoured cases they are smuggled into the country without a visa and then threatened into giving up more money, as the penalties for being in a foreign country without a visa are severe. In the most extreme cases the victim has even been murdered.

Credit card use through IP Relay
In another variation of the scam, the scammer places calls through IP Relay, a US federally funded internet telerelay service for deaf/hard of hearing/speech-disabled individuals. The scammer calls various businesses, attempting to purchase items with stolen or fraudulent credit cards. Often, individuals are targeted as well, most of whom have advertised a product or service online.

Typically, in an IP-Relay scam call, the scammer will place several calls using a Relay Operator. Calling to businesses or private parties, the scammer will inquire about merchandise/services offered, and then immediately and with few questions asked, attempt to purchase the merchandise. The scammer (who refer to each other as "guyman") then proceeds to ask the potential victim (known in Nigeria as a "Mugu"; a Lagos pidgin word for "fool") for an e-mail address, by which he can contact the victim to proceed with the closing of the fraudulent transaction.

The scammer proceeds to send the victim a counterfeit cheque or money order, with instructions requiring that it be cashed, and that excess funds be sent back to the scammer (advance fee fraud). When it is determined by the authorities that the money order is counterfeit, the victim is usually arrested and charged with various offenses relating to the scam.

Credit-card fraud is not the only kind of fraud reported through IP Relay. A relay scammer typically will use IP Relay for all fraudulent-related transactions/telephone calls within the United States.

Often a scammer will browse through online classified ads (such as craigslist.org) and will use the IP Relay service to contact sellers to make inquiries about the item listed in the ad. Most commonly the scammers target persons whose ads advertise live animals (i.e. puppies), automobiles, high-dollar electronic devices, etc. In this scenario, the scammer sends the seller a cheque for the advertised item with an overpayment- The victim is given instructions to cash the cheque or money-order and to wire the remaining balance via Western Union or Moneygram. The victim is at a loss in this situation when the authorities discover the cheque/money order is not legitimate.

Because of current FCC regulations and confidentiality laws, operators are required to relay every call verbatim and must adhere to a strict code of confidentiality and ethics. Thus no relay operator is permitted to make judgements about the legality and/or legitimacy of any relay call and must relay the call without interference. As such, the relay operator cannot warn victims even when they suspect that the call is a scam; Some sources claim that up to half of all IP relay calls are scams.

Some IP Relay companies have certain fraud criteria in which a supervisor is able to come on the line and inform the person that has been called that the call "fits a pattern of fraudulent and illegal activity". It is then up to the voice person whether he or she wishes to continue the call.

The phony seller makes the listing look credible by using a real eBay ID to list the item. The real ID has been stolen from a legitimate seller with good feedback, usually by means of e-mail phishing.

Lottery scam
Lottery scam involves fake notices of lottery wins. The winner will usually be asked to send sensitive information to a free email account. This is a form of advance fee fraud as money in advance is often required and is also similar to phishing.

Much like the Auction overpayment fraud detailed above, a new variant of the lottery scam involves fake or stolen checks being sent to the 'winner' of the lottery (these checks representing a part payment of the winnings). The winner will then be more likely to assume that the win is legitimate and subsequently more likely to send the fee (which he does not realize is an advance fee). The check, and associated funds, will then be flagged by the bank when the fraud is discovered and debited from the victim's account.

Inheritance scam
A variant of the scam will appear to be sent by a lawyer representing the estate of some long-lost relative the victim never knows he or she had (the victim's surname will be inserted into the e-mail message) who perished along with his or her family in a car or airplane accident a short period of time ago (usually a few months). The scammer will claim to have gone to a lot of trouble to find the victim in order to give him or her a share of the millions of dollars available if the victim will forward his or her bank account information to the scammer.

The Following is an Actual Email from Lome Togo by a scammer:

Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 17:42:47 +0100 (BST)

From: "Macaulay Kava" 

Subject: Pio Procop ....Get back to me.

To: pia_proco@yahoo.com

Dear Friend,

Please do not be offended to receive my message in this manner as I ought to have sought your consent and approval before e-mailing this proposal to you. I acted as I did due to the importance and urgency the situation demanded.

I am Barrister Macaulay Kava, Personal lawyer to Mr. Lagap W. Procop, a national of supposedly your country who used to work with Shell Development Company in Lome Togo. He is a contract Staff and was also instrumental to the construction of the International Cement Company Lome Togo. Hereinafter shall be referred to as my client for over ten years. On the 21st of February 2000, my client, his wife and their only daughter were involved in a car accident along Dapaong-Manggo expressway while returning back to Lome from a holiday. Unfortunately, all occupants of the vehicle lost their lives.

As his lawyer, I was contacted and all necessary burial arrangements were made and the remains of the family buried in the public cemetery. Since then, I have made several enquiries to locate any of my clients either blood families or the extended relations. My concerted search proved abortive. After these several unsuccessful attempts and as the last result, I decided to contact you since your last name coincided with his. Perhaps, you may not be biologically related to him but it behooves on us to seize this opportunity to claim his savings with a Bank here since I could not locate any relation of his either dead or alive.

I have in my record the documents where he left behind the sum of Twelve Million, Five hundred Thousand United States of American Dollars (US$12.5 million) in a Bank. I have contacted you to assist me in repatriating this fund before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Bank where this huge amount was deposited. The Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated as the policy of the bank is to overrun over five years of unserviceable and dormant accounts. They have a veritable excuse as they knew that my client was dead. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relations all these years, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since both of you have the same last names (surnames). I have this obsession that if the Directors of the Bank confiscated the money, it might not be put into proper and useful ventures to benefit the poor masses.

Therefore, should this proposal appeal to you and I get your consent to be presented to the Financial institution as the next of kin to my deceased client, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all the necessary information/ requirement to back up this claim. All I needed is a willing foreigner who will be honest, trustworthy and transparent in business to enable us see this transaction through.

I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangements that will protect you and I from any breach of the law both during and after the fund claim.

You can request my phone number for further discussion on this or get in touch with through my alternative private email address: macaulaykav@yahoo.fr

Thanks and have my best regards.

Mr. Macaulay Kava.

False online storefront scam
A website is set up offering too-good-to-be-true prices on popular goods (usually electronic goods such as laptop computers, digital cameras, video game consoles, and cell phones). For an undisclosed reason, payments can not be made using credit cards, money orders, cashier checks, or even wire transfers, but only via untraceable means such as Western Union, Moneygram, or e-gold. The buyer pays the money, but never receives the goods, and is unable to reverse the transaction or sue the recipient. The originators of these scams are usually in Lagos, Nigeria.

Classified advertisement scams
In a classified advertisement scam, scammers respond to an advertisement for anything that is being advertised at a reasonably high price (for example a car, a computer or a snowboard). There are various variants of this scam; typically, scammers, after an initial phase of feigned interest, agree to buy the item and offer to pay for it with a cheque with a much higher value than the agreed price, using various excuses. The scammer will ask to have most of the difference paid back in cash at time of collection, supposedly leaving the rest to the victim as a reward for their flexibility and inconvenience. The collection will be arranged soon after the money will be made available in the victim's bank account. The victim will not realise that having the funds available is different from having the cheque cleared, and therefore will happily agree to the terms. The cheque clearing process can take weeks, after which the bank will claim the whole sum back because the cheque is fake.

This is also used over the IP Relay. There is a case where the scammer requests a Driver's License or International Passport be faxed over as he represents a close friend of his who is dying.

Tutor scams
In this variation the scammer responds to an ad placed by a tutor-for-hire, such as a music instructor, explaining his need for a tutor for his child who will soon be relocating to the tutor's area. Often the scammer will want a suspiciously high amount of instruction for his child and will of course want to pay for multiple weeks of instruction in advance via money order or cashier's check. The dead give-away is usually the scammer's request for very specific list of information e.g. "full name, address, city, state, zip, phone number" in the first or second email. The rest of the scam is the same as other fake check/wire transfer scams, where a fake check or money order for more than the agreed price is sent to the victim, then the scammer requests that the victim wire the balance back to him or someone he owes a debt.

Escort scams
In this variant of a classified advertisement scam, a scammer answers an online escort advertisement, typically posing as a wealthy businessman traveling from Nigeria or London to the escort's city of residence. The scammer contacts an escort claiming to be interested in a long-term companionship arrangement of days or even weeks in length, the total time involved totalling to a substantial sum of money. The scammer offers to pay in advance by cheque in excess of the net payment and asks for remittance of the balance. This version is especially popular as escorts in many cases cannot safely contact legal authorities for any reason and are unlikely to report successful or attempted fraud. A variant of the escort scam involves translators and interpreters who are asked to escort a businessman or his family for a few days.

Black money scam
Black money scam or wash wash: A "money cleaning" scam involving a huge amount of black papers (purportedly $100 USD bank notes covered by a black film to sneak them past the custom officers) that is shown to the victim, who is then requested to pay for “expensive chemicals” to cleanse the bills.

Where the victim (e.g., landlord) is looking to find a tenant for their accommodation, the scammer poses as an "interested" party who is looking to move to said location. On inquiry to the prospective tenant, the victim receives a follow up e-mail indicating they will be sent a cheque by the tenant's new employer that will cover the rent, plus the new "tenant's" living expenses (e.g., to purchase furniture). The victim is asked to forward the additional portion to their new "tenant" by Western Union (or similar).

Where the victim posts on a communal website (e.g. Craigslist) that he/she is looking for a roommate to share a rental unit (or is a landlord looking to rent a unit), and the "scammer" poses as an interested party and sends a check to hold the room. The check will originate from overseas. The victim receives the check and desposits it into his/her bank account, and that amount of money will temporarily appear as having been added in. Within a few days the scammer then contacts the victim and advises that he/she cannot move into the rental unit due to an illness. The scammer will even provide what appears to be medical documents indicating this state of ill health. The scammer then asks the victim to immediately wire transfer the money from the check back to him/her. This takes place, and then a few days later the victim finds out from his/her bank that the original check has bounced.

Puppy scam
Consequences
Monetary loss estimates
Estimates of the total losses due to the scam vary widely. The Snopes website lists the following estimate:

"The Nigerian scam is hugely successful. According to a 1997 newspaper article: 'We have confirmed losses just in the United States of over $100 million in the last 15 months,' said Special Agent James Caldwell, of the Secret Service financial crimes division. 'And that's just the ones we know of. We figure a lot of people don't report them.'"

Although the "success rate" of the scam is hard to gauge, some experienced 419 scammers get one or two interested replies for every thousand messages. It is claimed that an experienced scammer can expect to make several thousand dollars per month.

Ultrascan Advanced Global Investigations, a Netherlands-based firm which has been studying 419 matters since the mid-1990s, has prepared a table quantifying 419 operations by country for 2005 and 2006. These stats are based on Ultrascan's in-house investigations and include, by nation: number of 419 rings; number of 419ers; income of the 419ers (the amount of losses by victims to the 419ers); and additional data. 419 Coalition view is that these stats present a reasonably conservative and realistic look at the extent and magnitude of 419 criminal operations worldwide.

Since 1995, the United States Secret Service has been involved in combating these schemes. The organization will not investigate unless the monetary loss is in excess of fifty thousand US Dollars. However, very few arrests and prosecutions have been made due to the international aspect of this crime.

In 2006, a report by a research group concluded that Nigerian scams cost the UK economy £150 million per year, with the average victim losing £31,000.

Physical harm or death

• Some victims have hired private investigators in Nigeria or have personally travelled to Nigeria, without ever retrieving their money. There are cases of victims being unable to cope with the losses and committing suicide
• In February 2003, a scam victim from the Czech Republic shot and killed Michael Lekara Wayid, an official at the Nigerian embassy in Prague
• Leslie Fountain, a senior technician at Anglia Polytechnic University in England, set himself on fire after falling victim to a scam; Fountain died of his injuries

Kidnapping

• Kensuke Matsumoto, a Japanese national, fled his kidnappers in Durban, South Africa after falling victim to a 419 scheme in 1999
• Joseph Raca, a former mayor of Northampton, England, was kidnapped by scammers in Johannesburg, South Africa in July 2001. The captors released Raca after they became nervous
• Danut Tetrescu, a Romanian who flew from Bucharest to Johannesburg to meet with con men in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, was kidnapped in 1999 and held for $500,000

Murder

• 29-year old George Makronalli, a Greek man, was murdered in South Africa after responding to a 419 scam
• Kjetil Moe, a Norwegian businessman, was reported missing and ultimately killed after a trade with Nigerian scammers in Johannesburg, South Africa (September 1999).
• Mary Winkler is awaiting trial over the shooting of her pastor husband on March 22, 2006, after allegedly being taken for $17,500 in a 419 scam
• One American was murdered in Nigeria in June 1995 after being lured by a 419 scam

Arrests
In 2004, fifty-two suspects were arrested in Amsterdam after an extensive raid.[21] An Internet service provider had noticed the increased email traffic. None was jailed or fined, due to lack of evidence. They were released in the week of July 12, 2004. An entirely phony "Nigerian embassy" was also discovered in Amsterdam; another allegedly exists in Bangkok.

In October 2006 the Amsterdam police launched Operation Apollo to fight internet fraud scams operated by West Africans and notably Nigerians. Following this invesigation police have arrested 80 suspects, most of them from Nigeria, and seized from their homes lists of email addresses, as well as fake documents. On June 16, 2007 111 people were arrested for being in The Netherlands illegally and suspicion of fraud, although their implication with the email scams is yet unknown.

However, not a single person in Nigeria has ever been convicted for advanced fee fraud. Unfortunately, corruption is rampant in Nigeria, and the Nigerian authorities have never shown any interest in cracking down on fraud.

The victim becomes a criminal
Victims of the fraud often fall directly into crime by "borrowing" or stealing money to pay the advanced fees, thinking an early payday is imminent.

• One example of this was Robert Andrew Street,[24] a Melbourne based financial adviser, who fleeced his clients for over AU$ 1,000,000 which he sent to the scammers in the hope of receiving USD$65M in return. Eventually the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated the victim, who had now become a conman himself.
• Another example was a bookkeeper for Michigan law firm [25] Olsman Mueller & James who in 2002 emptied the company bank account of USD$2.1M in expectation of a USD$4.5M payout.
• John W. Worley fell for a Nigerian scam and was convicted of taking money under false pretenses
• Mark Whitacre defrauded Archer Daniels Midland, a food products manufacturer for which he was a division president, embezzling $9 million during the same period of time that he was acting as an informant for the FBI in a price-fixing scheme that ADM was involved in. His illegal activities in trying to procure funds for payment of his supposed Nigerian benefactors cost him his immunity in the price-fixing scandal.

Impeded Nigerian E-mail output
Legitimate Nigerian businesses find that their e-mails increasingly fail to reach their targets, due to people and companies setting their e-mail clients to automatically mark all mail containing the words 'Nigeria' and 'Nigerian' or coming from Nigerian IP addresses as spam, or even delete it out of hand.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_scam

This form is widespread because people who become victims of, for example, a telemarketing fraud, often are placed on a sucker list. Sucker lists, which include names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information, are created, bought, and sold by some fraudulent telemarketers. They are considered invaluable because dishonest promoters know that consumers who have been tricked once are likely to be tricked again.

How the scam works
Double scammers, known as reloaders, use several methods to repeatedly victimize consumers. For example, if they have lost money to a fraudulent telemarketing scheme, they may get a call from someone claiming to work for a government agency, private company, or consumer organization that could recover their lost money, product, or prize—for a fee. The catch is that the second caller is often as phony as the first, and may even work for the company that took their money in the first place. If they pay the recovery fee, they have been double-scammed.

Some local government agencies and consumer organizations do provide help to consumers who have lost money to fraudulent promoters. Fortunately, there's a way to tell whether the caller offering help is legitimate: If they ask you to pay a fee or if they guarantee to get your money back, it is fraud.

Buyers of worthless shares of stock are sometimes approached with schemes to revive the original bankrupt companies. All the victim needs to do to save his original investment is to contribute so much per share. This throwing good money after bad appeals to those reluctant to admit that they made a bad investment.

Another reloading scam uses prize incentives to convince a person to continue buying merchandise. If they buy, they may get a second call claiming they are eligible to win a more valuable prize. The second caller makes them think that buying more merchandise increases their chances of winning. If they take the bait, they may be called yet again with the same sales pitch. The only difference is that the caller now claims that they are a "grand prize" finalist and, if they buy even more, they could win the "grand prize."

Fraudulent promoters involved in reloading scams want payment as quickly as possible—usually by credit card or a cheque delivered to them by courier. Often, it takes at least several weeks to receive products and prizes. When they do arrive, buyers often find that they have overpaid for shoddy goods, and that they did not win the "grand prize" at all. Unfortunately, their credit card has long since been charged or their cheque cashed.

Protection
The Federal Trade Commission and other agencies recommend to beware of people who claim to work for companies, consumer organizations, or government agencies that recover money for a fee. Legitimate organizations, such as national, state, and local consumer enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations, like the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) or Call For Action (CFA), do not charge for their services or guarantee results. One must also be wary of promoters who contact you several times and urge you to buy more merchandise to increase your chances of winning valuable prizes. A number of other advices based on common sense may be found.

Although they both involve sending money, typically to Nigeria, romance scams are very different from "advance fee fraud" (or 419 as it is called). The typical 419 scam uses greed to lure victims by inviting them to share in money. Ostensibly, the money belongs to a deposed dictator, or a wealthy businessman who has no known heirs or even to a dying reclusive miser who has seen the error of his ways. Whatever the story, they need your help to get the money abroad so that it is not forfeited to the government. All they need, they say, is your bank account and identity details to facilitate payment. Once baited the scammer will introduce all sorts of hurdles that require various sorts of fees, costs, and taxes to enable the transfer of the millions of dollars that they are promising. The key motivator for the victim in this case is greed.

Romance Scams, on the other hand, rely on creating strong emotional ties that by-pass logical thought and appeal strongly and exclusively on emotions. These feelings are triggered by using appealing photos, dream profiles on online dating sites, persuasive and flattering words, poetry and love song lyrics. The strategy is essentially to get victims to fall in love/lust so strongly that they want to be with the scammers by whatever means possible. The promise of marriage is very common in this con because they know that no one will refuse to do a small favour for their 'wife' or 'husband'. Marriage (or the promise of it) also increases the element of trust and the resulting mind control. The key motivator for the victim is love and romance. Of course the motivation for the perpetrator in all cases remains greed.

An analysis of the scam

They tend to hide behind stolen photographs, normally of attractive professional models. The fraudsters will usually claim to be from the USA or the UK (if English) and other Western Europe countries for other languages. The scammers claim to be going abroad or are already working abroad (mainly Nigeria) on some short-term project. Mostly, they will claim to be engineers, IT professionals, pilots, models or any other glamorous or high flying career. They use highly scripted profiles on the dating sites that are designed to be very smooth and alluring . It does not matter if the dating site is an 'exclusive' one that tries to keep out 'undesirables' by charging a high fee because the scammers will pay for membership using a stolen credit card. Should they spot a desperate sounding or naive profile, the scammers will create a 'tailor-made' profile designed to target that unsuspecting victim in particular. They seek to quickly establish contact and rapport and move their victims away from the moderated forums and chat rooms so that they can 'work' the victims. This goes progressively from email, instant messaging, telephone calls and finally web cam (especially important to verify that the victim is real). Bearing in mind that the photos that they posted are not really theirs, they will never reveal themselves on web cam and usually blame this on the dilapidated state of the internet in West Africa.

The scammers then set about establishing intimacy by using pet names and many times claim that fate or even a higher power has pre-ordained the romance. Almost always, they use free email services especially Yahoo or Hotmail. They quickly declare love and express a strong desire to be physically present with their victims. The scammers are very devoted and dote on their victims, sending romantic and flirtatious messages sometimes up to 20 times a day. They never give their victims an opportunity to forget them as they bombard them with plagiarized poetry and lyrics from romantic love songs. Many times they will send their victims romantic and thoughtful gifts such as flowers, candy, expensive chocolate, lingerie and even birthday presents for the victim's children, all purchased with stolen credit cards. The scammers (who commonly work in groups of up to 6 people) tend to be very good judges of character and know which buttons to push and will say things that make their victims fall very deeply in love. The grooming period typically lasts up to 4 months but it is not unheard of for victims to be prepared for 12 or more months. It all depends on the skill of the (team of) scammer(s) and the 'desperation' of the victim to find love. The grooming period ends when the scammer successfully proposes to his/her intended victim and the victim starts thinking of a wedding ceremony taking place in the foreseeable future. Victims are conned into believing this is the end of an often long quest to find happiness. The scammers are very good at building and exploiting their victims' dreams and ambitions and using these to ingratiate themselves. They are very supportive of their victims' dreams, whether settling down and raising a family or cycling across the sahara desert or pursuing a career. Nothing is too much for the scammers who now appear to be perfect partners because they are so thoughtful, supportive and considerate. The victims cannot be convinced that their beloved is not the most wonderful, loving and supportive man/woman in the world. In the victim's mind, this is the end of an often long and frustrating quest to find love.

The scam kicks in
The extortion phase of the con begins once the perpetrator is certain that he can exercise a certain amount of mind control based on the feelings of love that he has established and nurtured. At this point, the scammer is still claiming to be abroad temporarily on an international job/assignment/project or assignment and cannot wait to finish it so that they can be together. Unfortunately, for a whole range of reasons, the scammer does not have sufficient cash to make the trip to be together with his/her partner. Many times, there is no request for direct financial assistance and all that the scammer requests is for his beloved to help overcome the problem by doing them a 'small favour' to help facilitate the trip. Key to the scam is the fact that the victim by this stage is ready to do anything to have their 'partner' by their side and the 'favour' is an innocent sounding request to cash a cheque/postal order for them. The scammers normally claim that these are work-related cheques that they haven't been able to cash due to the different banking system in Nigeria, but they can also take the form of 'someone owes me money' or 'a client wishes to pay me in dollars not local currency' variety. In all these scenarios the victim will receive what are in fact expertly forged or stolen cheques that will eventually get rejected by the issuing banks. Whatever the story, the scammer ensures that he scores brownie points by asking the victim to keep a share of the cheque for themselves. This not only reinforces the feelings of love and trust within the victim but also serves to incriminate the victim thereby reducing any chance of reporting to the authorities because in the eyes of the law the victim becomes an accomplice by keeping a portion of the stolen money. For example, the scammer may send the victim a forged or stolen cheque worth $4,000 and ask the victim to retain $800 for themselves and to forward the remaining $3,200 to Nigeria via a telegraphic money transfer service, usually Western Union or Moneygram. The scammers like to use these services because it is impossible to trace the recipients of the money.

The problem (for the scammer) with this method is that once the victim cashes the first cheque, the scammer is then in a race against the clock. This is because the bank is sure to get in touch with the victim to alert them about the stolen/forged cheques that they deposited. The banks will then often freeze the victims' accounts or demand immediate payment or threaten to involve the authorities. The scammer knows that the victim is unlikely to cash any more cheques once the lie is exposed and so they try to make the victim cash as many cheques a

Although sending their victims forged or stolen bankers or postal drafts and cheques and/or money orders are the most common methods of pulling off the scam, there are other methods that scammers use to extract money from their victims. The scammers are constantly 'innovating' but the common thread between these and any others not mentioned below is that they prevent the two lovers from being united, and that they claim to need a modest amount of money to resolve the asserted problem so that the two lovers can finally be together.

• The scammer falls seriously ill or is seriously injured in a car crash while in Nigeria and needs urgent medical attention for his life to be saved. The victim is contacted by a hospital 'administrator' because the patient (that is, the scammer) is in a coma or unconscious. They will inform the victim that they found a notebook in his baggage which has listed the victim as next of kin and as such the victim needs to pay for medical treatment. Without this medical attention, the 'patient' is sure to die.
• Sometimes they use a more direct route and simply ask their victims to 'lend' them the money to be able to purchase a ticket or to be able to cover departure tax always promising to repay the money once they are finally together. The scammer may claim that they have been mugged and/or have lost their wallets.
• The scammer can claim to have an unpaid hotel bill and that they being held hostage by the hotel manager or their passports or other documents have been confiscated. The scammers will desperately plead for money to settle the hotel bill promising to repay the money when the two love birds finally meet
• Sometimes, the scammer will ask the victim to open a bank account in the victim's name or to cede control of an existing account so that the perpetrator can deposit a large cheque. The most common excuse is that the scammer wants to start a business to guarantee their future financial status but the authorities in Nigeria will not allow them to leave with the cheque. Again, the victim becomes a potential suspect in money laundering and/or an accomplice in criminal theft.
• Scammers frequently ask their victims to reship goods for them to Nigeria. This is because many businesses in the world will not ship goods directly to Nigeria until full payment is received by their banks. A credit card in the hands of a Nigerian scammer is virtually worthless because no merchant will agree to send goods to Nigeria, but by using his victims address (normally in the USA or Western Europe) he is able to order huge amounts of high value electronic goods using the stolen credit cards. He then arranges for either the victim or an 'associate' to pick them up the following day and ship them to the scammer in Nigeria where they will be sold. Obviously, when the credit card company fails to honour the payment, the merchant pursues the victim for the goods or the money. The victim becomes responsible for the bill because the goods were delivered to their address.
• Eastern European scammers tend to use the guise of mail order bride agencies to scam their victims. Like their Nigerian counterparts, the lady in question is incredibly attractive and a rapport is quickly established and the lady declares the victim to be her dream partner. Before long there is a desire to meet up to test 'compatibility' but the victim needs to pay for her passport, visa and ticket before she can come over to be with him. Needless to say, even after giving the money, she will never materialise and the victim is left with an empty wallet and an aching heart.
• Not a common variation of the scam - some scammers will ask their victims to take cash advances on their credit cards, then offer to pay off the balances for you, of course the victims are asked to give out credit-card and security information. The scammer will sometimes pay on the card, but not the entire balance, so the victim will accrue a very high interest rate on the remaining balance and advance.
• Finally, the scammers purchase high-value goods off e-bay or similar services and have the victims pay for them by sending money to diverse locations through out the world. In this way the scammer is able to receive high-value goods and erase a paper trail.

Outcomes
Whatever form the scam takes, scammers will keep trying to make as much money as they can until the victims cannot afford to send any more or until the victims realize that their 'spouse' will never come and that they are being conned. It is common then for the scammer to terminate the relationship. Many times however, it is the authorities knocking on their door (with threats of imprisonment) that alerts many victims to the fact that they have been taken in.

Size of the Problem
Romance scams have become the natural successor of advance fee fraud activities, because many people in the West are much more aware of the typical 419 type scam; the returns are a lot better with romance scams which are relatively unknown and appeal to love and romance rather than greed. The romance scammers can make more money by skimming smaller amounts from thousands of victims rather than one large sum from very few victims. (So, instead of milking $30,000 from one victim in a 'normal' 419 scam, romance scammers find it much easier to make $1,500 from 20 victims.) The US State Department reported in 2004 that Nigerian email scams constituted the biggest consumer fraud threat on the Internet.

As of 2004, there were 8.4 million fully paid subscribers to over 1,000 internet dating sites[citation needed]. In fact, 1% of all internet activity is dating and romance related[citation needed]. The market was worth $516 million in 2005. On many dating sites, up to one third of all profiles are fake[citation needed], thus ensuring that any user who communicates with just two other members runs a real risk of coming into contact with these scammers. Assuming just a 1% response rate, there were at least 84,000 people who each stood to lose a relatively modest $1,000. each[citation needed]. The total losses in this scenario work out to be more than $84 million, and that is in just in 2004 alone. Consider that this amount of $84 million is based on just a 1% rate - the grim reality is that the actual response rates are closer to 10% and the average losses are more than $2,500 per victim. It is not a wonder then, that email fraud is Nigeria's fifth largest 'export' and the only source of income for millions of educated but unemployed 18-45-year-olds in Nigeria. And this situation will only get worse in the future, because these huge sums of money (and the associated glamor) attract more and more people to the scamming 'industry' in a country where the average wage for a person in formal employment is between $50 and $70 per month[citation needed]. Indeed, there are thousands of reports of people leaving formal jobs to become 'yahoo-yahoo boys'[citation needed]. The Internet Crime Complaint Centre (a US government funded research organization) reported 207,449 Nigerian fraud complaints resulting in losses of $68 million in 2004 alone. These figures, however, are very conservative because many victims never report these types of crimes to the authorities[citation needed]. Many victims are too embarrassed to speak for fear that they may be arrested, the associated bureaucracy (so many forms and departments), or don't bother when they realize that the FBI cannot apprehend the Nigerian-based scammers. Taking these factors into consideration, then the $2,200,000 loss that 243 members of the Yahoo RomanceScams group reported (an average of $9,000+ per victim as of May 2006) seems to be a more accurate and reliable figure and a true indicator of the size of the problem[citation needed]. It is in recognition of the threat that these Nigerian (and other) scammers pose to the Internet-using public that led federal law enforcement agencies to launch a website (http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com) to help combat these cyber-outlaws.