Scams

Internet Scams

Many of the fraud emails that surface on the Internet are from Nigeria although this is changing. The other counties that are the source of email scam letters are the UK and Cote D'Ivore. Typically, when the user looks in their email inbox they see emails from unknown people but the email is addressed "Dear friend" in bold in the subject line. The person's name who sent it may also be in bold letters The sender will usually have a foreign last name as well as a foreign email address. When the email is opened, the sender will either be some high official in the Nigerian government such as king, president or a relative of such person. There is a situation where they are trying to move money, in millions of dollars, out of the country. In return for helping, the email reader will get a large percentage of the amount, sometimes, even 50/50 in some cases.

The scammers who conduct the African scams claim to have a number of professions in addition to the ones already mentioned. The type of employment is usually in accordance with the type of scam. For example, the bank transfer scam or Nigerian inheritance scam involves an individual who poses as a bank official who represents or discovers the bank account of a dead client who was a gold and cocoa merchant. Other professions that are frequently mentioned include lawyers, attorneys, barristers, UN officials, engineers and oil businessmen as well as doctors and reverends.

A check is sent to the person for them to cash and send part of the money back. This is usually for some kind of fee or bribe that is needed to move the millions of dollars. However, the check or money order is fake and when this is realized by the bank, the amount is withdrawn from the recipient's account. Meanwhile the cash from the check has been sent to the scammer.