Issue #2 : 419 Advanced Fee Fraud – Scam the scammers |
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| Author:
| Machina
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| Submitted: |
25-Sep-2004 09:01:35 |
| Imported From: |
zZine (original author: Machina)
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| Web activists are bringing the fight against internet fraud to the spammers themselves. We have all received one in the past. So far I have had emails, faxes and letters all promising easy riches. The scam normally works a bit like this:
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Someone, pretending to be a lawyer, writes to you about how there has been a tragic accident. One of his fabulously rich clients has died with no relatives. The Nigerian government (or other appropriate country) will confiscate the money unless he can find someone to help him move the money out of the country. If you can help him through your bank account you will get a 50% cut. It sounds so easy -- just provide your bank details. Either through a legal business proposition, involvement in money laundering, or false request of charity, this scam has managed to cost billions of dollars (US$5 billion as of 1996) and people have lost their lives trying to recover their money.
What is a 419 scam?
4-1-9 is the section of the Nigerian penal code against theft under false pretences. It has become the nickname for this international scam. Although the majority of these scams originate in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, they have been found in just about any country. The details may vary, such as the person being a victim of persecution, or an orphan, but the aim remains the same...to get you to give them your bank account details so they can steal your money.
As heartbreaking as the stories they may send you are, or as promising the riches you could make, you must realise that these guys are the very worst kind of scammers looking to defraud you.
Why is 419 an increasing problem?
The answer is simple -- The Internet. Scammers have begun to use the techniques of professional email spammers. The ease of buying large numbers of email addresses means that a very large audience can be reached for virtually nothing. In the past the sheer cost of sending international faxes or letters limited the volume of scam attempts. It only takes one person in the 5 million emailed to respond for the scam to work.
419 scams have also begun branching out. As their tricks have become better publicised, the scammers have become more devious. More and more, these scams are disguised as emails of charity for a quasi-religious organisation or to help someone in trouble. One common approach is to masquerade as a refugee in danger of persecution. However, any money you send will be used to to fund more criminal activities.
How can you recognize a 419 scam?
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-Look at the email address in the to: section. Does it actually list your email?
-Check the English of the email. 419 scams often claim to be from a barrister who can't even spell 'barrister'.
-CAPITAL LETTERS. In an effort to look professional most 419 scams are written in capital letters.
-How were you found? No one looks up a stranger on the internet to begin a multimillion dollar international money transfer.
-It looks too easy. In the end this is simply the best way to see a scam.
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What can you do about 419 scams?
Unfortunately, there is relatively little you can do about 419 scams. The US Secret Service maintains a department for trying to tackle 419 scams but they have little power. (<--The latter part of this statement does not appear to be true)
Rules taken from the 419 coalition website (there are also some guidelines on the Secret Service webpage at Secret Service : 419)
1.DO NOT RESPOND TO THE 419 SOLICITATION.
2. Notify your own nation's national Law Enforcement Agency and your own nation's Foreign Office (note that the US does not have a Foreign Office).
3. File a complaint with the Nigerian Embassy or High Commission in your nation.
4. File a complaint via email with the Central Bank of NigeriA.
5. For loss cases only, you may file a complaint with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
6. If the contact from the 419ers was via email: write their email provider at their "abuse" address (abuse@yahoo.com, abuse@onebox.com etc.) and include the 419er message with its headers; complain about the 419 message; and ask that the account be shut down.
You may also file complaints with watchdog services like Spamcop to try and get the 419ers email accounts shut off by whatever ISP they are using - Spamcop and other services like it will parse the headers of the 419 email and try to see through forged information, etc., to get back to the actual origin of the 419 email, which is often useful in these matters.
Please remember that it is important to include the message's full header information. This is necessary for tracking the message's point of origin. This extra information is not shown by default, and the method of displaying it depends on the email resource you use. If you don't know how to display full headers, please see the instructions in your mail program or website. (Note: Many webpage-based email hosts include a "full headers" option link near the top of the message.)
Some 419ers give different email addresses in the body of their mail than the one they sent from. You should complain to "abuse" etc. at those email providers as well.
Some sources of more information:
The 419 Coalition website http://home.ricA.net/alphae/419coal/
Scam 419.com http://www.scam419.com/
Sources:
www.419eater.com
http://home.ricA.net/alphae/419coal/
This article was originally published by CyberArmy.net in the CyberArmy Library.
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