SpamCopWiki: AdvanceFeeFraud

Most recent edit on 2008-11-22 00:10:14 by DbieL [Merged 419 example here before converting other page to a redirect page]

Additions:
The following example is extreme case in which $400,000.00 is lost by the victim, but the number of people who have fallen for lesser amounts is staggering.

Woman out $400K to 'Nigerian scam' con artists∞

Edited on 2008-07-14 22:59:34 by RconneR

Additions:

NOTE: The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and not of SpamCop.

One of the largest categories of scam (with a “c”) via e-mail (measured in terms of the number of messages sent) is the so-called advance-fee fraud, in which the target is promised something of great value that he finds he cannot get until he has paid money up front ("advance fees") to cover expenses, bribes, subsidies, etc. Even then, he will not get what he has been offered.

At the heart of most advance-fee scams is the attempt to lure complete strangers with the prospect of sudden, unexpected, and substantial wealth; the perps hope that the temptation is so strong that it overrides the target’s natural suspicion at being asked to send money to unknown parties for vaguely-specified purposes. In other words, if you are being offered a healthy share of millions of dollars, the scammer hopes you won’t worry about handing over a few hundred dollars first in order to “prime the pump.” Often, the perpetrator will insinuate that the transaction he proposes is somewhat shady, discouraging the target from asking too many hard questions lest the opportunity pass him by.
In the days before the internet, advance-fee frauds were generally pursued by postal mail or fax; e-mail has since become the dominant mode for such scams, mainly because it is extremely cheap and can reach a much larger pool of potential victims. E-mails used in advance-fee scams are quite different in profile from the usual variety of spam that we all receive:

They account for a far smaller volume of mailings than, say, drug spam or other varieties of highly-automated “merchant spam,” because the mailings are usually sent by a human, a few at a time, often via webmail on standard computers (i.e., not using automated bulk-mailing programs).
They are generally far easier to trace to their ultimate origins than most spam, because the perpetrators usually do not have access to the kinds of protection that the biggest spammers use.
In fact, advance-fee artists, unlike most spammers, actually expect to get e-mail replies from interested parties (whereas spammers do not), which provides recipients with a powerful means to deal with them.

Advance-fee frauds are the realm of the traditional confidence artist or “con man,” who works hard to develop the trust of the target, and then uses this trust to swindle him. This means these rackets require much more one-on-one communication than the typical bulk-mailing spammer is interested in managing. In particular, the advance-fee artist requires a working e-mail address to collect replies from his targets; this makes him vulnerable to swift action by e-mail providers to shut down any e-mail addresses he uses, so unlike most spams it is actually useful to trace and report reply e-mail addresses found in such mailings.
The most famous of advance-fee e-mail scams in popular legend are the “Nigerian 419” scams, named for the section of the Nigerian criminal code that outlaws the practice. As the name suggests, these are most often perpetrated by Nigerians, either in-country or as part of the Nigerian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. These fraudsters usually operate via free webmail services, which enable them to ply their trade at very little expense (i.e., they can send and receive their mails at internet cafes or libraries, and do not have to have their own computers or full-time internet hookups).

Correspondent claims to be a banker or attorney that knows of a large amount of money held by the estate of a dead foreigner, and asks the target to pose as the next-of-kin of this foreigner; the correspondent offers to split the proceeds with the target.
Correspondent claims to be a dying missionary with a lot of money that he wishes to "gift" to some pious individual to carry on the Good Work.

Many of these scams offer what appear to be working e-mail addresses for reply; often, these are in obscure mail services presumably operated by the scammers themselves (as opposed to "freemail" services against which complaints can be directed).
If you can manage the extra effort, it is also a good idea to report the reply e-mail addresses used by the scammer, so as to cut him off from reaching potential victims. Refer to the wiki page on reporting e-mail addresses for some advice in this regard.

Deletions:

NOTE: The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and not of SpamCop.

They account for far fewer mailings than, say, drug spam or other varieties of “merchant spam.”
They are generally far easier to trace to their ultimate origins than most spam, because the perpetrators do not control the same massive resources that the biggest spammers use.
In fact, advance-fee artists, unlike most spammers, actually expect to get e-mail replies from interested parties (whereas spammers do not), which provides investigators with a powerful means to deal with them.

Advance-fee frauds are the realm of the traditional confidence artist or "con man," who works hard to develop the trust of the target, and then uses this trust to swindle him. This means these rackets require much more one-on-one communication than the typical bulk-mailing spammer is interested in managing. In particular, the advance-fee artist requires a working e-mail address to collect replies from his targets; this makes him vulnerable to swift action by e-mail providers to shut down any e-mail addresses he uses, so unlike most spams it is actually useful to trace and report reply e-mail addresses found in such mailings.
The most famous of advance-fee e-mail scams in popular legend are the "Nigerian 419" scams, named for the section of the Nigerian criminal code that outlaws the practice. As the name suggests, these are most often perpetrated by Nigerians, either in-country or as part of the Nigerian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. These fraudsters usually operate via free webmail services, which allows them to ply their trade at very little expense (i.e., they can send and receive their mails at internet cafes or libraries, and do not have to have their own computers or full-time internet hookups).

Correspondent claims to be a banker or attorney that knows of a large amount of money held by the estate of a dead foreigner, and asks the target to pose as the next-of-kin of this foreigner; the correspondent offers to split the proceed with the target.
Correspondent claims to be a dying missionary with a lot of money that he wishes to "gift" to some pious individual to carry on the good work.

Many of these scams offer what appear to be working e-mail addresses for reply; often, these are in obscure domains presumably operated by the scammers themselves (as opposed to "freemail" services against which complaints can be directed).
If you can spare the extra effort, it is also a good idea to report the reply e-mail addresses used by the scammer, so as to cut him off from reaching potential victims. Refer to the wiki page on reporting e-mail addresses for some advice in this regard.

Edited on 2008-07-14 22:16:07 by RconneR

Additions:
E-mails used in advance-fee scams are quite different in profile from the usual variety of spam that we all receive:

They account for far fewer mailings than, say, drug spam or other varieties of “merchant spam.”
They are generally far easier to trace to their ultimate origins than most spam, because the perpetrators do not control the same massive resources that the biggest spammers use.
In fact, advance-fee artists, unlike most spammers, actually expect to get e-mail replies from interested parties (whereas spammers do not), which provides investigators with a powerful means to deal with them.

These days, we also often see 419 messages from fraudsters claiming to be "investigators" who will help the target collect any money "owed" him by other 419 artists. Of course, the scammer will ask for advance fees to cover the "costs" of his "investigation."
If the 419 scammer manages to hook a target (or "wad" as they are called in Nigeria), then the target will be pelted with requests to provide various identifying info, bank account numbers, etc., and will get many bogus documents and certificates via e-mail or fax. The target may be requested to open (and put large deposits into) foreign bank accounts which, the perps claim, will be used to receive the loot; or, the target may be hit up to pay various legal fees or even bribes in order to accelerate the deal. If he proves to be a good prospect, the target may even be "invited" to travel to Nigeria to close the deal (which can result in the target being kidnapped, or worse).
Of course, most people may have no real way to participate in a foreign lottery (i.e., to buy tickets), so the scammers often pretend that the winners were selected randomly from a list of e-mail addresses rather than from a list of bona-fide ticket holders. Sometimes, these swindles are disguised as promotional "sweepstakes" sponsored by internationally famous firms like Microsoft or Coca-Cola. One recent sweepstakes spam claimed to be a marketing tool used by the Kraft Corporation to introduce its products to the U.S. market (Kraft, of course, is primarily a U.S. based company that presumably has no need to "introduce" its long-established brands to the U.S.).
A third variety of advance-fee scam, which seems to be a specialty of Russians and others in the former Soviet sphere, involves sending strangers messages purporting to be from attractive, sincere Russian ladies (or Ukranian, etc.) seeking romance abroad. These most often appear to be personal messages written in a slangy, informal style (and quaintly imperfect English), and they may have embedded pictures of the putative "authoresses" (or web links to same). These messages do not contain obviously sexual or pornographic material; they seem to be targeting men who might be interested in putting time and (especially) money into developing a "long term relationship."
Once the scammer has hooked a target, "she" will then start pestering the target for money to buy airplane tickets, pay for medical or personal mishaps, etc. This money will simply vanish. Needless to say, the target is then no closer to an "LTR" than he was before he replied to the first such message.

Deletions:
These days, we also often see 419 messages from fraudsters claiming to be "investigators" who will help the target collect any money "owed" him by other 419 artists. Of course, the scammer will call for advance fees to cover the costs of his "investigation."
If the 419 scammer manages to hook a target (or "wad" as they are called in Nigeria), then the target will be pelted with requests to provide various identifying info, bank account numbers, etc., and will get many bogus documents and certificates via e-mail or fax. The target will eventually be hit up for payment of fees, and may even be "invited" to travel to Nigeria to close the deal (which can result in the target being kidnapped, or worse).
Of course, most people may have no real way to participate in a foreign lottery (i.e., to buy tickets), so the scammers often pretend that the winners were gathered from a list of e-mail addresses rather than from a list of bona-fide ticket holders. Sometimes, these swindles are disguised as promotional "sweepstakes" sponsored by internationally famous firms like Microsoft or Coca-Cola. One recent sweepstakes spam claimed to be a marketing tool used by the Kraft Corporation to introduce its products to the U.S. market (Kraft, of course, is primarily a U.S. based company that presumably has no need to "introduce" its long-established brands to the U.S.).
A third variety of advance-fee scam, which seems to be a specialty of Russians and others in the former Soviet sphere, involves sending strangers messages purporting to be from attractive, sincere Russian ladies (or Ukranian, etc.) seeking romance abroad. These are most often personal messages written in a slangy, informal style (and quaintly imperfect English), and they may have embedded pictures of the putative "authoresses" (or web links to same). These messages do not contain obviously sexual or pornographic material; they seem to be targeting men who might be interested in putting time and (especially) money into developing a "long term relationship."
Once the scammer has hooked a target, "she" will then start pestering the target for money to buy airplane tickets, pay for medical or personal mishaps, etc. Needless to say, the target is no closer to an "LTR" than he was before he replied to the first such message.

Edited on 2008-01-03 19:39:42 by RconneR

Additions:

NOTE: The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and not of SpamCop.

Edited on 2008-01-03 19:38:53 by RconneR [Disclaimer added]

Additions:

NOTE: The opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and not of SpamCop.

One of the largest categories of scam via e-mail (measured in terms of the number of messages sent) is the so-called advance-fee fraud, in which the target is promised something of great value that he finds he cannot get until he has paid money up front ("advance fees") for expenses bribes, subsidies, etc. Even then, he will not get what he has been offered.

Deletions:
One of the largest categories of scam via e-mail (measured in terms of the number of messages sent) is the so-called advance-fee fraud, in which the target is promised something of great value that he finds he cannot get until he has paid money up front ("advance fees") for expenses bribes, subsidies, etc. Even then, he will not get what he has been offered.

Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2007-12-31 01:00:27 by RconneR []

Page view:

Advance-fee fraud via e-mail (Nigerian 419, etc.)

One of the largest categories of scam via e-mail (measured in terms of the number of messages sent) is the so-called advance-fee fraud, in which the target is promised something of great value that he finds he cannot get until he has paid money up front ("advance fees") for expenses bribes, subsidies, etc. Even then, he will not get what he has been offered.

Advance-fee frauds are the realm of the traditional confidence artist or "con man," who works hard to develop the trust of the target, and then uses this trust to swindle him. This means these rackets require much more one-on-one communication than the typical bulk-mailing spammer is interested in managing. In particular, the advance-fee artist requires a working e-mail address to collect replies from his targets; this makes him vulnerable to swift action by e-mail providers to shut down any e-mail addresses he uses, so unlike most spams it is actually useful to trace and report reply e-mail addresses found in such mailings.

Common varieties of advance-fee spam

Here, we will but skim the surface of advance-fee scams, which include such familiar rackets as the following:

The "Nigerian 419" scam

The most famous of advance-fee e-mail scams in popular legend are the "Nigerian 419" scams, named for the section of the Nigerian criminal code that outlaws the practice. As the name suggests, these are most often perpetrated by Nigerians, either in-country or as part of the Nigerian diaspora in Europe and elsewhere. These fraudsters usually operate via free webmail services, which allows them to ply their trade at very little expense (i.e., they can send and receive their mails at internet cafes or libraries, and do not have to have their own computers or full-time internet hookups).

The classic Nigerian 419 scam takes any of several forms, all of which should be familiar to the seasoned e-mail user:

Correspondent claims to be a former government official or a relative of same, and indicates that a large amount of money can be "liberated" with the help of the target acting as a foreign "helper," who will be substantially rewarded for his assistance.
Correspondent claims to be a banker or attorney that knows of a large amount of money held by the estate of a dead foreigner, and asks the target to pose as the next-of-kin of this foreigner; the correspondent offers to split the proceed with the target.
Correspondent claims to be a dying missionary with a lot of money that he wishes to "gift" to some pious individual to carry on the good work.

Lottery scams

Another frequent form of advance-fee spam is the lottery winnings notification, in which the correspondent claims to represent a lottery or sweepstakes and informs the recipient that he or she has won a prize; in order to claim the prize, however, the recipient must first pay some up-front fees that are (of course) not deductable from the winnings. Since the fees are relatively small compared to the total "winnings," greedy recipients are tricked into falling for the scam.

Of course, most people may have no real way to participate in a foreign lottery (i.e., to buy tickets), so the scammers often pretend that the winners were gathered from a list of e-mail addresses rather than from a list of bona-fide ticket holders. Sometimes, these swindles are disguised as promotional "sweepstakes" sponsored by internationally famous firms like Microsoft or Coca-Cola. One recent sweepstakes spam claimed to be a marketing tool used by the Kraft Corporation to introduce its products to the U.S. market (Kraft, of course, is primarily a U.S. based company that presumably has no need to "introduce" its long-established brands to the U.S.).

These messages often include web links to the lotteries that the scammers pretend to represent (although simply providing such links of course does not prove any relationship between the scammer and the real lottery). Invariably, however, the recipient must reply to a freemail e-mail address in order to follow up, rather than an e-mail address in the domain of the lottery company. If the scammer really represented a large and well-funded lottery, he would have no need to use freemail in his business correspondence.

Lonelyhearts scams

A third variety of advance-fee scam, which seems to be a specialty of Russians and others in the former Soviet sphere, involves sending strangers messages purporting to be from attractive, sincere Russian ladies (or Ukranian, etc.) seeking romance abroad. These are most often personal messages written in a slangy, informal style (and quaintly imperfect English), and they may have embedded pictures of the putative "authoresses" (or web links to same). These messages do not contain obviously sexual or pornographic material; they seem to be targeting men who might be interested in putting time and (especially) money into developing a "long term relationship."

Once the scammer has hooked a target, "she" will then start pestering the target for money to buy airplane tickets, pay for medical or personal mishaps, etc. Needless to say, the target is no closer to an "LTR" than he was before he replied to the first such message.

Many of these scams offer what appear to be working e-mail addresses for reply; often, these are in obscure domains presumably operated by the scammers themselves (as opposed to "freemail" services against which complaints can be directed).

Reporting advance-fee fraud mail

Since advance-fee come-ons are unsolicited broadcasts to large lists of "harvested" e-mail addresses, they are reportable as spam (via SpamCop etc.). As with other kinds of spam, you want to send reports to the internet provider whose resources (hosts or IP addresses) were used to launch the message, as well as the providers responsible for any third-party open relays through which the message passed on its way to you.

If you can spare the extra effort, it is also a good idea to report the reply e-mail addresses used by the scammer, so as to cut him off from reaching potential victims. Refer to the wiki page on reporting e-mail addresses for some advice in this regard.

External Links

Wikipedia: Advance-fee fraud∞
legal.practitioner.com: Life-cycle of a 419 scam∞
rica.net: The 419 Coalition∞
rickconner.net: Nigerian 419 scam∞
rickconner.net: Lottery scam∞
rickconner.net: Lonelyhearts scam∞

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