CCS exposes African letter scams
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| Online fraud : email scams con victims out of tens of thousands of dollars |
London, 12 July 2002 - The ICC's crime-fighting bureau is warning all internet users to beware e-mails requesting help to secretly transfer tens of millions of dollars out of Africa, even if the senders claim to be government officials or former heads of state.
The alert was sparked by a new online spin to an existing fraud, named the "419 scams" after a section in the Nigerian Penal Code.
Fraudulent e-mails typically request the recipient's bank account details so that a large sum of money can be transferred briefly to their account. Recipients are told they will receive up to 25% of the remittance in return for the service, but are warned that confidentiality is vital.
But ICC's Commercial Crime Services (CCS) say the request is likely to be the first move in an illegal scam whose victims risk violence, kidnappings and the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
"Do not reply to any of these messages," warned CCS Director Pottengal Mukundan. "The senders do not really have any money to transfer out, and even if they did, if you agree to participate in the scheme, you could be breaking the law in your country and in the country where the letter originated.
"In essence, this is an invitation to participate in a conspiracy to defraud the central bank in the sender's country," he said.
According to CCS, "419" letters were originally sent from Nigeria by individuals posing as official representatives of Nigerian institutions such as the Central Bank and the National Nigerian Petroleum Corporation - using forged postage stamps in many cases.
Today, e-mail has multiplied the problem by making it easy and cheap to send thousands of messages in one click.
Recent messages purport to come from ar
ound Africa, usually from countries with civil disturbances. Examples include Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Angola and Zimbabwe.
A typical message may read as follows: "I request you to assist my family by helping us secure this deposit with a financial institution in EuropeFor your efforts we will discuss what remuneration I will give you when you replyDo not forget to include your telephone and fax numbers in your reply."
Captain Mukundan said: "The people sending these emails are only trying to get their hands on people's signature and bank account details. Once they have this information, they could access your account, or refer to it in further frauds."
Captain Mukundan said a surprising number of people are duped, with victims including estate agents, lawyers, accountants, travel agents, doctors, teachers and owners of small businesses.
CCS have found most cases to be advance fee frauds. A recent example involved a US professional who was conned into flying across the Atlantic three times to meet the Nigerian fraudsters who had offered him three million dollars in return for the use of his bank account as a temporary holding for their money.
On each of the three occasions, the American was asked to advance money needed to complete transfer procedures, which he duly paid. By the time he realised he was dealing with thieves, he was more than US$ 100 000 out of pocket.
Captain Mukundan said other cases involve extortion. "Once the victim responds to the initial message, the fraudsters will propose a meeting with a central banker in the country concerned," he said.
"Having paid for his flight to Africa for a meeting of this kind, one man was detained by people claiming to be officials until he paid a sum of US$ 40 000 for his release."
CCS records show other victims of this scam have been physically assaulted or threatened with violence.
ICC's advice to those who receive any suspicious e-mails is to delete them.
"The moment you reply, you are giving away personal information which could be used in further frauds." said Captain Mukundan.
Based in London, CCS is made up of three specialized bureaux and a cybercrime unit, which together cover all aspects of commercial crime. All provide up-to-the-minute advice on criminal methods and how to counter them. If you are uncertain about any message, CCS invite you to forward it to them to be checked.
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