Internet Fraud Scams
When it comes to one of the most common of Internet fraud scams, Nigerian sources are notorious for luring victims with the promise of money. These scams start with emails that are sent by someone who states they are part of the Nigerian government.
Sometimes, they claim to be the husband, wife, or child of an official who has been executed or exiled. They say they have been left with millions of dollars that they are in desperate need of getting out of the country.
Greed is the motive that these scammers hope to take advantage of when they send out their letters. They try to convince a victim that they can share in a percentage of the millions if they assist them in saving money by getting the money out of their safety deposit vault.
Most victims can’t believe the luck of such an opportunity and give into these Internet fraud scams – handing out their private information and money.
In their letters, they try to persuade a person to give up a small fee that will amount to millions they can share if they are willing to go along with the process of freeing up the money.
A commonly used line is that the money is being kept in a secure storage place – sometimes in a large trunk and when the fees are paid, the money is then released. They will state that their millions cannot be used to pay the fees because they don’t want it to get stolen.
The victim is then led to believe that their small sums of money can help release millions. The scammer only asks for a little bit at a time in order to keep them interested and not scared off.
Most of the people who launch these scams try very hard to make everything seem authentic. They usually rely on false letterhead to create the illusion that the bank or storage facility that they are working with is real.
It doesn’t take long before money is requested. It is usually a small sum, like a couple of thousand, but if you think it stops there – you are quite wrong.
Even after the victim has stopped making payments, the scammers will use the personal information they have gathered in an effort to clean out bank accounts, create ridiculous credit card debt, and steal whatever assets they are able to come in contact with.
The scammers associated with these Nigerian Internet fraud scams have been able to milk millions of dollars from people who believe they have been lucky enough to receive this opportunity to assist in the moving of millions that aren’t even real.