Archive for the ‘Too Good to Be True’ Category

You know the drill. Scam artist e-mails me with a too-good-to-be-true offer, I put their e-mail address out the world.

Here’s the latest, a classic scam targeting the greedy and gullible.  In scams like this, the sender hopes to snare a mark into paying them a “small sum” to help move some money out of a foreign country with a big payout on the back end.

Enjoy.

BERNARD  FRANK CHAMBERS & ASSOCIATES.

PRINCIPAL ATTORNEY & SOLICITORS.

Dear XXXXX,

I am Barrister Bernard Frank, a solicitor at law and a personal attorney to late .Mr. Kenneth XXXXX, who bears the same last  name with you and a national of your country, who used to work with Delta Oil-development Company, who here in after shall be referred to as my client. On the 21st of April 2005, my client, his wife and their three children were involved in a car accident and all occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. I have made several enquiries to locate any of my clients extended relatives and all effort proved abortive.

I am contacting you to assist in repatriating the money and property left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge deposit were lodged, particularly, the finance company where the deceased had an account valued at about 35 million dollars and the finance company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating  the relatives for some years now, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to my client and it will be successful as you have the same last name with him, so that the  proceeds of this account valued at 35 million dollars can be paid to you and then you and me can share the money.

I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through.

I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch with me by my email and send to me your telephone and fax numbers to enable us discuss further about this transaction.

Please Reply to my private mail address: bernard4@sify.com

Best regards,

Barr. Bernard Frank.

Chalk it up to the bad economy, more people than ever with Internet access, or just bad guys who are really, really good at what they do.  Regardless of the reasons, Americans lost twice as much to online scamsters in 2009 as they did in the prior year.

The total number of Internet fraud cases was also up big, growing by 22% in 2009.

The figures come from The Federal Bureau of Investigation/National White Collar Crime Center’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which reported receiving 336,655 complaints in 2009 with losses totaling $559.7 million. In 2008 there were 275,284 complaints and about $265 million in money lost to victims.

“Criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet. They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers,” said Donald Brackman, director of the National White Collar Crime Center.

While the old standbys still work, like the e-mails purportedly written on behalf of a Nigerian royal family member who needs help to getting access to an inheritance, the fraudsters need to keep coming up with new scams for an ever more savvy online mark.

One of the most recent developments is the rise of the so-called “hit man scam” whereby people are extorted to pay someone who claims to have a contract out on them and will take a few grand not to execute it. (Pardon the pun.) Other frauds include not shipping items paid for in online auctions, identify theft and work-at-home schemes.

I’ve tracked the best Internet scams for a while, and you can see some of my favorites in our archives.

If you’re not already using the power of your computer to meticulously track your finances then the long road out of debt is going to be very bumpy for you.

One of the best tools out there is the online service Mint.com which keeps track of your income, spending and debt with reports and recommendations.  It’s a free service, and they also have a great blog.  That’s where I found this gem, a graphical depiction of several business models that feed off of people struggling to pay their bills.

budget planner – Mint.com

When you know how the game is played and how these folks really make their money, you can avoid losing your shirt to them.  The thought of fast money is appealing when you’re in a bind, but remember this: The devil has the power to assume a pleasing shape.
-William Shakespeare