Beware of Advance Fee Fraud

“Advance fee” or 419 fraud typically involves an e-mail from a person claiming to be either a foreign government official or a relative of a foreign official who needs help moving money or other valuables out of his/her country. He/she will claim that for some alleged legal or technical reason, he/she needs help from a foreigner to transfer the money, and offers the victim a large fee in exchange for assistance. The con artist claims that the situation involves such things as:

  • Disbursement of money from unclaimed estates or wills;
  • Purchase of real estate;
  • Conversion of currency;
  • Sale of crude oil at below market prices; and/or
  • Over-invoiced contracts.

While the alleged fact patterns vary, there are recurring themes in this type of fraud. The con artists stress the need for confidentiality, and create a sense of urgency. They frequently use impressive-looking forged documents. They sometimes persuade their victims to travel overseas, and even arrange meetings with what appear to be legitimate government officials.

After gaining the trust of the victim, the con artist convinces him/her to participate in what looks like a possibly shady but very lucrative business deal. The con artist then tells the victim that some problem that threatens to stop the deal has come up; a problem that can only be solved by a cash payment. The problem could be unforeseen taxes, attorney fees, transaction fees, or a government official who is demanding a bribe. The con artist then asks the victim to advance the cash needed to keep the deal from going bad. If the victim makes one payment and the first problem is solved, other problems will appear, and the con artist will ask the victim for more cash advances. The con artists also frequently seek personal information from their victims to be used for identity theft.

This scam continues to work because of the volume of the email. Since tens of millions of letters are sent daily, the perpetrators will always find a few victims who don't know about the scam. The National Consumer League estimates that the average “advance fee” fraud victim loses $6,542. The Secret Service estimates that victims lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year to these schemes. The Secret Service web site has more information at http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/alert419.shtml. View sample “advance fee” fraud solicitations: http://www.fraudaid.com/ScamSpeak/Nigerian/419samplescharts.htm More information

Since we began counting on November 15, 2002, our office has received more than 300 original advance fee solicitations. While the scam originated in Nigeria we are now seeing lots of these emails from most of the West African nations ranging from Senegal in the north to Ivory Coast in the middle (Côte d'ivoire) to Nigeria in the south. With the continuing explosion in the popularity of this fraud, we expect a magnitude of increase in both the bulk of mail and the number of victims in the coming years. Our advice is delete these emails after reporting them. Do not reply to them. A reply validates an email address to the fraud perpetrators who distribute your address to other bulk emailers.

Where can I report advance fee fraud? Report e-mail fraud to the U.S. Secret Service at 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov If you have lost money to a scam, fax documentation to U.S. Secret Service at 202-406-6930 or 202-406-5031. Write "Financial Loss - Contact me ASAP (with your phone number)" on the face of all of the documents. If you have no loss, write "Fraud Mail - No Financial Loss" on the documents and mail them to: United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 419 Task Force, 950 H Street, Washington, DC, 20001-4518, USA

What about other fraud schemes? Most of the other schemes are relatively unsophisticated and easy to identify. They include phishing to divulge financial account information, phony business opportunities, bulk e-mail, chain letters, work-at-home schemes, health and diet scams, promises of effortless wealth or free goods, too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities, cable descrambler kits, guaranteed credit or easy loan offers, credit repair promises, and vacation prize offers.

The Federal Trade Commission’s “Dirty Dozen” list of the most common e-mail frauds is available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/doznalrt.htm. The Department of State has an excellent pamphlet on fraud schemes with advice for small businesses at: http://www.state.gov/www/regions/africa/naffpub.pdf.

Postal Fraud: You can report fax or postal solicitations by mailing them directly to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Field Operations Support Center, Memphis, TN 38161-0006; by calling 1-800-372-8347; or through the Postal Service web site, http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm.