Advance Fee Fraud
In this increasingly common scam, you receive an email or letter offering you an enormous sum of money in exchange for your assistance in getting the money out of a foreign country. The fraudsters ask for your bank account information so that they can deposit money into your account, but instead they empty your account. Or, they ask you to send money to them in order to cover the cost of the transfer.
The story behind this scam is usually based upon some type of misfortune in a foreign country, like the overthrow of a government that has resulted in a huge sum of money being held by someone who needs to transfer the money to another country but needs a recipient with a bank account to receive the money. A share of the money is offered to anyone willing to help with the transfer.
In another typical scenario, the letter or email that you receive is allegedly from a government official, accountant or banker, or from the relative of a deceased or deposed politician. It may be in the form of a letter that is marked ‘Urgent’ or ‘Strictly Confidential’. Like all letter scams, it offers to share an enormous sum of money with you if you allow the money to be transferred to your bank account.
Another form of the letter scam is the story of a wealthy person in a foreign country who is terminally ill and doesn’t want his relatives to squander his wealth. This person has no heir and wants to keep the money away from those who would take it following his death. The person may even claim to be deeply religious and looking for someone to accept the money and distribute it to charities, after of course taking a share for him or herself.
Anyone who is gullible enough to reply to one of these letters by sending personal and banking information will be sent fake documents such as banks statements that are supposed to prove that the money is real and is being sent to you. The money does not exist and you will never see it!
This is a scam that has been operating for a considerable length of time, which suggest that it has proven to be successful for its perpetrators. The letter scam often originates from parts of Africa, although it has been known to have other sources as well, as other scammers try to take advantage of what they see as a lucrative moneymaker. Similar versions of this scam have appeared that have originated from the USA.
Most frequently this scam arrives in the form of an email. These emails fall under the category of ‘phishing’ emails and should be reported whenever possible. Some email providers such as Hotmail have a function that allows you to report phishing emails to assist authorities in their efforts to stop them.
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Is this spam? from sc bn [scbnk_hk@yahoo.com]
Atten: Dear Sally Robinson ,
Many many thanks for your kind email,
This is to informed you that your over-dued fund payment amounting $10.5M has being resolved to be deliver to you at your door step by me personally as a deiplomatic agent only that i will require you send to me right away your direct phone number, Your delivery address.
However, Bear in your mind fully well that this is very very real and $100 risk free.
I will need you act fast reply back to here urgently in order to enable me secure for the require back up documents and also detail you well on my arrival date.
Make it fast and God bless,
Waiting to hear from you urgently,
Dr. Frank Williams
There is another link to this man on the site.
This is the one to the Daily Mirror – http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2011/03/awol-geoffrey-stevens-sentence.html
Geoffrey Roy Stevens who was sentenced to six years for advanced fee fraud conning small uk businesses for non-existent DTI loans.
He co-owns a ‘business rates appeal’ company called Harrison Black & Partners with fake offices in Bristol. http://www.harrison-black.com.
If you are looking for a business rating specialist, read the http://www.dontgetconned.blogspot.com blog, and dont hire Harrison Black & Partners who appear to be a sole tradership and not a registered partnership, and has all of the hallmarks of a scam. Add Geoffrey Roy Stevens to the mix, and expect advance fees and sharp practice as an absolute minimum.
I have been asked to pay £50 cash to receive £3000 bank charges that a company have said they received on my behalf. They left two phone numbers 02070991345/02088199747 and a customer number T110036. I am unsure if this a scam. I am receiving chemotherapy at the minute for breast cancer and im too unwell to go to pay the £50 but they said this is my last chance to claim it back. Could you please help because I cant afford to lose £50 if this is a scam. Thankyou
i was rececently called by a ompany call easyloans4uk.co.uk saying that i could have a loan of £3000 for 4 yrs and all i had to do was to pay £100 in which i was to obtain a ukash voucher for that amount they called to take the payment then advised me they needed another £250 ukash they called again for another £250 ukash saying that this would be the last payment and i would recieve the payment i then recieved a call saying that they required another £300 ukash and i had their word on it that this would be the last ( surprise surprise ) they then called to say they cant pay my loan but i could go to the shop and get another ukash for £350 as they would send a solicitor with the money to my door at this point i was starting to get angry as they have fleeced me of £800 in 1 day i am totally irate regarding this matter would it be possible to help me regarding this matter
paul mcglone
I think you only have ur self to blame wat kind of an idiot pays £800 for a £3000 loan infact why pay them anything and why you keep paying them if they keep telling you its the last time sorry but you were taken for a mug you seem like an easy target and guliable can pay me £800 amd il promise to deliver some money to you ? Lol