Financial scams come in all forms
By Claudia Buck - cbuck sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D1
http://www.sacbee.com/pfnotebook/story/1051448.html
Last week's column on sweepstakes fraud targeting the elderly
generated a bevy of calls and e-mails. Everyone, it seems, has heard
about =96 or been a victim of =96 some kind of telemarketing or Internet
money scam.
"There's any number of fraudulent schemes out there on any given day,
whether they're the Nigerian letters scam or the 'advance fee' frauds.
These schemes are limited only by the imagination of the perpetrator,"
said FBI spokesman Bill Carter in Wa****ngton, D.C.
Unlike the sweepstakes letters that usually arrive in the mailbox,
Internet money scams clutter up your computer e-mail. They dangle "get-
rich quick" investment schemes, "no experience necessary" job
prospects, or various types of money-changing offers.
Take Tchon Murdock of Lincoln, a manager with a Placer County staffing
company, who's become very familiar with a particular form of "advance
fee" e-mail fraud. Murdock, who owns a rental property in Lincoln,
said every time he posts a room-for-rent ad on Craigslist, the phony e-
mails starting popping up.
They pur****tedly come from all over =96 Spain, Canada, Britain, Holland.
Usually written in somewhat broken English, they eagerly describe
their willingness to move to the United States for a job =96 and a $600-
a-month room in Murdock's rental home. As proof of their sincerity,
they offer to send a check for a month's rent, plus at least $1,500
extra.
Murdock is asked to deposit their check and send the extra to a
"flight manager," a "traveling agent" or even just "my boss." The FBI
says it's likely a form of advance fee fraud where the checks are
usually fake and eventually bounce.
Murdock, 33, says he's received about eight checks, all of which
appear phony. He says he's resorted to "scamming the scammers," by
stringing them along, agreeing to hold the room and accept the checks.
Only after he's received one, usually sent by FedEx or overnight mail,
he informs the sender he has no intention of renting or accepting
their money.
"I figure I'm keeping them busy. From the initial contact till I get
their checks, it usually takes about two weeks. That's two weeks
they're not scamming someone else."
Although Murdock's approach may be unorthodox, he's got lots of
company on the receiving end of such entreaties.
Every day, according to the FBI, millions of similar pitches go out
from Internet fraudsters, typically from overseas. They are
exceedingly difficult to track down, says the FBI, because most
foreign laws don't apply to these schemes. One of the exceptions has
been in Nigeria, which has formed an Internet crimes commission to
attempt to quash some of the e-mail fraud that's become so prevalent.
Last year in the United States, more than 206,000 complaints of
Internet crimes were filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center
(IC3), which is a joint operation of the FBI and the National White
Collar Crime Center. Of that total, 90,000 were referred to various
law enforcement agencies, amounting to $240 million in re****ted
losses. That's a $40 million increase from 2006.
Because he's never lost any money, Murdock says the only time he has
notified the FBI was after one of his room-for-rent e-mailers offered
to let him in on a phony check-printing operation.
Murdock's unorthodox approach of dallying with his e-mailer is
strongly not recommended by the FBI.
"We do not recommend that people engage in that type of activity,"
said the FBI's agent Carter. "It's risky, particularly if you're
dealing with a criminal who might get violent."
The FBI's advice: Re****t it and ignore it. (See box on how to re****t
Internet crime fraud, at www.ic3.gov.)
After last week's story on sweepstakes fraud, several online readers
shared their own tips for thwarting telemarketing and online
fraudsters. Among them:
=95 When a telemarketer calls, hang up the phone. It's not rude, it's
prudent.
=95 Throw out the junk mail without opening it.
=95 Delete e-mails, also without opening, from people or companies you
don't know.
=95 Ignore people with stories about potential fortunes that await if
you will transfer money from your bank account to help start the money
flow.
=95 Never believe a "something-for-nothing" story.
=95 Pass up "can't-miss" investment op****tunities, especially on penny
stocks.
=95 Screen your incoming telephone calls by letting the answering
machine pick up all your messages. When a person or business you're
not familiar with leaves a message, just press the erase button.
Perhaps the safest bet, whether it's a money offer coming to you by
mail or by Internet, is to just let it be.
That's how Charles Drew, a retired electrician in ****ngle Springs,
handled the recent check he and his wife got in the mail from a "Power
Lotto" company, assuring them they'd won $425,000. Enclosed was a
$4,600 check, which the Drews were supposed to deposit, then mail
their own $3,200 check to another address for insurance and processing
fees.
Like most telemarketing and Internet frauds, it followed a convoluted
trail. The letter came from a Seattle address, was mailed from Canada
and contained a check issued by a bank in Dallas.
Although the check "looks perfect," Drew said he's convinced it's
phony and notified the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.
And just for laughs, before he tossed it in the trash, the retiree
said he "took it down to my coffee shop for the amusement of my
buddies."
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