Oszust (scammer) pisze: „Przed śmiercią oboje narodzić się na nowo chrześcijańskich”

Obok: fałszywy Money Order. — Typowy list od oszustów odwołujących się do uczciwości, wiary oraz religii — by uzyskać zaufanie łatwowiernych osób liczących na „łatwe” pieniądze. Jednak, zanim oszust pieniądze „wyśle” — najpierw zażąda wielu opłat.

Oszust (scammer) pisze: "Przed śmiercią oboje narodzić się na nowo chrześcijańskich"

Jest to typowy list od oszustów odwołujących się do uczciwości, wiary oraz religii jedynie po to — by uzyskać zaufanie łatwowiernych osób, w dodatku liczących na "łatwe" pieniądze.

Jednak, zanim oszust pieniądze nam "wyśle" — najpierw zażąda wielu różnych opłat np.: bankowych, na prawnika, na przesyłkę itp. itd. A potem zniknie!

Mass-Marketing Fraud: A Threat Assessment

International Mass-Marketing Fraud Working Group
June 2010

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Financial losses, however, do not fully reflect all of the costs that mass-marketing fraud victims often bear. For some victims, the risks extend well beyond loss of personal savings or funds to include physical risks, loss of their homes, depression, and even contemplated, attempted, or actual suicide:

• Physical Risks: Although it is not widely recognized, some mass-marketing fraud victims find themselves subject to physical threats or risks stemming directly from their contact with theschemes. In recent years, law enforcement agencies have even documented several incidents in which mass-marketing fraud victims were induced to travel to various African countries, then kidnapped and held for ransom.²⁰ In 2008, for example, a Japanese businessman who believed that he was placing money into an investment opportunity traveled to South Africa, where he was kidnapped and held for $5 million ransom. Ultimately, one South African national and six Nigerian nationals were arrested for the kidnapping.²¹

• A 52-year-old woman in the United States lost more than $44,000 to an inheritancescheme operated out of the Netherlands. As a result of losing the $44,000, she was physically abused by her husband and eventually fled the home.

Loss of Home: Law enforcement and regulatory investigations have periodically found cases in which mass-marketing fraud victims either mortgage their homes to make payments to the fraud scheme or are forced to sell their homes to satisfy outstanding debts. Here are two examples, drawn from recent mass-marketing fraud investigations:

• A 67-year-old man in the United States lost more than $570,000 to an inheritance scam. The man, who was college–educated and owned his own company, sent money to Belgium, Germany, the Ivory Coast, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In particular, he traveled to Amsterdam, where he was shown a trunk of money, was given a few bills which were good, and became convinced the funds were real. As a result of his losses, the man lost his life savings, his business, and his home, filed for bankruptcy, had to return to his native country to live with his relatives, and is being treated for depression.
• A 76-year-old man in the United States lost $87,000 of his personal funds to an inheritancescheme. After depleting his savings account to pay the required advance “fees,” the man received “loans” in the form of counterfeit checks mailed from Canada to pay for additional nonexistent “fees.” The face amounts of the counterfeit checks totaled $482,466. After hedeposited the checks and remitted funds back to the fraudsters, his bank placed liens on his bank accounts and his residence. In the course of the scheme he sent money to Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Ultimately the man lost his residence to foreclosure and he is now living on Social Security payments.

Depression: When mass-marketing fraud schemes cause substantial losses to victims, victims often have reported that they find the losses emotionally devastating. The stress and pain of victimization may manifest themselves as depression, withdrawal and isolation from family and friends, difficulty at work, and the deterioration of physical and mental health.Contemplated, Attempted, or Actual Suicide: For some time, law enforcement investigators have handled mass-marketing fraud cases in which at least one victim who had suffered devastating financial losses had committed or admitted having considered suicide. Although there is no systematic means of gathering such information from previous cases, an ongoingsurvey by the working group has been able to document at least 27 cases of mass-marketingfraud victims in various countries who had considered, attempted, or committed suicide sinceJanuary 1, 2006 as a result of their fraud losses. Here are a few examples of those cases:

• A 56-year-old woman who lived in the United States committed suicide in 2006 after becoming a victim of a lottery fraud scheme and sending the scheme more than $400,000. The woman, a college graduate, reportedly responded to an e-mail solicitation, then sent various wire transfers to individuals located in Amsterdam.
• A husband and wife, both 65 years old, who live in the United Kingdom, have together lost more than $2.7 million dollars to an inheritance scam being operated out of China, the Netherlands, and Spain. The couple used their life savings, re-financed their home, and withdrew retirement funds to pay for the advance fees that the scheme charged. As a result of the losses, the wife has attempted suicide twice. Currently the couple is in theprocess of losing their home to foreclosure and both are being treated for depression.
• A retirement-age man who lives in Australia lost more than $6.1 million to an investment scheme. The man, who had been a successful businessman before the fraud, eventually admitted to authorities that he could no longer walk to the bus stop in his neighborhood because each time he did so he felt a temptation to step in front of an oncoming bus.

Finally, mass-marketing fraud has a substantial impact on economies and markets by underminingconsumer trust and confidence in legitimate businesses. The Office of Fair Trading reports that “morethan half of [United Kingdom] scam victims admitted to having changed their purchasing and payment behavior, generally becoming more cautious or suspicious of any contact that could potentially beanother scam.”²² In contrast, less than a quarter of respondents who had been targeted but not defrauded by fraudulent solicitations claimed to have changed their behavior. Approximately 15 percent of all respondents indicated that they had reduced their online shopping. A small number of victims also claimed that they were more likely to limit their use of credit cards, dispose of unsolicited mail, and ignore cold callers and unsolicited offers.

The Global Scope of Mass-Marketing Fraud

Over time, mass-marketing fraud has developed into a global crime problem. Today, large-scalecriminal mass-marketing fraud operations are present in multiple countries in most regions of the world. Recent law enforcement investigations have exposed such schemes operating not only in multiplecountries in North America, Europe, and Africa, but in other countries and jurisdictions as diverse as Brazil, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, India, Israel, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

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From: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/mass-marketing-fraud-threat-assessment