Email frauds

I found something interesting in my email. This person (who doesn't want to be known) asked some help through this column if there's a way to track down an email scam that sucked his aunt's retirement benefit.

Accordingly, the poseur says in his so-called "strictly confidential" email that he was a prince of Ghana who needed her aunt's help to transfer a large amount of gold deposits left by his royal parents whom he said to have been murdered by influential politicians in their country.

And to make the long story short, the bogus prince needed her to make the transfer and ask her to only pay for the "bank charges" from where these deposits are currently held. The letter also concluded that his life "depends" on her and that she may be the only person to save him from those killer politicians. And as a reward for the effort, he will share the gold treasures equally to her.

And so did the old unsuspecting lady. She spent about P400,000 in so-called bank charges in a dream to cash in the gold promised by her frog prince who turned out to be one of those "princetenders" in the underground kingdom of cheats scattered all over the world. I also strongly suspect this is another one of those modus operandi perpetrated by those con men from Nigeria. I recall I wrote about this three years ago - and I still wonder after all this time, there are people who get duped by these scammers.

To be honest, there is not much I can do about it. I shouldn't be the person to reach for I don't belong to any enforcement agency. I'm not sure either if there's much the NBI can do about this nor they have the resources to trace these fraudsters since they move from one place to the other abroad. But I hope this contact detail helps. I googled this info and found that the US Secret Service is on top of this global problem.

If you have been a victim of one of these schemes, please forward appropriate written documentation to: The United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20223, or telephone (USA) 202-406-5572, or contact by filling out a form at http://www.treas.gov/usss/contact_fcd.shtml. If you have received a letter, but have not lost any monies to this scheme, please fax a copy of that letter to (USA) 202 406-5031.

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Excuse my brutal language but this scam is a fine example of the stupidity and greed of both these "hucksters", and those individuals who are suckered in by the scam. Now, you would think that this was so obviously a scam - that no one would be taken in by it. Well, regrettably this is not so. According to US fraud investigators, you should never underestimate the stupidity, arrogance and greed of your fellow human beings.

The scammers manage to con, a not insignificant percentage of, the stupid and greedy out of some quite sizeable amounts of money. Indeed, such is the success (a testament to the "human condition"), that the number of these letters is on the rise. In fact, I find that I now receive more of these emails, than those offering penis enlargement and the more bizarre forms of sexual gratification.

The criminal enforcement agencies around the world are doing their best to track them down, but as long as there are stupid and greedy people prepared to open up their bank accounts to these "Hucksters," there will always be some form of "Nigerian letter".

I would take this opportunity to remind all of you, that before taking any financial investment decision, you should consult a reputable independent financial adviser and lawyer. Remember if it sounds too good to be true, then it is!

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Finally, I'd like to wrap up this column about another form of email fraud younger than the Nigerian racket. Thank God, I almost got trapped when it first spread last year. Technically called by experts as "phishing," the email spoofs your bank's corporate logo and email address and tells you to "update" your financial information on the pretext that they're having an upgrade "or else your account will be dishonored."

Phishing fishes out your credit card and bank details. Once you take the bait, well, before you know it, you'll end up broke or sunk to debt. Banks are sending advisories all over to "never respond" as well as "disclose" any password or personal and financial account credential when receiving such emails nor enter the same in some redirected websites. Always call and confer with your bank when such emails get through your inbox.

If you're a victim, or just want to know more and avoid phishing, this is a very good website to check out: http://www.antiphishing.org. Send emails to trade-info@37.com