Ground Report

1.Invitation to visit the country.

Sometimes, victims are invited to a country to meet real or fake government officials. Some victims who do travel are instead held for ransom. In some rumoured cases they are smuggled into the country without a visa and then threatened into giving up more money, as the penalties for being in a foreign country without a visa are severe. In the most extreme cases the victim has even been murdered.[6]

2.Credit card use through IP Relay

In another variation of the scam, the scammer places calls through IP Relay, a US federally funded internet telerelay service for deaf/hard of hearing/speech-disabled individuals. The scammer calls various businesses, attempting to purchase items with stolen or fraudulent credit cards. Often, individuals are targeted as well, most of whom have advertised a product or service online.[citation needed]

Typically, in an IP-Relay scam call, the scammer will place several calls using a Relay Operator. Calling to businesses or private parties, the scammer will inquire about merchandise/services offered, and then immediately and with few questions asked, attempt to purchase the merchandise. The scammer (who refer to each other as "guyman") then proceeds to ask the potential victim (known in Nigeria as a "Mugu"; a Lagos pidgin word for "fool") for an e-mail address, by which he can contact the victim to proceed with the closing of the fraudulent transaction.[citation needed]

The scammer proceeds to send the victim a counterfeit cheque or money order, with instructions requiring that it be cashed, and that excess funds be sent back to the scammer (advance fee fraud). When it is determined by the authorities that the money order is counterfeit, the victim is usually arrested and charged with various offenses relating to the scam.

Credit-card fraud is not the only kind of fraud reported through IP Relay. A relay scammer typically will use IP Relay for all fraudulent-related transactions/telephone calls within the United States[citation needed].

Often a scammer will browse through online classified ads (such as craigslist.org) and will use the IP Relay service to contact sellers to make inquiries about the item listed in the ad. Most commonly the scammers target persons whose ads advertise live animals (i.e. puppies), automobiles, high-dollar electronic devices, etc. In this scenario, the scammer sends the seller a cheque for the advertised item with an overpayment- The victim is given instructions to cash the cheque or money-order and to wire the remaining balance via Western Union or Moneygram. The victim is at a loss in this situation when the authorities discover the cheque/money order is not legitimate.

Because of current FCC regulations and confidentiality laws, operators are required to relay every call verbatim and must adhere to a strict code of confidentiality and ethics. Thus no relay operator is permitted to make judgements about the legality and/or legitimacy of any relay call and must relay the call without interference. As such, the relay operator cannot warn victims even when they suspect that the call is a scam; Some sources claim that up to half of all IP relay calls are scams.[7]

Some IP Relay companies have certain fraud criteria in which a supervisor is able to come on the line and inform the person that has been called that the call "fits a pattern of fraudulent and illegal activity". It is then up to the voice person whether he or she wishes to continue the call.

3.Romance scam

A recent variant is the "Romance Scam" which is a money-for-romance angle. The victim is usually approached on an Online dating service and becomes interested in a "lady" or "man" who has attractive pictures posted, generally stolen from online portfolios of modeling agencies. The offending party claims to be interested in meeting the victim, but needs some cash up front in order to book the plane, hotel room, and other expenses. In other cases he or she may have just travelled to Nigeria (for tourism or business) and has been arrested by corrupt officials, stranded at a hotel, has money orders (which are counterfeit) that can’t be cashed, or become ill from eating the local food, and needs an emergency wire transfer to bail or bribe his/her way out. As with other variants, money always seems to travel to Africa mainly via Western Union, and the "lady" or "man" always seems to come up with additional reasons for requesting more funds. This version of the scam is, at its core, identical to the classic Spanish Prisoner con, which dates back to the Renaissance. This type of scam also frequently originates in Russia or Ukraine as well as Nigeria.

In another updated scam, the scammer offers to buy some expensive item (e.g., jewelry or a car, that the prospective victim advertised on eBay, for example, or a legitimate classified-ads website such as craigslist) by official, certified, bank or cashier’s check. The check will have an "accidentally" or mutually agreed higher value than the price of the item, so the scammer asks the victim to wire the extra money to some third party as soon as the check clears. Because banks in the USA are required by law to honor a check within 1-5 working days (even before a check has cleared),[8] they will report the proceeds as available for withdrawal before the check is presented to the issuing bank for clearance and the fraud is discovered. Most banks will hold the victim accountable for the value of the counterfeit check.

A variation on the eBay scam involves sending a request for payment for an item that the alleged seller does not own but claims to have sent. Since actual eBay item numbers are used this has been a nuisance for legitimate sellers.

4.False escrow

Another method is after winning a bid on items on the online auction site eBay (especially laptops or other consumer electronics), to suggest to use an escrow service. The escrow service is fraudulent and part of the scam. The victim will send the laptop or camera to the escrow service, never to hear from the scammer or escrow service again. The website of the escrow service will typically go offline after the victim has sent his goods. Some scammers send e-mails masquerading as official e-mails from PayPal to convince the victim that the escrow method is perfectly normal procedure; some of the e-mails contain spelling errors.

A variation of this scam is to adopt a more personal approach. The "buyer" bids for and wins the item on sale, only to then claim that it is actually to be a gift for a relative in Nigeria and asks for it to be sent direct there, even if the seller has specified that he or she will ship only within his or her own country. In order to facilitate the scam, the fraudulent buyer will often create a brand new legitimate eBay user account complete with a false address that is apparently in the seller’s home country, but which will not pass any kind of real inspection as the scammer will often create errors with the spelling, geography or postal code formats. As with escrow scams, the eBay ID will disappear as soon as the victim has sent the goods, and the scammers tend to target inexperienced first time, private sellers[9] [4].

5.Hitman

An e-mail is sent to the victim’s inbox, supposedly from a hitman who has been hired by a "close friend" of the recipient to kill him/her, but will call off the hit in exchange for a large sum of money. This is usually backed up with a warning not to contact the local police or FBI, or the "hitman" will be forced to go through with the plan.

6.eBay/Western Union scam

This scam involves eBay and the appeal of high priced goods, usually electronics, for a bargain price. A seller will advertise an item (camera, laptop, plasma TV) at low cost. The body of the ad instructs buyers to contact the seller directly outside of eBay at a yahoo or hotmail type account. When contact is made, the seller gives a long story about his problems receiving payment by Paypal – eBay’s payment arm. The seller insists that the buyer send money by Western Union. The allure is that the product is a huge bargain; (eg. $2000 item for $700) Of course, if money is sent, it is gone forever and no product is ever delivered. The phony seller usually has a list of prepared e-mails to respond quickly to questions from buyers; he’ll go on about how his integrity is important, how he wouldn’t risk his family’s name, he’s legit, check ‘his’ feedback, etc.

The phoney seller makes the listing look credible by using a real eBay id to list the item. The real id has been stolen from a legitimate seller with good feedback, usually by means of e-mail phishing.

7.Lottery scam

Lottery scam involves fake notices of lottery wins. The winner will usually be asked to send sensitive information to a free email account. This is a form of advance fee fraud as money in advance is often required and is also similar to phishing.

Much like the Auction overpayment fraud detailed above, a new variant of the lottery scam involves fake or stolen checks being sent to the ‘winner’ of the lottery (these checks representing a part payment of the winnings). The winner will then be more likely to assume that the win is legitimate and subsequently more likely to send the fee (which he does not realize is an advance fee). The check, and associated funds, will then be flagged by the bank when the fraud is discovered and debited from the victim’s account.

8. Inheritance scam

A variant of the scam will appear to be sent by a lawyer representing the estate of some long-lost relative the victim never knows he or she had (the victim’s surname will be inserted into the e-mail message) who perished along with his or her family in a car or airplane accident a short period of time ago (usually a few months). The scammer will claim to have gone to a lot of trouble to find the victim in order to give him or her a share of the millions of dollars available if the victim will forward his or her bank account information to the scammer.

9. False online storefront scam

A website is set up offering too-good-to-be-true prices on popular goods. For an undisclosed reason payments cannot be made using credit cards or check but only via untraceable means such as Western Union or e-gold. The buyer pays the money but never receives the goods, and is unable to reverse the transaction.

10.Classified advertisement scams

In a classified advertisement scam, scammers respond to an advertisement for anything that is being advertised at a reasonably high price (for example a car, a computer or a snowboard). There are various variants of this scam; typically, scammers, after an initial phase of feigned interest, agree to buy the item and offer to pay for it with a cheque with a much higher value than the agreed price, using various excuses. The scammer will ask to have most of the difference paid back in cash at time of collection, supposedly leaving the rest to the victim as a reward for their flexibility and inconvenience. The collection will be arranged soon after the money will be made available in the victim’s bank account. The victim will not realise that having the funds available is different from having the cheque cleared, and therefore will happily agree to the terms. The cheque clearing process can take weeks, after which the bank will claim the whole sum back because the cheque is fake.[11]

This is also used over the IP Relay. There is a case where the scammer requests a Driver’s License or International Passport be faxed over as he represents a close friend of his who is dying.

11.Tutor scams

In this variation the scammer responds to an ad placed by a tutor-for-hire, such as a music instructor, explaining his need for a tutor for his child who will soon be relocating to the tutor’s area. Often the scammer will want a suspiciously high amount of instruction for his child and will of course want to pay for multiple weeks of instruction in advance via money order or cashier’s check. The dead give-away is usually the scammer’s request for very specific list of information e.g. "full name, address, city, state, zip, phone number" in the first or second email. The rest of the scam is the same as other fake check/wire transfer scams, where a fake check or money order for more than the agreed price is sent to the victim, then the scammer requests that the victim wire the balance back to him or someone he owes a debt.

12.Escort scams

In this variant of a classified advertisement scam, a scammer answers an online escort advertisement, typically posing as a wealthy businessman traveling from Nigeria or London to the escort’s city of residence. The scammer contacts an escort claiming to be interested in a long-term companionship arrangement of days or even weeks in length, the total time involved totalling to a substantial sum of money. The scammer offers to pay in advance by cheque in excess of the net payment and asks for remittance of the balance. This version is especially popular as escorts in many cases cannot safely contact legal authorities for any reason and are unlikely to report successful or attempted fraud. A variant of the escort scam involves translators and interpreters who are asked to escort a businessman or his family for a few days.

13.Black money scam

Black money scam or wash wash: A "money cleaning" scam involving a huge amount of black papers (purportedly $100 USD bank notes covered by a black film to sneak them past the custom officers) that is shown to the victim, who is then requested to pay for “expensive chemicals” to cleanse the bills.

14.Rental scams

Where the victim (i.e., a prospective tenant) is looking to rent accommodation, the scammer will answer a classified advertisement offering a high-standard place for a low cost, even showing pictures of the said rooms. The victim is required to pay a deposit, but once the scammer has received the deposit he will disappear leaving the victim out-of-pocket.

Where the victim (e.g., landlord) is looking to find a tenant for their accommodation, the scammer poses as an "interested" party who is looking to move to said location. On inquiry to the prospective tenant, the victim receives a follow up e-mail indicating they will be sent a cheque by the tenant’s new employer that will cover the rent, plus the new "tenant’s" living expenses (e.g., to purchase furniture). The victim is asked to forward the additional portion to their new "tenant" by Western Union (or similar).

Where the victim posts on a communal website (e.g. Craigslist) that he/she is looking for a roommate to share a rental unit (or is a landlord looking to rent a unit), and the "scammer" poses as an interested party and sends a check to hold the room. The check will originate from overseas. The victim receives the check and desposits it into his/her bank account, and that amount of money will temporarily appear as having been added in. Within a few days the scammer then contacts the victim and advises that he/she cannot move into the rental unit due to an illness. The scammer will even provide what appears to be medical documents indicating this state of ill health. The scammer then asks the victim to immediately wire transfer the money from the check back to him/her. This takes place, and then a few days later the victim finds out from his/her bank that the original check has bounced.

15.Puppy scam

Much like the other scams detailed here this involves the promise of an item when all the necessary fees have been advanced. Adverts are taken out by someone who is claiming they are the breeder of puppy/s they sold and they are not doing well in their current situation. The owner claims to be looking for someone to adopt them back. They also claim to work as a missionary or for the United Nations. The advance fees in this case being for the purchase of the animal and Customs charges that will never end.

Calls are also made through instant ip relay to unsuspecting callers. The callers will give the victim their email address to email them all details and final price of the puppy. E-mail contents is unknown but due to the confidentiality of the ip-relay system operators cannot disconnect the calls. One theory is that the scammers scam and receive pure bred puppies, breed the puppies and sell them back to US buyer.

Tomorrow could be payday.