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Home >
Security >
Email fraud |
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Don't Get
Taken by E-mail Fraudsters!
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On June 08, 2006, a 52 yr. old Vancouver resident was
arrested by RCMP after he attempted to negotiate a
counterfeit cheque for $35,000 at a national cheque cashing
outlet.
He was released without charges after police learned he had
received the cheque after replying to an unsolicited e-mail
job offer asking him to represent a reputable Hong Kong
export company.
The e-mail said the company was seeking “financial officers”
to facilitate negotiating Canadian and American cheques
because they took too long to clear in their country.
After replying to their offer, the man received a cheque
with instructions to cash it and wire transfer the money
overseas to a business partner in London, England.
Police learned the man was a recent immigrant to Canada, and
was not familiar with this fraud scheme.
This was the second incident in two days.
The day before, a retired 78 yr. old man lost $6,600 in a
similar internet job offer after he negotiated US
Traveller’s cheques at his bank, and wired transferred the
money to Nigeria.
It was several days later when he returned to his bank to
cash more traveller’s cheques that he learned they were
counterfeit.
Criminals are using the internet to bait vulnerable people
to convert stolen or counterfeit financial instruments into
cash.
Police are reminding people there is NO reputable company in
the world that does business this way. The best advice is to
treat them like any other SPAM message and delete them from
your e-mail!
Watch out for the Nigerian/West-African Business letter
scam!
For years now, businesses, learning institutions, and
government departments have been receiving e-mails from
senders posing as Nigerian/West-African government or
business officials offering to share large sums of money.
Do not become a victim. If you have received an unsolicited
letter or email containing any of the characteristics listed
below, you should simply ignore it. The Commercial Crime
Sections of the RCMP within Canada and your local Better
Business Bureau are available for obtaining further
information on this topic along with PhoneBusters National
Call Center.
Most letters and emails are variations of the following:
You receive an "urgent" business proposal "in strictest
confidence" from a Nigerian/West-African civil servant
/businessman.
The sender, often a member of the "contract review panel",
obtained your name and profile through the Chamber of
Commerce or the International Trade Commission.
The sender recently intercepted or has been named
beneficiary of the proceeds from real estate, oil products,
over-invoiced contracts, cargo shipments, or other
commodities, and needs a foreign partner to assist with
laundering the money.
Since their government/business position prohibits them from
opening foreign bank accounts, senders ask you to deposit
the sum, usually somewhere between $25-50 million, into your
personal account.
For your assistance, you will receive between 15-30% of the
total, which sits in the Central Bank of Nigeria awaiting
transfer.
To complete the transaction, they ask you to provide your
bank name and address, your telephone and fax numbers, the
name of your beneficiary, and, of course, your bank account
numbers.
The sender promises to forward your share within 10-14
working days!
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Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police |
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