Cover Your Assets

Advance Fee Fraud Examples

CYA-419

Here is an example is an old scam that has been recirculating for many years. The scammers can't even be bothered to write original material (so much for creativity). The text has been slightly edited to get it past filters but the major portion of it is still alive and in active use.

>>>Quoted From Email<<<<

JIM HARRY  WORK ART INC
Ballachulish NR Fort William
Argyll PA394HL
United Kingdom
Rc:130045
Phone number +447031840240
FAX NUMBER  +448700683926

My name is JIM HARRY  and I am an artist.I live in United Kingdom,with my
two kids,four cats,one dog and the love of my life(my wife of 5 years). It
is definitely a full house. I have been doing artwork since I was a kid(12
yrs old).That gives me about 30 years of experience. I majored in art in
high school and took a few college art courses.

Most of my work is done in either pencil or airbrush mixed with color
pencils. I have recently added designing and creating artwork on the
computer.I have been selling my art works for the last 3 years and have had
my work featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines.I have sold in
galleries and also to private collectors from all around the world.I am
always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to
Americans,they are always offering to pay with a US MONEY ORDER OR CASHIERS
CHECK,which is difficult for me to cash here in United Kingdom because it
will take approximately 30days to clear which will tie down my money.I am
looking for a representative in the states who will be working for me as a
part-time worker and i will be willing to pay 10% for every
transaction,which wouldn't affect your present state of work,someone who
would help me recieve payments from my customers in the states.I mean
someone that is responsible and reliable,because the cost of coming to the
state and getting payments is very expensive,i am working on setting up a
branch in the states,so for now i need a representative in the united states
who will be handling the payment aspect.

These payments are in money order and they would come to you in your name,
so all you need do is cash the money order deduct your percentage and wire
the rest back.The only problem i have is trust but i have my way of getting
anyone that gets away with our money,i mean the FBI branch in Washington
gets involved if any of my employees want to play funny games so if you have
bad intentions in mind then don't just try it because you will be caught
with ease.It wouldn't cost you any amount to get this transaction done,you
are to receive payments which will be sent to you by fedex or usps from my
business patners but preferably Fedex,which would come in form of a money
order then you are to cash it and send the cash to me via moneygram money
transfer,all transfer fees should be deducted from the money.If you are
interested,please get back to me asap to know if you are interested because
Job commences the moment I open a file for you on your name and info.I
believe this will be a good opportunity to make good earning this ending of
this year .
Regards,

JIM HARRY

>>>End Of Quote<<<<

Lets disassemble this email so you can see what the scammer is doing...

"My name is JIM HARRY  and I am an artist.I live in United Kingdom,with my
two kids,four cats,one dog and the love of my life(my wife of 5 years). It
is definitely a full house. I have been doing artwork since I was a kid(12
yrs old).That gives me about 30 years of experience. I majored in art in
high school and took a few college art courses."

This person starts out as a complete stranger... You don't know him. He is sharing WAY too much information in an attempt to get you to identify with him as the persona he is affecting.
The intent is to make you believe he is a talented artist with lots of family (who doesn't love that?) and that he has a problem that only you can help him solve. He "majored in art in highschool" and OMG he has 30 years of experience? You would think in 30 years he could manage to get a merchant account, paypal, anything... to do his international transactions.

Lets look at the original header info.

>>>Quoted From Email Header<<<<
X-Gmail-Received: 46d3e3dfbfcd37c1efd0f4a0f2578308292a93dd
Delivered-To: virtually.by.design@gmail.com
Received: by 10.90.66.1 with SMTP id o1cs453577aga;
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:12:13 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.65.59.20 with SMTP id m20mr1894383qbk.1163153532971;
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:12:12 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk>
Received: from bay0-omc3-s9.bay0.hotmail.com (bay0-omc3-s9.bay0.hotmail.com [65.54.246.209])
    by mx.google.com with ESMTP id c5si1863552qbc.2006.11.10.02.12.11;
    Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:12:12 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk designates 65.54.246.209 as permitted sender)
Received: from hotmail.com ([65.54.168.20]) by bay0-omc3-s9.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:11:37 -0800
Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC;
Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:11:37 -0800
Message-ID: <BAY113-F106CD04323F01BAF335A5EF2F70@phx.gbl>
Received: from 65.54.168.200 by by113fd.bay113.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP;
Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:11:36 GMT
X-Originating-IP: [84.254.156.162]
X-Originating-Email: [jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk]
X-Sender: jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk
Reply-To: jimharry_workarts@yahoo.co.uk
From: "jim harry" <jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk>
Bcc:
Subject: EMPLOYMENT
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:11:36 +0000
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 10 Nov 2006 10:11:37.0575 (UTC) FILETIME=[9BAA8F70:01C704B0]
Return-Path: jimharry_4workarts@hotmail.co.uk

>>>End of Header Quote <<<<

Examining the IP address 84.254.156.162 we find that this is not a U.K. allocation but an Itallian Satellite provider. This particular provider services West Africa and has an extremely poor record of recording reverse DNS information or tracking fraudulent use of its services.

The scammer is using a hotmail account which he can access from anywhere in the world to fool people into believing that he might actually be in the U.K. somewhere. West Africa has a terrible reputation for scams like this, but the U.K. tries very hard to keep its ISP's clean. The scammer is attempting to use the reputation of a good ISP to obfuscate his actual location, and the reputation for fraud his netblock is notorious for.

"But his phone numbers put him in the U.K.!!!"
No they don't... You can't tell a thing about where a person is by the origin of their phone number. Using Skype or a similar VIOP service, he can relay his phone via internet, to have real time phone service that appears to come from a totally unrelated country. Yes, they do this. They have to. Scamming is a competitive industry in West Africa.

He is actually explaining how this scam will take advantage of you if you understand the specifics of international banking.
He is saying that it takes a loooong time for an internation check or money order to clear and so he wants to send them to you, and you then send him the money in a hurry. He wants the money in a hurry because once the bank is informed that the check or money order has been forged, the amount that was originally credited to the depositers account will be taken back... If the account doesn't have money to cover the amount, the account holder may actually be arrested for passing a fake check to their own bank.

The way it will work is that he sends you checks and money orders which you then deposit. He will then send you a reminder to relay the money to him after the amount is credited to your account. What he isn't explaining is that the bank will credit the account before the check actually clears... He has a narrow window of a couple of weeks to get you to send him the money by untraceable means, like Western Union or Wire Transfer.

Note that by the third paragraph he has laid the groundwork for threats which will follow the reminder letter. If you are reluctant to relay the cash, he will threaten you with arrest.
He will also likely call you, or have someone else in his gang call you pretending to be a law enforcement officer. This person will validate the scammer's threats and IF you are foolish enough to give this scammer your actual home address, may have someone from his gang in your country who will pay you a personal visit.

Seem Far fetched?
Last year a London gentleman was shot twice on his front step by a female Nigerian 419 scammer running this same fake check operation. The gentleman lived and the scammer was sentenced to 6 months... One must assume the legal system in England has not quite caught up to attempted murder as the result of a failed scam attempt. These gangs export confederates in the guise of student visas... The exported gang member's family is then held as insurance. Don't believe for a moment that a scam like this is trivial or harmless. These folks are danagerous, viscious, organized criminals and are perfectly capable of killing their victims.

A similar scam lured a Greek gentleman to Abuja, Nigeria a few years ago. He complied with the scammers wishes, brought his life savings in a suitcase and had borrowed money from his entire family... He did everything the scammer told him to do.
For his trouble his arms were servered with a machette and he was then dowsed with lighter fluid and set ablaze while still alive...

These are not people you want to meet, speak with, or to give information to. Run Away... Unless you are a skilled Scam-Baiter do not attempt to lure one of these people into an arrest.