419 Scams, You and VR
With the rapid growth of Vampire Rave many in the scamming world have begun to take notice. One of the most abundant and costly forms of online scams are known as "419 Scams" or "Advanced Fee Fraud" and "Nigerian Scam." This type of fraud costs individuals around $500 million each year and several people have been physically harmed or killed. That being the case, and my work with the FBI on this subject I am alerting you to this potentially dangerous problem.
--In the event of fraud the US Secrete Service will NOT help unless the amount is greater than $50,000.00-- International laws will vary.
So what is a 419 Scam? They are attempts through e-mail and messaging trying to get you to either hand over personal information or send them money. Typical e-mails/private messages usually look like this:
"Hello,
My name is Marybell, I saw ur profile today and became interested in you. I would like to know more about you and your ideas, and i would like you to know more about me.
Please send me an email _______@yahoo.com and I will send you my picture.
I am awaiting your reply :)
(Remember distance or color doesn't matter, but friendship does)"
or
"Dear Friend,
Greetings please read this fully and understand why I am contacting you. I am the Auditor General for the Mumbia Nation Bank, Burkina-Faso. During the auditing of the year 2007 I discovered a large sum of money $10,2000,000.00 that belonged to a late customer.
Mr. Aman Benin, Director of Burkina-Faso Affairs, African Union died in 2003 while he and his family were en-rout to Lebanon. You may learn more about the crash here...(http://www.cnn.com/2003/world/africa/crashscamscam) or (http://news.bbk.co.uk/2/hi/africa/scamscam.stm)
Once this was brought to my attention I investigated the situation further and found that his entire family/next of kin (wife, son, 2 daughters) were killed. According to banking laws after 5 years all funds in an account (due to death) are to be awarded to the State. In order to secure the money and give it to a worth charity I need an American account to send it to.
Once the money is in an American account I can then use your laws to send it to a charity for flood victims. I have agreed, with my lawyers, that 40% of the money will go to you for your help in this matter, 10% will be used for legal and processing fees and 50% will go to the charity. As soon as you have agreed I and my family will fly to your country with cash-on-hand and make our investment. Please rest assured this is 100% risk free and that you will be helping preserve the memory of the deceased.
If your willing to help please send me this information; Your full name, contact cell number, age, marital status, occupation and city.
Yours faithfully, Dr. Udabi Mentakou"
The letter, while appearing transparent and even ridiculous to most, unfortunately is growing in its effectiveness. It sets the stage and is the opening round of a two-layered scheme or scheme within a scheme. The fraudster will eventually reach someone who, while skeptical, desperately wants the deal to be genuine.
Victims are often convinced of the authenticity of Advance Fee Fraud schemes by the forged or false documents bearing apparently official Nigerian government letterhead, seals, as well as false letters of credit, payment schedules and bank drafts. The fraudster may establish the credibility of his contacts, and thereby his influence, by arranging a meeting between the victim and "government officials" in real or fake government offices.
Apart from the risk of losing money, property or life there is the added risk and annoyance of spam. Once you reply to the email (or in some cases just open it) your email address is placed in their database. After that you can almost be certain of receiving massive amounts of spam or other similar scams.
E-mails are generally titled "Dear Friend", "Dear family in Christ", "Attention Madam/Sir" and other similar subject lines.
Please erase all such emails and ignore similar private messages. I know there are some legitimate members that may send you a message saying your a great person etc. but you can spot a scammer by going to their profile, it will be blank or have less than 3 lines. Usually they have only logged in once as well.
If you receive such messages or suspect a profile is part of a "419" please report it immediately to a Regent or Dominar, include the profile name, message they sent and "419 Scam Alert" at the top of your message. DO NOT send it directly to Cancer!
If you have any further questions or would like assistance please feel free to send me a message.
--Xzavier
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