Computer Cons
Part 2 of a two-part series
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

The digital world of wireless Internet connections allows foreign schemers the opportunity to hide in any corner of the world and operate with near impunity.

In Nigeria- the home of a growing number of scammers who use e-mail to con their many victims out of millions of dollars- officials do not cooperate with the United States in locating and punishing criminals.

The ubiquitous Nigerian money-offer scheme is among the most expensive of popular current scams. The average victim loses $7,000, according to the National Consumer League, a nonprofit consumer-advocate agency based in Washington, D.C.

Susan Grant, director of the league's fraud center, said individuals commonly lose between $3,000 and $4,000, but some have been bilked out of as much as $100,000.

Even in the U.S., Internet access makes con artists difficult to locate. An illegal operation can move overnight, and recipients of illegal wire transactions are virtually impossible to track down.

Many victims feel shame and guilt and do not report the scam to police.

Perpetrators often con their victims with stories that play on the emotions. In the Nigerian money scam, the target is sent an e-mail promising a portion of millions of dollars in return for helping the email sender get the money out of a foreign country, typically Nigeria. The scammer usually poses as someone who has suffered some horrific tragedy.

In other schemes, classified ads can open the door to fraud. Such schemes work like this: The person answering a newspaper or Internet ad is eager to buy an item or possibly rent a room, but they are informed that for some fairly plausible sounding reason, they must send the seller a check or money order for more than the listed price.

The stories vary, but in the end, the person who placed the ad is asked to keep the amount they had asked for and wire their "customer" the difference. By the time the victim learns the check or money order is counterfeit, the crook is long gone with the real money, leaving the defrauded person responsible for the debt.

Experts say the prevalence of these scams indicates they're successful. With a minimum investment- the cost of printing supplies and such- crooks can reap lucrative financial rewards.

No one is beyond the reach of scammers, not even members of law enforcement.

When Thousand Oaks Detective Eric Buschow sold his own car recently, he heard from people as far away as Canada and New York who didn't ask to see the vehicle, didn't care about its condition and didn't even attempt to negotiate a better price. They wanted to buy Buschow's car outright.

For every legitimate inquiry, Buschow estimates he received 10 calls from scammers.

"Who buys a car sight-unseen?" he said.

Other popular ripoffs are the "work-at-home" offers. This accounts manager scheme requires the unwitting employee to deposit phony customer payments into the "worker's" personal bank account. The employee deducts their salary from each fake payment, sending their "employer" the difference.

Another variation is the "mystery shopper" scam. The victim is hired to "test" a money wire service by cashing a check mailed to them. The unsuspecting person keeps a portion of the money as payment for their services and wires the balance back to their supposed employer.

Scam artists use whatever means necessary to find victims, Grant said. They send out e-mails en masse and cull the newspaper want ads and job posting websites. They search through online resumes and post their own "job openings." They purchase legitimate mailing lists for mass mailing of letters that claim the recipient has won a lottery.

Scammers can even seek out a specific audience from a database service. The elderly are seen as especially attractive targets, experts say.

Grant said her agency has no way to gauge whether scams are more prevalent during the holidays, but said investigators have seen a growing amount of fraudulent operations in the last few years.

Last year, telemarketing scams reported to the consumeradvocate agency rose 39 percent and Internet fraud was up 12 percent.

The fake-check scam works so well, Grant said, it's being used by a growing number of con artists.

What's being done?

Grant's agency recently partnered with law enforcement officials throughout the country to launch www.fakechecks.org, a website dedicated to educating the public in how to spot fake check operations.

Grant said anyone victimized should report the incident to her agency, which distributes complaints to U.S. and foreign law enforcement agencies. The league also notifies the U.S. postal inspector, who has broad jurisdiction over mail fraud and has aggressively pursued fake check artists.

A report should also be made to police.

Experts in the field say, however, that education and prevention are the best ways to avoid being victimized. The bottom line is that there's no such thing as free money and residents should steer clear of any scheme that promises a big return for an investment of little or nothing.

"There's no ifs, ands or buts about it, that's the best red flag there is," Grant said. "You could probably kiss your money goodbye."

Don't get scammed

The following are some ways experts say you can avoid becoming the victim of a scam.