A well-known scam is an email or letter asking you to help an unknown person move large sums of money, for instance by using your bank account.
What these letters have in common is that they seem to be a personal request to you from a person who needs your help. Often you are promised a reward, such as a large amount of money or quick returns on your investments.
This type of scam is often referred to as “the Nigerian letter scam”, because of the country where the scam originated. Today, you can receive these kinds of letters from all over the world.
Using friends’ email addresses
Fraudsters also have methods of sending emails so that they appear to come from someone you know. Scammers can find the names of people you know on social media.
Your “friend” will usually ask to borrow money from you. If you reply to the email, the reply will go to a different address. There may be slight differences between the apparent sender address and the reply address; for example, you might receive the email from oleolsen@yahoo.com, while the answer will be sent to olaolsen@yahoo.com.
Scams via social media
Many fraudsters first establish contact through social media like Facebook or Twitter before commencing the scam in order to give the recipient a feeling of trustworthiness.
We have also seen examples where scammers use major disasters, like the earthquake in Haiti, in their attempts to drain people’s bank accounts.
Speaking your language
Oftentimes emails, text messages and letters about lottery winnings, inheritances and so on are translated into your native tongue. This is often done by automatic translation tools, which tends to result in poor grammar and incoherent sentences.
Trustworthiness
Another common technique used to appear credible and establish trust is to use the names or logos of well-known companies or individuals. Several large companies have been seen their images abused in this way.
An example from Norway has been the emails that were seemingly sent by employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirming that the recipient had won a large sum in a lottery.
Nothing but a bluff
Never believe promises of financial gain or similar claims in these kinds of letters. In reality. the scammers (often based in the Netherlands or Spain) are trying to get you to give out your personal data or account number, or make you pay a fee to get the supposed prize. If you pay the fee, you will receive nothing and you will never get your money back.
Don’t be fooled!
Never respond to requests where it is claimed that you won money in some unknown lottery. The same applies if you are promised riches if you give out your bank account number or other personal details.
At FraudWatch International you will find a list of known lottery scams. Be aware that these swindlers constantly emerge under new names. You can also visit the Rip-Off Report.