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KSP Post 15 warns of Nigerian scams

By Tpr. Billy Gregory, Public Affairs Officer, KSP Post 15
Information provided by Kentucky State Police Detective B.J. Burton, Kentucky State Police Post 15, Columbia, KY.

Recent events have indicated that there are numerous ongoing Nigerian Scams which continually evolve to give the impression of legitimacy. Some examples of recent attempts to solicit money include the following:



Funeral homes being contacted, via e-mail, and solicited to provide a credit card number and/or bank account number in order to transfer a deceased relative back to the United States for burial and the offer that the funeral home will be reimbursed for the expense. At various times cashier checks or fraudulent accounts are offered as a down payment for the total expense of the funeral.

People have been solicited to "work from home" or to "assist" in repackaging items sent to their home and forward them on to locations outside of the United States--in these cases items that are purchased using "identity theft" accounts are sent to an unsuspecting "re-shipper" who in turn sends the items out of the country thus ending attempts by law enforcement to track down the perpetrator of the identity theft.

Another recent complaint involves the hacking of an e-mail account and sending out e-mails to all of the contacts soliciting money for some-type of emergency.

Key things to remember...

  1. Pay close attention to the language. Most of these scams are originating from parts of Africa where proper (British) English is taught and, despite their best efforts, often their lack of knowledge of American English will come through

  2. Remember the old adage "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is"

  3. Be aware that once money or an item is sent out of the country, any hope of prosecution or recovery of that money or item is near impossible. For example, some of the Nigerian scams have been traced back to Nigerian Judges. Internet cafes are prolific in many African nations and routinely perpetrators will send out hundreds of solicitations a day. A few responses are still very profitable to them

  4. Use common sense. If a friend or relative has access to e-mail, they are likely to have access to a phone and would more than likely call in an emergency versus sending an e-mail. Likewise, if the technology exists in a country to send an e-mail then the technology should also exist to make a phone call. Many of the above scams can be defeated by simply asking for a phone number so that you can learn the identity of the person sending out the email.
To contact Trooper Billy Gregory, call (270) 384-4796


This story was posted on 2009-01-29 06:09:31
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