Too good to be true
Ever hear the saying "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is"? I hope you have. There are other sayings that relate essentially the same wisdom: "there's no such thing as a free lunch", or "there's always free cheese in a mousetrap". You get the idea. Sadly, a lot of people don't.
There are plenty of scams out there. All of them take advantage of the human desire to get something for nothing. Three of them crossed my desk this week and I thought I'd pass them along. Each one uses a different method of targeting the victim: in person, by email, and through the US mail.
First we have the pigeon drop. The victim was approached by a woman who claimed she was in the country illegally, and needed help cashing a winning lottery ticket. The suspect offered the victim a portion of the winnings. The victim agreed, and the offender asked the victim to put up $5,000 in "good faith" money, so they offender would know the victim could be trusted. The offender drove the victim to a bank and the victim withdrew the money. Next thing you know, the offender gets sick and has to leave, and gives the victim the envelope containing the victim's $5,000. Only when the victim realizes the offender isn't coming back and looks in the envelope, it's filled with scraps of paper. The offender switched the contents of the envelope while the victim was distracted. The victim lost $5,000.
A variation of the Nigerian 419 scam made its way through the email filter into one of our detective's in box this week. The scam is also known as advance-fee fraud, and there are numerous versions. After reading this, with its multiple misspellings and stilted language,it's hard to believe anyone would fall for it. But people do.
This last one almost makes me nostalgic. It's an award scam that actually reached the victim by mail--how quaint is that? I have to say that it looks a lot more official than the previous email, with its "Claimant Data Form" and "Real Documentation". It only requests a $20 "processing fee" from the target. A quick Google search shows that the address listed, 245 Eighth Avenue, NY, NY, is home to a Mailboxes Etc. Fortunately the victim sensed that something wasn't right and contacted our department before he sent any money.
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7 Comments
Message from Montie said:
For the life of me I don't get why people fall for this. Somebody tried to get a little more savvy with me by offering me an English tutoring job to train someone overseas, but they wanted to have a transaction where that person comes to my home. Umm...I said tutor, not guardian. Then they claimed to have sent me the wrong check amount and wanted me to reimburse them for the difference while they sent the second check in the correct amount. I told them as soon as I got the first check I would just return it to the sender instead of cashing it and then only cash the second one for the right amount. I told them they'd pay less stopping payment on the check than they would to have to transfer money to me. Suddenly I got no response...ever...this was months ago. I smiled. They lost. But some nitwit will fall for this.
Joe the Cop said:
Montie, thanks for stopping by and commenting. The scam you're describing is pretty common on Craigslist and online auction sites. I haven't heard about this version before, thanks!
Wendy C said:
One other saying you forgot to mention, Joe. "There's a sucker born every minute."
Mr. Brown Thumb said:
I got something that looked like an award scam, not the example you used, but something similar. I tossed it knowing I hadn't entered any contests or anything of the like, but not before thinking about it long and hard. It caught my attention because "nothing" comes in the mail anymore besides bills. :0)
Joe the Cop said:
Wendy, that's right! I forgot that one.
Mr. BT, I haven't seen one of those in the mail for a while. Glad you didn't give in to temptation!
PMoore said:
Montie, I've heard of the same scam happening to a women. I believe the scam was reported on CNN. Unfortunately, the woman lost money so believe it or not, there are people out there that fall for these scams. Especially in this economy.
Larsbert said:
I have been a victim of numerous scams, both on the internet and in real life. The latest involved a seemingly pleasent and trustworthy member of the royal family of Ghana. I was trying to help him free up some funds that had been frozen (unfairly) by the Hague, and I ended up losing touch with him after investing several hundred dollars. Seriously, if you can't trust a full fledged prince, who can you trust these days!
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