Internet frauds move online search for the weak-minded.
Beware of emails from people one may not be well acquainted with, from countries like Nigeria and Britain, as an intensive investigation has shown that about 60 percent of fake emails with the intention to defraud people mainly come from Nigeria, whilst about 40 percent comes from Great Britain.
Some years ago, it was a false lotto winning notification, followed fake e-mail lottery winning notification too. After many fell victim to the aforementioned crimes, the police stepped in, and in Spain alone, after a year of investigation in 2005, the Spanish police broke up a Nigerian internet fraud gang, which had conned more than 20,000 people over the internet.
The criminals always find new ways to defraud people whenever the old plans no longer work. Yahoo mail account requests, DHL parcel number tracking, and false claims of inheritance by looking for partners in Europe and America to transfer huge amounts of money into their foreign accounts, with an agreed percentage to be given, were all used by these criminals.
Today, a new plan has surfaced, and it is working. The new development is, some criminals in Third World Countries, especially Nigeria, are impersonating British or American citizens. They explore the internet, soliciting friendship or a serious relationship in Europe.
To avoid any doubt or suspicion, they scan American or British passports showing their face to convince the person they are corresponding with in Europe that they are genuine American or British citizens.
Without any second thought, some people easily become interested. Investigations have revealed that the scanned passports are genuine, but the names in them are fake, and the pictures are not of the real owners of the passports. The amazing discovery of computers and technology has made the work on passports very easy.
NIGERIA
If the one in Europe is a man, the scanned copy of the passports comes with a photo of an extremely beautiful woman; one may find it hard to resist. As such a beautiful American or British lady, whatever she requests so that she may travel down to Europe to you is quickly released.
When challenged as not genuine British or American, they quickly provide a telephone number to call. Try it and see, and behold, you hear the accent of an American or British woman talking to you from Nigeria. Because the criminals have collaborated with women who are living or have previously lived in America or Britain.
This is what people should be aware of now, as many people are now responding before they realize that they have been conned.
BRITAIN
A few false lotto winning notifications come from Britain. British criminals are very interested in writing false letters of employment. People mustn't respond to unfamiliar letters of employment indicating large sums of salary, benefits, and bonuses.
When interested, they request some personal information, including a bank account. Once this information is given, you may later see a big 'hole' in your account.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Another internet fraud that people should be aware of is Poetry and Writing sites. Initially, you may think they want to make you rich and famous when they select your poem. But that's not true. They would rather use you to make money. From the horse's own mouth, I paid for the publication of a poem in a book.
After receiving a copy of the book, they sent me a picture of a trophy that they claimed I had won. Then they requested an amount of 169 dollars from me to send the trophy to me. I didn't do it. Even a moron could easily know that the directors behind such "Poetry.com" are criminals.
INTERNET ADVERTISING GIANTS
Internet frauds are not only experienced by criminals in Third World and advanced countries; some internet advertising giants are also involved. About two years ago, I received a letter from one of them to pay me 70 dollars, which is the money I made after people visited my blog.
I was told to give them my account number to pay a little money to see if the account is really mine. I did that, and 52 cents were deposited in the account. I confirmed the amount, but never heard from them again. After 6 months, they wrote to me thanking me for my patience and would soon receive the money. It's been two years now nothing has been heard from them.
The purpose of this article is to let people know how easily they could fall prey to fraudsters, for them to stay awake and be conscious not to fall victim to these merciless and wicked criminals.