We receive inquiries every day from people who have been defrauded for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars by Internet contacts they thought were their friends or loved ones.
Internet scams are attempts by con artists to convince you to send them money. Do NOT believe any offers lottery, inheritance, etc. In many cases, scammers troll the Internet for victims, and spend weeks or months building a relationship. Scammers can be very clever and deceptive, creating sad and believable stories that will make you want to send them money. Before you send funds, check to see if you recognize any of the following signs, and realize that you may be a potential victim of a scam:.
Internet scammers are using social networking sites to find victims. Adoption scams are not common. The perpetrators of child adoption fraud often claim to be indigent parents unable to care for a child or members of the clergy working at an orphanage seeking a good home for a child. Americans should be very cautious about sending money or traveling abroad to adopt a child from an orphanage they have only heard about through e-mails. A new twist in the conventional email adoption scam has appeared recently, and this one occurs after the victim discovers that he or she has been fooled by a scam.
Once the victim suspects fraud and breaks off communications with the scammers, a new email message will arrive claiming to be from a police agency. One of the most common scams we currently see claims that a Gambian has lost his parents, is caring for younger siblings, and does not have money for school fees.
The story is always extremely similar. The common elements are: Online soliciting of friend in developed country, parents supposedly dead, caring for younger siblings, has to drop out of school for lack of funds. These elements exploit the Western value of education, trustful nature, and sympathy for orphans. There is very little variation on the theme. All of these scams have one thing in common β they contain requests implied or explicit for money.
