Nigerian 419 Scammers Resurface

The Nigerian 419 fraudsters based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam have made copies of the websites of 'DHL' and 'Lufthansa Cargo', both express transportation companies. The purpose is to dupe the website visitors into paying transportation and advance fees for second-hand motorbikes and cars that are never sent in.
The scammers set condition that the victim must pay advance fees before procuring the wealth. In reality, the so-called wealth does not exist. The requests for fees go on till the time the victim realizes the trap and stops sending further money. Meanwhile, the scammers acquire enough information to get hold of the victim's bank account or steal the person's identity.

The scam is named as '419 scam', which presents an e-mail claiming to come from a person who wishes to transfer large volumes of money offshore, is getting more familiar with people. So, the scammers have found this as a new way of making quick money.
It is an easy process. All it requires is an offer of a used 'Suzuki Katana GSX-600 4500' or a 'BMZ Z3 Roadster' on sites such as Car.com or Autotrader.com in exchange of almost nothing. This is for sure that there will be buyers responding to it. But the owner claims that the cars are in Spain or another European country, so he requests the buyer to pay the transportation expense. He then advises to use 'escrow' services with websites that look legitimate.
Dutch private detective company 'Ultrascan' published that there are over 800 '419 scammers'. They operate from Netherlands indicating that Holland is the best heaven for Nigerian 'advanced fraud' scammers.

These "419" e-mail scams are as old as the Internet but people still fall prey. According to estimates, there is a good number of 250,000 scammers involved worldwide and they make over $1.5 billion every year. The average victim gives out about $20,000.

'Ultrascan Advanced Global Investigations', the Dutch 419 scam fighter, has warned about tricky sites that campaign 'DHL Shippers' and 'Lufthansa Worldwide Cargo' that are different from the real companies, 'DHL Worldwide Express' and 'Lufthansa Cargo'.

Related article: Nigerian Scammers Secure Huge Money from Australian Victims

» SPAMfighter News - 10/24/2006