Internet Email cons

Email and other internet cons are all about trying to extract money by duping a suitable victim. There is nothing new to these cons, they have been around in one form or another for decades now. Apparently they first emerged in the 1920's with Spanish Letters and then moved onto 'cold calling' telephone cons, then con fax's, and now finally con emails. The only real difference is that nowadays emails are much cheaper and easier to send to a large number of people, and so despite all the press and media warnings, it is quite is to find somebody who will be susceptible to being 'conmed'.

The two most prevelant cons around at the moment appear to be the:

Internet Bank con
Nigerian Email con

And possible the original con of this type is:

Spanish Spam Letters

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Internet Bank Con Back to top

The 'Internet Bank con' is an email con that is designed to try to fraudulently obtain your internet banking details. The exact contents of the con mail will vary greatly, however they all have the same general 'theme', which is that your account details and/or password need updating, and you need to visit a web-site to change them. The con is that if you follow the emails instructions then the scammers will obtain your account details. Initially these email cons were fairly unsophisticated, with links to web-sites that looked similar to the real bank websites, with similar looking URL's to fool you. However as time has passed this con has become more intricate, with genuine links to the real bank sites wrapped up with re-directs etc. However this article does not go into the technical details of the con, (a good link that does is here) it is just trying to point out the dangers of this type of con. To avoid any problems bear these points in mind:

• Never follow any link to a bank web-site, always type in the URL yourself
• Banks will never ask you to resubmit password information over the web
• Never reply to the email con (it just tells the conmer that you have a working email account)
• The exact content of the con mail will vary, but they will be after account information (no matter how subtle the con is)

Do not ring any number given, or use any emails supplied, they are part of the con too

An example of a bank internet con is below:

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Dear Valued Customer,

- Our new security system will help you to avoid frequently fraud transactions and to keep your investments in safety.

- Due to technical update we recommend you to reactivate your account.

Click on the link below to login and begin usingyour updated NatWest account.

To log into your account, please visit the NatWest Online Banking

https://www.nwolb.com/ (this Url is the main crux of the con, it will vary, but will always be 'tracking' you in some way-Ed)

If you have questions about your online statement,

please send us a Bank Mail or call us at

0846 600 2323 (outside the UK dial +44 247 686 2063). (this contact number is probably part of the con-Ed)

We appreciate your business. It's truly our

Pleasure to serve you.

NatWest Customer Care

This email is for notification only. To contact us, please log into your account and send a Bank Mail.

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Nigerian Email Con Back to top

The Nigerian Letter con is a worldwide con that is known internationally as the "Four-One-Nine" (419) con. The "Four-One-Nine" refers to the Nigerian criminal statute for fraud. The con has been around since the 1980s and began as a postal letter con. It now includes phone contact (including cell phones), Internet/Email and fax cons.

All this appears to have given the country quite a bad name when it comes to cons, especially according to one American Official, who is quoted as saying…

"....Nigeria is still ranked as one of the most corrupt countries on earth. U.S. citizens lose approximately $2 billion ($2,000 million) a year to Nigerian cons -- be it credit card cons, insurance cons, or 419 con letters, or counterfeiting," which totals about "two and one-half times the value of our total U.S. exports to Nigeria."

Nov. '99, Robert L. Mallet, Deputy Secretary of Commerce

The basic theme behind Nigerian Emails cons is that a large amount of money has been located, and the scammers require assistance in obtaining the money. Common variations on the con include "overinvoiced" or "double invoiced" oil or other supply and service contracts where your scammers want to get the money out of Nigeria; crude oil and other commodity deals; a "bequest" left you in a will; "money cleaning" where your conmer has a lot of currency that needs to be "chemically cleaned" before it can be used; "spoof banks" where there is supposedly money in your name already on deposit, the list is endless, but the end result is always the same. After finding a willing victim to assist in freeing up the money (for a percentage of the profits), the con kicks in properly. Money upfront is required to perform various tasks, whether its bribing an official, paying for transport costs (e.g. hiring a private plane to move the money), or some other form of fee. The victim is required to pay this money up-front before they large 'jackpot' is released. But of course, it never is, its just a con, and the amount you pay will depend on how long they can keep stringing you along with lines such as "one more payment and then we will be able to give you the money".

There is one very simple tip to avoid being caught by this con -IGNORE THE EMAILS.

An example of a Nigerian Email con is below, note that this email con has a huge number of variations, and this is just one example

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Dear Sir,

StrICTLY A PRIVATE BUSINESS PROPOSAL

I am Dr.Kayode Adeyemi, The manager, Bills and Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department of the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. I am writing this letter to ask for your support and cooperation to carry out this business opportunity in my department. We discovered an abandoned sum of $15,000,000.00 (Fifteen million United States Dollars only) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family of a wife and two children in November 1997 in a Plane crash.

Since we heard of his death, we have been expecting his next-of-kin to come over and put claims for his money as the heir, because we cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Unfortunately, neither their family member nor distant relative has ever appeared to claim the said fund. Upon this discovery, I and other officials in my department have agreed to make business with you and release the total amount into your account as the heir of the fund since no one came for it or discovered he maintained account with our bank, otherwise the fund will be returned to the banks treasury as unclaimed fund.

We have agreed that our ratio of sharing will be as stated thus; 20 % for you as foreign partner, 75 % for us the officials in my department and 5 % for the settlement of all local and foreign expenses incurred by us and you (note the important use of the word 'you' in this con -Ed) during the course of this business.

Upon the successful completion of this transfer, I and one of my colleagues will come to your country and mind our share. It is from our 75% we intend to import Agricultural Machineries into my country as a way of recycling the fund. To commence this transaction, we require you to immediately indicate your interest by a return e-mail and enclose your private contact telephone number, fax number full name and address and your designated bank coordinates to enable us file letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals before the transfer can be made.(Obtaining all your personal details could be an alternative aim of this con -Ed)

Note also, this transaction must be kept StrICTLY CONFIDENTIAL because of its nature.

I look forward to receiving your prompt response.

Dr.Kayode Adeyemi.
Union Bank of Nigeria

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Spanish Letter Con Back to top

This con has been emptying the pockets of victims for decades. First through letters, then faxes, and now e-mails. The original con dates back to the 1920's and is known as "The Spanish Prisoner" con. In the original con, someone was trying to smuggle the son of a wealthy family out of a Spanish prison. In return for helping the wealthy family, you would be showered with riches. Victims were suckered into paying for one failed rescue attempt after another - all the while the family's son supposedly languished in some Spanish dungeon. Always one more bribe, one more try, one more scheme to rescue the young lad, but it was always just one big con- which, of course, you funded.

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