519-646-2222SCAMS – Gullible, Hopeful or Desperate?
Scams, one must wonder if people are gullible, hopeful or desperate to finally achieve some level of success in life. I use the term “finally” because the victims are usually middle aged or older. There could be other reasons as well such as resources – older people are more established and are more likely to have access to funds.
We have seen a variety of people fall victim scams, and will discuss the scams, and how they worked but we will not reveal any identifying information about the victims.
The Oil Tanker SCAM.
There is one oil tanker still moored in Nigeria that was not purchased by a multinational oil company, that is seeking investors willing to cover the mooring and licensing fees to release the tanker allowing it to set sail for the Marathon Garyville Refinery in Louisiana.
Once the tanker is unloaded and the oil is refined into petroleum products the value of the cargo will increase exponentially and the ROI will be at least 1,000 times. Minimum share investments will be accepted from $10,000. Share certificates will be issued by our legal counsel once a deposit is received, you will then be required to contribute to prorated percentage of mooring and licencing fees.
The victim will be sent some very real looking legal documents filled with terms and conditions that will later be referenced required commitments to further funding at various stages of the release of the boat and journey across the Atlantic, including docking fees in Louisiana and transportation to the refinery.
The slow drip of funds requests can last months or even years depending on the liability of the victim. We have seen people taken for tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Deceased Relative SCAM.
This one should be obvious to most people, who have some knowledge of their family tree, however, if you have ever spat in bottle and sent the DNA sample into 23andme, or some similar company, you have probably learned you are a distant relative of some rich or famous historical figure.
It is human nature to fantasize in grandiose terms, that we are somehow related to royalty or descended from some great or famous historical icon. My family name is Locke, and I have often joked with people that I am a direct descendent of the great British Philosopher John Locke (who in fact had no children). But an easily believable rouse.
The victims in most scams are typically contacted through email and may be bombarded with a series of convincing correspondences. Typically, that some long-lost billionaire relative was tragically killed in an accident while on vacation in some faraway place.
In trying to locate heirs and successors to be the recipients of the bequeathment (make up a number) you will be asked to pay legal fees, and to provide strict proof of your identity through some verifiable government ID. After you have been hooked you will be required to pay a series of costs including for the funeral home, the legal fees, disbursement costs, notional fees for the disposition of property and so on.
The amounts people get taken for depends a lot on their belief in the convincing paperwork as well as their own conviction that they are descended from “greatness”. We have seen victims pay up to two hundred thousand dollars.
The Marriage SCAM.
The people most likely to fall victim to the marriage scam are typically lonely and insecure. There is no other logical explanation for them falling for such utter nonsense. They may be canvassed by a movie star, a pop singer or the agent for the star. This will usually be initiated on social media through a bogus profile account.
The victim is flirted with, to gauge their susceptibility, through a series of complimentary private messages that increase in intensity, becoming more and more personal and even sexual by nature. The victim can usually identify the well-known figure quite easily so only factual information is shared from them, but they ply more and more personally information from the victim to make them feel more invested.
After a while the victim may be contacted through text messages, there are phone services (google has one) that disguise the originating number, but the text messaging allows the sender to attach a picture of the star, further convincing the victim the sender is the person of their dreams.
Pretty soon the object of the victim’s well-developed fantasy will start asking for money, perhaps because their own money is all tied up in legal proceedings because a former manager or spouse is suing them, and the courts have ordered a freeze on family assets. The desperate plea is a test of the victim’s sincerity.
These scams usually come unglued before the donations exceed the order tens of thousands with many victims tumbling to the scam after being fleeced of a few thousand dollars some pay tens of thousands before they realize they have been had.
The Crypto SCAM.
The crypto scam is an investment scam that works like a Ponzi scheme. The victim is given an opportunity to participate in speculating in bitcoin, they pay money to buy in and to set up a crypto wallet, managed, of course, by the investment company. At any time, they are encouraged to look into their wallet and monitor the growth of their investment.
Every time they log into their wallet, they notice fluctuations trending generally upwards, new monies can be deposited through their online broker account at any time, the funds are converted to bitcoin over a few days, and they will see the new, increased value in their wallet.
This is a long-tail scam, with the victim constantly putting money and eagerly watching their investment grow. If they want to withdraw funds they may do so at any time after paying a service fee and making a withdrawal request, they will receive a funds transfer to their personal bank account.
The ability to withdraw funds reinforces the idea they have control over the money and encourages them to continue to donate new monies. As long as they are withdrawing small amounts of money and continuing to contribute the scam continues to run. However, if they request a large withdrawal, they have a lot more hoops to jumps through and will be subject to additional one-time brokerage fees.
If the withdrawal request is too large the scammers will shut down the scam because the jig’s up. In some cases, the victim may be contacted by another “fraud investigator” and be asked to pay even more money to assist in recovering their lost monies. Ourt office has seen victims pay over one hundred thousand dollars.
The Good Old Readers Digest SCAM
Ah the simple scams of yesteryear. I recall my father participating all kinds of scams from Readers Digest that mostly involved him buying books, magazines and other items in order to maintain his participatory status in a “Big Draw”.
The winner would only be declared after certain purchase thresholds had been achieved. While the draw itself may have been genuine the scam, mush lighter that the type we see these days, was coercion to buy subscriptions, books, magazines and merchandise that would not otherwise have been purchased.
The Border Security SCAM.
The border security scam is usually initiated by telephone, but sometimes by email. The scammer threatens you that there has been an irregularity at the border – they don’t usually say which one and they threaten you with arrest and deportation unless you pay some form of penalty.
Oddly, as with many less-complex scams they accept Amazon and Apple Store gift cards as payment for fees that you purportedly owe for some misbehaviour at the border. We have heard of victims paying over ten thousand dollars.
The CRA SCAM.
The CRA scam is almost indistinguishable from the border security scam except that they claim to calling from the CRA and demand restation in order to prevent seizure of accounts and suspension of benefits, include refunds and pensions.
In this scam they may also ask for your Social Security Number, which is a slip up since Canadians call it a Social Insurance Number. Typically, the ask is for gift cards but may include bank information and credit card details.
While the CRA is notorious for its reach and diligence in pursuing wayward taxpayers they would never ask for gift cards or banking information by phone, and they do not use text messaging or email to notify you of potential refunds.
It is not uncommon for victims to pay thousands of dollars before realizing they are being scammed.
The Penniless Friend SCAM.
This is a good one, you get an email from someone in your email address book, they are telling you they are stranded abroad and have no access to their passport or money and are looking for your spot them a few bucks, or in the alternative to purchase a gift card for their relative, whose birthday they are going to miss.
Because you recognize the name (from any one of a number of hacked lists associated with your email address) you are far more likely to be sympathetic, even if you are not all that close to the friend or acquaintance.
This scam usually involves gift cards and typically runs between hundreds and thousands of dollars.
The Microsoft SCAM.
Who doesn’t have problems with their computer from time to time and live in fear of a complete crash or being taken over by some trojan virus? You get a call or a pop up from someone presenting themselves as an agent for Microsoft (because MS is still the most used Operating System) they tell you they suspect you have been hacked and some malware may have infected your computer’s operating system.
Sometimes they drop a cookie on your system that may clear with a reboot – but it is enough to convince you to allow them to take over your machine to clean it. At first, they will provide you with directions that will allow them access to your operating system from which they can lock you out or steal information for reuse or resale to other hackers.
Once they have your confidence, they will tell you to check your online banking to ensure you have not lost any funds, they will collect your login information to use later to clean you out. Most often, they will lock you out of your system and sell you back your data for money, bitcoin, or gift cards. The overall cost in this scam depends on how important your data is but is usually relatively low – up to about ten thousand dollars.
The Bank SCAM.
The bank scam usually starts with an agent from a bank calling or texting you to let you know that your account at XYZ Bank has been compromised and fraudulent payments have been made resulting in your account being frozen.
Similar to MS scam the “agent” may ask you to log into your bank using a shared screen, or they have already dropped a cookie that records your keystrokes so they can use your account number and password themselves to clean you out.
Most victims of this scam are the elderly and technically unsophisticated, who tend to be more trusting, because they lack the knowledge to see through the scammers. Usually losing a few thousand dollars but in extreme cases lines of credit and savings accounts are also wiped out.
Common Warning Signs of a SCAM.
- It sounds to good to be true.
- You have no idea who you are talking to, they are contacting you from foreign countries (including the USA).
- The language may be poor, the emails may have a lot of typos or grammatical errors.
- The scam involves something of a technical or legal nature that is outside of your normal understanding.
- You are being pledged to secrecy.
- You are asked to make payments with gift cards.
Why doesn’t the government do something about scams?
The answer is simply that they do not have the manpower to address relatively small scams. For scams that involve than a few million dollars government agencies will do no investigation at all – basically you have to produce clear evidence of the scam as well as an indictable paper trail to get any action. While banks provide some safeguards they cannot protect you from your own vulnerability.