Junk mail is a common nuisance for most e-mail users, but fraudulent e-mail has proven far more detrimental to victims – and their bank accounts.
Nigerian fraud e-mail uses a scam that is roughly 20 years old. Authors of the e-mail, claiming to be dignitaries of the government of Nigeria, contact a recipient and explain they need help transferring a lot of money out of the country by using the individual’s bank account.
The authors claim the money has been misappropriated by the Nigerian government and is untraceable. In reward for allowing the use of a personal bank account, the recipient is promised a share of the money being deposited, usually about 10 percent.
“It’s an old con. The e-mails come from all over the world,” said University Police Chief Ron Michalec. “We receive about three to four reports a day about it.”
Variations of the e-mail exist but the intention is the same: use an individual’s personal information to drain money from his or her bank account.
Bob Kalal, director of policy for the Office of Information Technology, is very familiar with the scam.
“The first one I saw came in on a fax machine,” he said. “That was well over a decade ago.”
Kalal explained how the fraud has evolved over time.
In its earliest versions, the scammers would get the victim to come to Nigeria with the intent of kidnapping and holding the individual until a ransom was paid.
The scam then moved on to acquiring the victim’s bank accounts and stripping his or her checking and savings accounts of cash.
In its most recent form, the scammer will ask for an amount of money, by credit card, to facilitate the transfer of the Nigerian dollars. Then the scammer will use the card to make electronic purchases.
Unfortunately, new technology, like e-mail, has made the scam easier to distribute and harder to track.
“If someone wants to cover their tracks they basically can,” Kalal said. “Unless it is a secure mail system, it is questionable how far you can trace it back.”
Tracing is further complicated by inaccurate IP addresses.
“If they can send it through several relays, it may not be able to be checked for its original source,” he said.
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center was established in May 2000 to combat the growing cases of online fraud by giving victims a place to report scams.
“We share a joint partnership with the FBI over the Internet Fraud Complaint Center,” said Shawn Hutton, research associate for the National White Collar Crime Center.
Reports are filtered to the center and then forwarded to local law enforcement. The FBI maintains cases involving high dollar amounts.
In the event a Nigerian scam letter is received, the recipient should fax a copy of the letter and indicate whether or not financial loss was suffered to the center. This information will be added to the task force database. If money was lost, a U.S. Secret Service agent will contact the victim to further investigate the matter.
