In a survey conducted by the US Postal Inspection Service along with advocacy groups and companies such as Bank of America, Citigroup and American Express, nearly one in five adult Americans admitted they or a family member have fallen victim to a financial scam of some sort.Victims typically lose $3,000 to $4,000, according to an estimate by the non-profit National Consumers League.
Lottery scams are one of the most common scams over the internet.This is how it works.The victim receives an unsolicited e-mail which says that he has won a major prize in an international lottery.His e-mail address is stated to have been collected online and attached to a random number that was then entered in a draw for the lottery.In order to collect the prize the victim is requested to contact the agent in charge of his case and is also advised to keep it confidential for security reasons. This is a random phishing attempt and if the victim responds to the e-mail he will be requested to provide banking details,personal information and maybe copies of passport and driving license. This information is supposedly required as proof of identity, and if it is given, the scammers will at least have stolen his identity. Thereafter the scammers will usually ask for some advance fees to cover administrative costs, legal or delivery expenses.If the victim pays he may be requested to pay some more to cover 'unexpected expenses' and so on till he realizes he has been tricked. These days scammers are even sending fake cheques to cover the initial expenses.Thanks to technology these cheques look quite genuine. Victims deposit it in their bank accounts and the banks usually credit it to their accounts in a few days as per rules, pending verification.The victims gladly send this money to the scammers. Later on when the banks find out that the cheques are fake they realize the money from the victim.
In a drive against scammers the Postal Inspection Service, along with law enforcement agencies abroad, has seized more than half a million fake cheques, with a face value of over $2 billion and made several arrests in the Netherlands, Nigeria and Canada. The Postal Inspectors have formed a group called the Alliance for Consumer Fraud Awareness. Their anti-fraud campaign includes a website,Fakechecks.org Hopefully it won't be long before protection from such scams becomes available.