Your bank, the African prince and an internet scam

What’s the difference between your bank, an imprisoned West African prince and a con artist? Nothing.

If the punchline doesn’t sound funny, that’s because it isn’t and neither is what they have in common. Both your bank and the African prince are regularly used as a disguise for internet con artists.

It seems amazing that anyone would really believe that an unsolicited email, claiming to be from an African royal, or deposed general, desperately needing your help to smuggle his diamond-based fortune to safety, would be true.

But people still fall for these tricks, sending on their bank details and some cash to help secret the fortune out of Africa and ending up with nothing but a big hole in their bank balance.

What is less surprising is the number of people who fall for increasingly sophisticated phishing emails that try and garner people’s details with fake internet banking front pages. Despite repeated warnings, one of the world’s leading internet security firms says phishing scams are up 81% this year.

The problem is that the more internet savvy we get, the easier it is for the con artists.

Fake internet banking pages look remarkably real and we are almost always asked to quote memorable words, personal ID numbers, or mother’s maiden names when buying online or phoning firms. Meanwhile, individual profiles can be built up from information posted on networking sites, such as Myspace and Bebo and personal blogs.

So, what can you do? Well the best enemy against con artists is to stop and think for a minute.

Banks never ever send out unsolicited emails asking you to go and fill in all your details on a web page. If by some bizarre chance all their records on you were wiped, they would write to you. And if you ever get a letter saying that, go to the bank in person.

To avoid the other scams just remember two things – you don’t win lotteries that you haven’t entered and extremely wealthy imprisoned Nigerians do not randomly email the British public for help

- Simon Lambert, This is Money

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Comments

[Femi Oyetunde]

I marvel at the number of people that fall prey to these scams. Could it be that they are very desperate or they are simply very greedy and gullible.

I think people in developed countries have lived a sheltered life and are very "unstreetwise", it will be very rare to find Nigerians falling for these scams.

[NINA]

I HAVE RAN INTO A SITUATION THATS ALOT LIKE THIS HERES A COPY OF THE E MAIL HE SENT ME......

From Andani Royal Family
Prince Abu Yakubu Yana Andani.

Good Day my dear friend,

With due regard, I wish to request for your assistance in a financial transaction, I decided to contact you, based on a certain issue that is of paramount importance to me. But most importantly, I want you to show your credibility promise that you will be honest and trustworthy to me during my relationship with you, I am, until recently, a first year medical student at the university of Ghana, West Africa . On the 27th of November 2002, in my home town YENDI CAPITAL DAGBON, NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA, some unknown mobs attacked and brutal murdering in my family home with the killing of both uncles and aunts including my sister and my brothers most especially my father who was the key target, king or" Lion" of Dagbon, Ya-Naa, YAKUBU ANDANI 11.
WELL YOU CAN FIND OUT BY YOURSELF THROUGH (TELL MAGAZINE AFRICA) of November 29th 2002 Edition search event on the (regicide in dagbon region of Ghana and the attack in the Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani's palace. fortunately for me, I was at school when the attact took place. I equally lost my only sister to the" ABUDU MOBS". When I got home for the remains of my parents, I discovered a document indicating that my late father had deposited $16.7 Million united states dollars (Sixteen Million Seven hundred thousand US dollars) in a bank I.C.B, international commercial bank of ghana.

This money, according to the document, was meant for the building of an ultra modern hospital for me by my late father, when I complete my studies. Upon the discovering I kept it intact for the benefit and the safer of my life to make claims for the mentioned money as the only surviving next of kin to my father. But deliberately, I have decided to keep all my uncles and aunts out of the issue, as none of them will be happy to know I am in possession of this money and decided to invest it with you in your country. I have succeeded in making the people at the security firm to believe that I am the next of kin and all the documents related to it are now with me. I do not know what to do with it but I have decided to contact you to seek your assistance in helping me to take it out to your country or through your offshore account and help me to come to your country to continue my education, so that you will help to get the money invested until such a time that I will be ready to be in need of it. I am really desperate as I am left alone now in this world. Most importantly, I seriously appeal that you maintain high level of secrecy and confidentiality with the whole transaction.

Thanks and may God bless and guide you. more detail await your urgent response. PRINCE ABU YANAA ANDANI: NB: I HAVE THE DEPOSIT DOCUMENTS THAT WAS ISSUED TO MY LATE FATHER BY THE BANK IN MY POSSESSION. IF YOU NEED TO HAVE A LOOK AT THEM, PLEASE DO REPLY AS URGENT, FOR ME TO SEND THEM DOWN TO YOU THROUGH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, AND ALWAYS WRITE ME THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL BOX mail to :princeabuandani@yahoo.com.
Please, use only this email address for the confidentiality with this very transaction. I'm honorably seeking your assistance in these following areas. (1) To help in providing a realiable bank account where this money will be kept, immediately after transferring it from the bank. (2) To stand as the guardian of this fund, since I am still too young to handle such amount of money on my own. (3) To make arrangements for me to come over to your country immediately after we mighty have transferred the fund from the bank to your bank. Looking forward to your urgent response.
Your's Sincerely:
Prince Ya-naa Andani.

[Dick Conway]

Sounds great, I'll better rush my details immediately!

[tricia mcpartlin]

I really cant understand how some people can fall for this scam??? even reading it has got me giggling to myself thinking of how stupid this fella must think we all are if we fall for this!!!

[inverclyde22]

If everyone followed the correct procedures then the scams would, hopefully, die out.

1/ Left click on the e-mail and click on 'properties', copy and paste the e-mail, and the properties of the mail, into your word processing programme, if you don't want to do this then print them out, scan them and save both as pictures.

From the properties box you will be able to find out just where the e-mail came from, it's more than likely to be a hotmail account.

2, Send the ISP a copy of the e-mail and the properties, and request that they close the e-mail facility down. They may come back to you for more information, but in my experience they are very willing to take the reuqested action agains these fraudsters,

3/ Send a copy of the e-mail and the properties to your local police fraud section. There are various databases being built by the police, so every bit of info that they get is something extra for them.

4/ Sit back with a smug smile because you've done your bit to stop the fraud, and, not been taken in by it. WELL DONE.

I have been getting a series of e-mails from a man known as John Komo. He claims to be from the Ivory Coast and wishes to deposit 10.7 million dollars into my bank account.

The money he claims to own was willed to him by his deceased father a wealthy coconut grower.

His lawyer or barrister is wanting to send this money directly into my account. Anyway I went to my bank and they claimed this whole thing was a scam.

So I decided to go to another bank and open up another account with little money so they could not pilfer funds if such a transcation is bogus.
What clandistine operations could they carry out with my identity and bank information?

Waiting for a response?

Robert MacDonald