Can this trip be saved? Email scam cost me $6,600 — can you get it back?

December 27, 2010

Think you’ll never fall for one of those email scams — you know, the ones where someone hijacks a friend’s Gmail account and pretends to be a traveler in distress?

Well, if you think you’re too smart to become a victim, think again. Carlo has a doctorate in math, and I’ve agreed to use only his first name, because he lost four months’ salary just before Christmas to this electronic swindle.

“I wouldn’t like to be publicly known as a dupe in my school,” he says.

Carlo wants to know: Is the money gone forever? Or can I help him recover some of it?

I’m fascinated by how this crime unfolded. For the first time ever, a victim has allowed me to republish the entire correspondence between himself and the perpetrator, in its entirety. (One thing to note is that English isn’t Carlo’s first language.)

The ruse started when a respected mathematician’s email account was taken over by thieves. They sent the following email.

Apologies for having to reach out to you like this, but I made a quick trip to London,United Kingdom and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it.

The embassy is willing to help by authorizing me to fly without my passport, I just have to pay for a ticket and settle Hotel bills. Unfortunately, I can’t have access to funds without my credit card, I’ve made contact with my bank but they need more time to come up with a new one.

I was thinking of asking you to lend me some quick funds that I can give back as soon as I get in. I really need to be on the next available flight.

Here’s how Carlo replied:

I am honored to be able to help you. Just let me know how I can send you money and how much money.

I think that the easiest way for me is to give you the number of my credit card.

Tomorrow morning early I will ring you up. Why do you need to catch the first fly back?

Couldn’t you just enjoy the rest of your stay in London and settle everything when you are back ?

Please rely on my help, I’ll do everything I can.

So Carlo was willing to believe this came from the professor, and eager to help. That was his first mistake.

The “Professor” replies:

Thanks, please I don’t know how much you can help me with but I need to borrow about $2,300 or whatever you can help me with, I will pay back as soon as I get back home.

Can you make western union transfer to me, please let me know if possible so I can forward you details for transfer. Thanks.

Ah, the demand for cash. That should have been another tip-off.

Yes, I can send you that amount of money by Western Union. I’ll do it tomorrow as soon as my bank and offices open. I thought you were sleeping. I’ll now try to ring you up.

Now things start to get interesting:

Professor: Thanks, please I don’t know how much you can help me with but I need to borrow about $2,300 or whatever you can help me with.

Carlo: The most important thing is that you are safe and calm. I can lend you even more than that, as much as you need. Just let me know. How much money do you need ?

Professor: 2500 $ is OK.

Carlo wires him $2,500 the next day, which happens to be the per-day limit imposed by Western Union. So we have several warning flags that have gone up already: the suspicious email, the demand for cash, and the per-day limit for wiring money. Bear in mind that Carlo is teaching in Italy and the Professor is supposedly traveling in England.

Carlo: Please, acknowledge reading this message.

Professor: Thanks for everything, am so grateful, will keep you posted on my itinerary. Thanks.

Carlo: OK, if you need more money and find another way, like moneygram or whatever, just let me know.

The criminals can’t pass up an offer like that. So they they send the following note:

I got the money and thanks very much to you, I’m just back from the airport, I secured an available flight for tomorrow midnight costing $1,800 and they said I need to have a Basic Traveling Allowance (BTA) of $1,650 on me, can you believe these people?

Anyway I was expecting another $2000 from another friend of mine. since I didn’t wanna put everything on you but he’s postponing it till Wednesday next week and that’s just too much of a waste of time for me, so i was thinking if i could just ask you to lend me another $2800.

I promise to get it back you as soon as I arrive tomorrow. Please let me know if possible whatever you can raise. Thanks for everything.

And you know what happens next, don’t you? Carlo sends him more cash after the “Professor” tells him that his brother is in bed with a fever and can’t help him.

When he sent the equivalent of $4,100 more, and gets no reply from the “Professor,” Carlo starts to worry.

I am starting fearing a swindle. Confirm it’s you. Write me something just you can know.

And here’s where it all ends. Well, almost. Another professor at an Ivy League university apparently also fell for it. These are educated men.

As I explained earlier this year, this scam is becoming common. It’s hard to tell which is more challenging to the fraudsters: hacking into your email account or persuading one of your friends to send you money.

I’ve reviewed Western Union’s terms and conditions, and Carlo doesn’t have much of a case for a refund. That money’s gone. He’s filed a report with Italian police, but the perpetrators — wherever they are — are long gone.

What do you think? Should I try to bring his case to Western Union’s attention, anyway? Or is this a $6,600 lesson learned?

A poll of more than 600 readers taken this morning says: lesson learned.

(Photo: Ca Ra/Flickr Creative Commons)

Lisa S

I feel for Carlo, but I don’t see what you could possibly do. It is not Western Union’s fault. Did Carlo actually talk with the professor by phone? Did he recognize the voice? Did he send an email to the professor’s account, and because it was hijacked the criminals were able to answer? This is most unfortunate. Hopefully the police will be able to help. Maybe the Western Union where the thieves picked up the money had CCTV. I am afraid Carlo is out of luck.
Roberto Pascal

What a shame to lose money like this. I’m wondering why he still sent the money yet hadn’t talked to the prof via phone.
Heather

@David,
He should have checked, but I still won’t blame him for having money stolen as he did nothing to deserve such other than be naive. But, I’m not blaming WU for the theft either. Change the name, change the service and it still may have occurred. I just think they could be more proactive in stopping the scamming across the board. That is the only thing I would expect on their part. I don’t expect them to hand out refunds of all the funds sent to everyone because they were not the ones stealing. They are entitled to their cut because they did provide a service and it obviously went through, it just seems sort of crappy to be making money off of it.
Sadie Cee

We are indeed our brothers’/sisters’ keeper but there is nothing that says that we should abandon all good sense in seeking to help them.

Unfortunately, Carlo was duped and we all regret that there is nothing that can be done to recover his money. Western Union is definitely not responsible, but at the same time there is some information that we all need to have in order to avoid repeating Carlo’s mistakes.

Credit Cards – Most, if not all, European hotels make a record of a credit card at the time of registration. Some even require this information when the reservation is made by phone. The “professor’s” hotel in London would certainly have done this and would have had a record of his credit card to which charges could be made.

Bank Accounts – Banks will make transfers of funds if the account holder is able to provide satisfactory personal information and passwords. The genuine professor would have been able to do this.

Consulates abroad – They will allow their facilities to be used by destitute travellers to contact relatives and friends at home in order to obtain the needed assistance.

Repatriation – Most countries have repatriation policies and will provide financial assistance to their destitute citizens who qualify. If the person has no relatives or friends who are willing to assist, the govt. will see that the person is returned safely to the home country. If Carlo had known this, he could in good conscience have refused to assist the “professor.” If no one else came forward, the consulate would have provided a temporary travel document and airfare. Of course, this airfare must be repaid later.

At the very least, Carlo should have attempted to contact his professor friend before answering the distress call.

For all of us, it should be standard procedure before leaving home to list (or photocopy, if appropriate) details of credit cards, passports, bank accounts and itineraries. Traveller’s cheques should be purchased and only a minimum amount of cash carried. Travel insurance to cover most eventualities should also be obtained. One copy of these records should be kept on one’s person and a duplicate left with someone at home.

The curious part of this to me is, if the “professor” had Carlo’s email address, how come he didn’t have Carlo’s phone number?
Luc Terje Auvinen

I wouldn’t have sent the money without speaking to the “professor” on the phone.

A simple call to the hotel or police station or embassy where the “professor” was would have saved money & aggrevation.
Raven

No way. Sounds like Carlo is a typical academic: all book smart, no street smarts. Time for him to wisen up. If it cost him $6000+ to learn his lesson, well then…that’s his problem.

NO SYMPATHY.
Jacqui

@ Arizona, well for Heaven’s sake you took that as far as you could. None of the other companies you listed are facilitating only the exchange of money, and my point was that Western Union like Craigslist are known stomping grounds for fraud. To suggest that following my logic would mean that builders of the building, and roads used would be culpable just to drive your point home is just plain silly. If you want to refute my point, fine, but at least have the sense like Carver had to explain how I’m wrong. He said, clearly and kindly that Western Union has an option to set up a security question. I didn’t know that, and so thanks to him, then I stand corrected, now knowing, well at least they’re acknowledging it and giving people an opportunity to try and safeguard their transfer. Good Heavens! Way to take a statement and run as far as you can with it! Kindness costs you nothing.

@ Carver, I stand corrected, thank you. (As I am sure I will in your other posting.) I am not always right, but I try at least to have a reasonable discussion, while stating my understanding, and am willing to correct it if I find it was wrong.
Brian

@Thomas “Why do so many comments go off a tangent regarding the victim’s doctorate and supposed lack of “common sense” or “street smarts” or whatever? Is it intellectual jealousy? Makes one feel better about oneself?”

It’s direct response to Chris’s article. In the second paragraph Chris says:

“Well, if you think you’re too smart to become a victim, think again. Carlo has a doctorate in math, and I’ve agreed to use only his first name, because he lost four months’ salary just before Christmas to this electronic swindle.”

So, we’re merely agreeing with a line of reasoning that Chris initiated in his article.

Perhaps you should get off your high horse and read the article.

But since you asked Thomas, does your holier than thou attitude made you feel superior?
Ed

well, it’s interesting to see P.T. Barnum’s adage still in operation in today’s day and age…This “Carlo” has we we call “book-smarts” and lack’s what we call “street-smarts”. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it takes both type to survive in today’s world.
And I hate to be cruel here, but $6,600 is 4 months salary? for someone with a PHD in math? That comes in at just under $20k/year! This is more telling about the poster’s “smarts” than the scam!
This money is gone…and there is really nothing that you can do to recover it. In today’s world, nobody has sympathy for a person who has been scammed by one of the most common scams on the internet (this scam goes back to the days of fax machines as well!)
All the OP can do now is report the incident and learn the lesson.
Here is a link that covers all kinds of scams and what to do about them…http://www.dslreports.com/faq/10451
Scroll through for the scam you were hit with and take the recommended action.
You’ll notice that this page was created way back in 2005…but this has been going on much longer than this.
BucksterSF

Carlo – for only $2500 I can help you get your money back. Do you remember where that Western Union office was?

I mean come on.

“”I wouldn’t like to be publicly known as a dupe in my school,” he says.”

Too late.

“Carlo wants to know: Is the money gone forever? ”

I do feel for the victim of any scam, but only to a point. If he has to ask this with any sincerity at all he has not learned the most valuable lesson.

This goes to show that school smarts really can’t be correlated with intelligence.
BucksterSF

@Ed:

“And I hate to be cruel here, but $6,600 is 4 months salary? ”

He was probably doing research. Those folks are as close to slave labor as it gets.
Jeanne in NE

@Arizona Road Warrior:

Exactly HOW does WU make one aware of scams? Other than posting articles on their web page? Does the average 80 year old grandma go looking on WU’s web page when her grandson needs money, or does she hustle on down and wire the money? The reason my mother-in-law’s sister went to the local media was to alert others in her community of the scam. WU in small town Nebraska told the local media (in nearby Omaha), when interviewed, that it wasn’t their job to watch out for fraudulent wire transfers, just to make the wire transfers.

I know that WU makes a great deal of money with remittances. I would guess that here in Nebraska, that the remittance business is less profitable than in Arizona. I don’t know what percentage of income these fraudulent transfers represent for WU, but they *are* making money off of them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be doing them.
Juan

These (and other) scams have made the news enough times. Who doesn’t get a weekly Nigerian email offer of millions, for example? Just send money please.
Anytime you are asked to send money into the unknown, isn’t it worth doing some checking first?
Please spare me the stories. A lesson learned, at a price.
Carrie Charney

Education and intelligence does not mean “street smarts.” He may be embarrassed, but he should go public in order to prevent this from happening to others.
Bill

Brian,
There are lots of people who have a lot of intelligence in acadamea, but can’t find their way out of a paper bag in the real world. This is not directed at Carlo specifically, it happens a lot. I do know some very intelligent people who do have street smarts, but for the most part, it is one, the other, or none.

I don’t know what one can do to help these people. Maybe Western Union should demand that at least the sender stipulate where the money is going so somone in Nigeria can’t pick up a transfer intended for London.

Still, London has a lot of people from all over, so does Amsterdam and a lot of other places. Some people excel in separating people from their money.

Have I been “taken in”? Maybe. But it is never more than what I can afford when I give someone the benefit of the doubt. $20 or $50, not $6000.

Carlo sounds like a wonderful person. I’m sorry he has had to learn this lesson such a hard way. There unfortunately isn’t much recourse.
carver

@Ed

I assume that you are not familiar with how academia works in the sciences. If you are on the professor track, you put in your time as a postdoc, in the same way that a medical doctor starts out as a resident; little salary until they achieve the assistant professor level. His salary says nothing about his smarts.

@Raven

Do you truly have no sympathy for Carlo as a crime victim? I hope to one day achieve your level of perfection where I will never make a mistake or do anything stupid.
deRuiter

Dear Carlo, I am Mrs. Bassington-ffrench, widow of the late Ambassador to Nigeria. My husband illegally amassed over 65 Million US during his tenure as Ambassador. The Nigerian Government is giving me a hard time about carrying the cash out of the country. Your stellar reputation is known to me through mutal friends. Please wire your bank account number and bank routing number. I will transfer the 65 million to your account to foil the Nigerian officials. When I arrive in America next week, you will transfer 60 million to my bank account, keeping 5 million for your trouble.
Yours in God’s love, Mrs. Hyacinthe Bassington-ffrench
Marcin

I think many of the posters are missing the point by focusing on ways Carlo could have unmasked the fraud or reiterating that Western Union is merely a tool to transfer money therefore having no responsibility how their services are used.

I think Chris should mediate not in the hopes of getting WU to compensate the loss, but with the intent that WU improve procedures to reduce such fraud and assist Carlo and all other victims with providing information to police to catch the fraudsters.

Despite my being long aware of this and similar scams, I have to admit the emails sound genuine and convincing… and that is the secret of their success. The scammers create generic and believable situations that someone not specifically expecting a scam *will* fall for. Just like I have to catch myself for a moment when one of those stupid “your account has been reset” emails happens to fake a service I actually use. Just like I have to catch myself before giving private info out on an incoming call from my “bank”, “credit card”, or “phone company”.

Even if we the informed manage to avoid ever getting scammed, they will catch our family, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, or any person who does not deserve to be stolen from. It is an economic burden that transfers wealth from honest hard-working people to lazy grifters. Educating people how to avoid scams is important, but it will not solve the problem as fast as cutting off the means for the scam.

Western Union could make this scam a lot harder:
- Inform customers at the point of transfer (no need for intrusive questions). There are basically three main scams: Emergency Funds (friend-in-need), Advanced Payment (service-from-stranger), and Fake Checks (cut-from-stranger). Write clearly on the transfer form or have the agent say: “Confirm the identity of anyone requesting emergency funds by asking for information only they would know. Do not pay for future services or products not delivered. Do not return money from a check that was sent to you. These are common scams. Consult our agent to learn more.” Western Union is literally there the moment victims most need information about these scams.
- Make it standard procedure to take a digital photo of everyone picking up money unless the sender specifically waives it on the transfer form. Allow the sender to see the photo (email it to them) and make it available to law enforcement if warranted. This would dissuade many scammers, help catch scams earlier, and help prosecute those who continue to commit them.
- Put limits on the amount of money first time customers can send (other companies like Skype use similar methods to reduce fraud).
- Disrupt the scams by setting facilitating fake transfers and coordinating with local police. Reduce the profit and increase the risk.

In fact, I think they should be able to keep their fee (or a portion) on the transfer if they are able to prevent a customer from being defrauded. Sure, the scams might move to other services, but many victims will be protected and WU could serve its legitimate transactions.

I want to believe that the people of Western Union honestly wish to keep their service from being used to steal money. Their website lists things their customers can do to prevent fraud. I could find no list of things Western Union is doing to prevent fraud. They have the power to do so most effectively. I think advocacy from people like Chris can help motivate them. Otherwise, they will end, many years down a road paved with fresh victims, with unwieldy regulation imposed on them by government, stifling their legitimate business.
DaveS

Great thoughts Marcin! I received the identical email Carlo did, but had read about the scam and ignored it. (I also knew the person wasn’t in London, so surely wouldn’t have fallen for it in this particular instance anyway.)

It’s a reminder that the crooks will always keep coming up with new ways to fleece people of their money – constant vigilance is the key.

If in doubt, the idea of asking the person for information only the legitimate person would know is great.
Jeanne in NE

@Marcin: “Their website lists things their customers can do to prevent fraud. I could find no list of things Western Union is doing to prevent fraud. They have the power to do so most effectively.”

Well stated! I also like the suggestions for WU to do so.
http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

While I was in Ireland in September, my Facebook and e-mail were hijacked. I was out and about and came back to my hotel to many frantic messages from friends and my husband.

No one wanted to act on it until hearing from me as the message said I was in London and all who knew me KNEW I was in Dublin. My husband was alerted to it via a police officer in NJ who took the time to call my husband in AZ.

It took me about a half hour to get passwords back into place as they take over your online life completely.

I would have to say to Carlo, this is a lesson learned. Never – NEVER – send money w/o confirming you are indeed talking to the person you think you’re talking to.

The other day, I got an IM from someone on FB I never get IMs from. I knew right away what it was. I contacted the person via an e-mail that wasn’t listed on his FB acct to let them know someone had taken over their FB account and he should act on it. I also kept the IMing going with the scammer until he could get back his FB and e-mail accts. So long as the scammer was talking to me, he wasn’t wreaking havoc on this guy’s life. It took about a half-hour but we managed to do it. I wish I had a transcript of the messages because I got the person pretty frustrated.

The last message I sent to the scammer was, “Go to hell, sh*thead. You’re not getting one thin dime from me. I hate crooks like you and I believe there’s a special place in hell for you.”

The Italian police won’t be able to do anything. The people doing it are probably in Nigeria or some such place. However, I can say, someone tried to hack my son’s FB acct. FB informed us as he’s a minor and they had it tracked to London.

Western Union should tighten up their policies that money sent to London needs to be picked up in London. Also, they should check IDs more closely. If it wasn’t so easy to get money from them, stuff like this would be reduced significantly.
http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

I should probably mention this: this particular scam is pretty convincing because they take over your FB and online e-mail accts. They then go through the contacts in all of these to send IMs. It’s much more personal than a generic e-mail or letter.

My normally savvy friends and family almost fell for it. Thankfully they waited until they actually SAW me via Skype. I had made it VERY well known to my closest friends and my family I would be on Skype while in Ireland.

Always have a back up contact system in the event something like this happens.
Nobody

Yeah, it’s all Western Union’s fault for Carlo’s gullibility. Make them institute costly changes and pass them along to the same people who complain about high fees on everything, especially ones from airlines.
Maybe Carlo is waiting for the Elliot-ffbloggers to email him $10 each on their credit cards.
Peter Verstage

Western Union could certainly do more to stop these scams. The majority of them originate in Nigeria, which is why they are called 419 scams after the article number in the Nigerian penal code. But the fact that these scams are reputedly the 3rd or 4th largest source of foreign exchange for that country means that there are a few vested interests working against clamping down on them. A quick search on google will give you an idea of their huge variety (and ingenuity) .
MJ

With all respect to you, Chris – your expertise lies in the business of Travel, and travel troubleshooting is where you excel. This incident is in no way related to travel, and is about a fraudulent and criminal activity. I am not sure why you should even go deeper into this. Wouldn’t it be advisable to direct the poor unfortunate person to the appropriate authorities?
Thomas

@marcin: very eloquently stated and best comment by far. Your suggestions seem quite actionable–assuming WU cares enough.

@brian: wow I’ve seemed to hit a nerve. So because Chris mentioned the guy’s education to say even smart folks can be fooled, that’s a “line of reasoning” that gives one license to go on personal attacks against someone you don’t even know? that they don’t have these magical “street smarts” and
“common sense” attributes? Wow. Let me guess, you fancy yourself too “street smart” to ever get scammed. Perhaps you should climb on a higher horse so you can
stop seeing what you want to see.

But since you asked Brian, yes I indeed feel superior to the pompous, insecure folks who like to blame victims so they can pat themselves on the back “oh that’d never
happen to me.” Thanks for asking!
http://rogerclarkphotography@gmail.com Roger C

When I get these emails I always string the guys along. I dangle money in front of them, try to get them to make to go to different hotels and pick the cash up. The after four or five days I try to turn the tables on them with my own sob story. Maybe in the process I took up enough of there time to keep them from scamming someone else.
Rachel

I’ve never used Western Union, so I don’t know exactly what their procedures are, but presumably when Carlo sent the money, he used the professor’s name as the recipient — wouldn’t the scammers need to have produced some sort of ID when picking up the transfer? If so, couldn’t WU possibly be liable for accepting a fake ID?
Ernest

Virtually all money scams are run through Western Union because when it is gone, it really is gone. The company does a lot to keep people from sending their money by trying to educate the senders. Some offices are very proactive but others are not. All the warning signs were there.

The pictures and cooperation with law enforcement might be a good start but don’t expect anything until we the people quit using WU and demand the fix the problem. They are not the crooks but they could do more to stop the scams.

The nigerian scam has been going on for over 30 years that I know of. I have seen Carlo’s scam quite a bit in the past 5 or 6 years. It is a cruel world and these thieves hurt a lot of good people who don’t need to be hurt. Unfortunately, that is the way it works.

For anyone intrested, I get quite a bit of updated scam information from a group called scambusters.org. It won’t help Carlo but if his decision to go public helps one person save his savings, then Carlo has paid his dues. Unfortunately, knowledge is the only way to fight these scams for now. Sorry Carlo, you are out the money.

I am sadistic myself so when I get one of those emails, I go along with it and keep stringing the scammer along as long as I can. Its my way of taking up their time.
http://www.cockam.com ajaynejr

Carlos pro-actively entered into the transaction, or snare, or dupe. Let that be a warning to others to not get involved so quickly or so emotionally.

So it is hard to say whether he can get anything back out of it.

Mediation that scratches the surface would not be out of the question but overall I would answer the question about mediation “no”.
Bill

For all of you talking about Western Union this and Western Union that…I don’t have the statistics, but judging from all of the foreign workers everywhere, I am quite sure that the “scams” don’t account for any significant amount of profit for WU and that it is more trouble in the bad publicity department than it is worth. WU provides a service that many people use quite regularly and they have built up quite an infrastructure for it. I am quite sure that scammers are not their target market, they can make more than enough profit on legitimate money transfers.

Stop picking on WU. The scammer pulled the scam on poor Carlo and seemed to have done it quite well.

This sort of thing has been in the news for years, Chris bugging WU about it isn’t going to do anything more.
Matt

@raven et al

I’m truly puzzled by your comment that you have “no sympathy” for Carlo (and other similar posts by those who seem to agree with you).

It would seem to me that one would generally feel some sympathy for a person (a “victim”) who is harmed by virtue of being morally wronged by another, where the victim is not morally culpable himself. I cannot see how one would say that Carlo was morally culpable. The only thing he appears to have done to lose your sympathy is to have been “stupid.” And his stupidity is proven by…the fact that he fell for the scam. It would seem that in your view, victims of a scammer are not worthy of sympathy.

I wonder then: are victims of scammers not worthy of sympathy because they have not, in your view, been wronged? If the victim of a scammer, in your view, has been wronged, then why not feel sympathetic towards the victim? That would seem to say more about you, and those who agree with you, then it says about Carlo.

If, in your view, Carlo (and other similar victims of scams) have not been wronged, then I would imagine you would agree that their scammers did not do anything wrong and are not deserving of punishment. Actually, I’m sure you would disagree with that. But why? If the “victim” of a scam is not worthy of sympathy (i.e. if the victim wasn’t wronged), why is the act of scamming worth punishing?
Mike Z

I haven’t read all the comments but do think the money is lost forever. However, I do think that Western Union can easily help people prevent this trype of stuff. it is no secret that people have been using WU for this type of scam for quite a while. how hard would it be for them to publish a one page warning for customers to read or advise people when they send above some amount like $400? Tell the customer about possible scams and tell them to make sure the charge is legit by actually speaking to the person in question. I’d bet that would make for a lot of happy current and future customers as well as effectively shut down scams like this.
PauletteB

@RAVEN: You’re “NO SYMPATHY” was just nasty! It must be nice to be so freaking perfect!
Carlo

Thanks Marcin and Matt.

@Ed and others :
I do earn some gross 20k$ per year, since I teach in an Italian high school.

Actually in these days I am raging against my stupidity. You all are right.

But instead of noticing all the little strange things that should have hinted at a possibly fake message, in those hours I was just thinking :
here is a friend in trouble, he is 83 years old, in a foreign country, far away from home, distressed because he was stolen everything, asking for help.
And I even sent more than was requested !!!

That money means I cannot buy new glasses and have to get along with my 16 years old ones, repaired with lace ; it means I’ll have no holidays next summer ; it means if I need the dentist, I’ll not be able to afford it.
But I was not thinking of this. I was thinking of helping a person in trouble, as soon as possible.

For all those who think the money transfer company has some responsibility, please read this article :

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/moneygram.shtm
Carlo

How Big is the Problem of Consumer Fraud?

Chris : “Well, if you think you’re too smart to become a victim, think again.”

The Federal Trade Commission replies : “30.2 million victims of one or more of the [consumer] frauds [in the United States]. This amounts to 13.5 percent of U.S. adult population.”

From : Consumer Fraud in the United States: The FTC Surveys,
by Keith B. Anderson
Bureau of Economics
Federal Trade Commission
February 25, 2009

available at the following address :

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/fraudforum/docs/b.Day1Panel2.ppt
Ernest

@ BucksterSF

Don’t laugh. There is an emerging business in ‘helping’ scam victims get their money back. It usually involves several emails to gain your confidence, than a small fee paid through a Western Union. Do I detect a pattern here?

Of course they promise they will get your money back once they have your fee. Then they have to ‘bribe’ an official to get the information so then need only one more payment. It never ends untill you end it.

Scam victims often are so embarrassed that they don’t want to let people know they have been victimized. They want to get their money back desperately and often are susceptable again.
Ernest

@ Marcin

Good ideas about the photo and making them available to law enforcement, unless your buddy at the local nigerian WU is part of the scam. Corruption in some countries is so rampant that the entire town may survive on ill gotten gains. My cousin NigerianJim behind the counter isn’t going to turn me in when he gets his share. If there is a cop, it is probably from another town or my other cousin NigerianBob.

We don’t seem to be able to stop Samolian hijackers and they get millions, I don’t forsee the nigerian scammers as becoming a top priority. All we can do is educate the public and do what we can to stop the fraud. Unfortunately, doing all we can seems to be substandard.
Carver

There have been alot of suggestions, but unfortunately most lack an understanding of how Western Union Works and who uses it.

Regular transfers require photo Id in order for the recipient to obtain the transfer. However, there is a special no id pickup for people who don’t have ID for whatever reason. Its that service that is being used by these scammers.

And that service is a legit service, I used it a month ago to send money to a friend who was in a bit of a jam.

I doubt if photo suggestion would really be useful. I doubt if the international police are going to spend alot of time and effort going after a nameless person who scammed someone in a foreign country of a relatively small amount (by law enforcement standards)
Meredith

Carlo;

While I truly feel for you, there is not a whole lot that can be done.

I got taken by someone I thought I cared about, brought him into my home and everything.

Over $5000 later and I’m still trying to recover from him.

Not a whole lot you can do other than chalk it up as a lesson learned and try to be more careful in the future.
Mic_p

Sorry if I’m harsh on him, but I think that, sometimes, you diserve this kind of lesson for being so stupid. My god, he even offered to send more money!!!???

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