Midwesterners Fight Back

As the guardian of a fraud victim, I have grown accustomed - perhaps too accustomed - to being told there is nothing law enforcement officials can do to stop Carribean scammers, because they are operating outside of the U.S.

One state is no longer satisfied with this answer: Minnesota. To see what they are doing and learn more about Jamaican Advance Fee fraud, click here and here.

Evidently, the long arm of the law can stretch, if folks are willing to extend themselves.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

To keep victims paying, Advance Fee fraudsters can get pretty creative.

Knowing that my father had borrowed heavily against his credit card to pay their phony fees, the crooks offered to pay off his balance (over $15,000) in exchange for $500 in cash, a proposition so absurd that even my impaired dad questioned it.

Anticipating pop's skepticism, the scammers cooked up the following charade, to make it look like they were making good on their ridiculous promise:

First, they obtained my dad's credit card number. Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly, because my father was way over his limit), they did not make unauthorized charges on his account.

Second, they 'paid' my dad's bill by phone using the issuing bank's automated system, which asks for an account number, a routing number, and sometimes a check number. According to law enforcement officials, the withdrawal was made either on a bogus account, or without authorization from a legitimate account, such as the checking account of another scam victim.

Here's where it gets interesting: Transactions are posted to the credit card company's computer almost immediately, sometimes two, or even three days before the check is processed by the bank. This creates the illusion of payment when no money has, in fact, changed hands.

Not that most victims would know it. If the cardholder contacts the provider the day after the scammer 'pays their bill,' they will be told their balance is zero. The con men know the payment is a mirage, and pressure victims to send cash before it evaporates. In short: They use the float - the time it takes the check to bounce - to pick their pocket again.

Such are the lengths these Carribean dirtbags will go, to lend credibility to a scheme that any kid who's been offered a shiny new penny in exchange for a dirty old quarter, can see through.

White Knight, Black Heart

Perpetrators of Advance Fee fraud are so contemptuous of victims that they will rip them off coming and going.

By "coming and going" I mean that, after swindling them, the crooks try to extract even more cash from their quarry by riding to their rescue. Which is to say: Jamaican scammers try to get even more money from victims, by pretending to help them recover the money they stole.

All for a fee, of course, payable in advance, in cash.

This con - commonly known as a Recovery scam or "reloading" - was run repeatedly on my father. Though the approach was basically the same each time, my dad's would-be rescuers varied, and included fictitious characters such as

• Internal investigators from Publisher's Clearing House, and Wachovia Bank
• FBI and IRS agents
• Officials from the FTC
• Representatives of bogus watchdog and anti-fraud organizations
• Goodhearted colleagues of "the bad guys"

With heroes like this, who needs villains?

The Department of Homeland Absurdity

One technique Advance Fee scammers use to defraud people, is impersonating officials from government agencies. You name 'em, they've faked 'em, to get victims to cough up more dough.

In my father's case the criminals pretended to work for U.S. Customs, the IRS, and the FBI. Now, a new institution has joined the mix: The Department of Homeland Security.

Rather than describe this ruse, I will let the crooks speak for themselves, as they did in a cheesy letter (bearing an obviously scanned-in image of the DHS seal) sent by one of their minions in Colorado:

Attention: Mr. John Doe

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) takes this opportunity to inform you that upon investigation we have found out that you have been supporting terrorist groups in Jamaica.

Senate Bill 1906, the Homeland Security Enhancement Act, closely tracks all the transactions and supporters of these groups and it is within this bill that we detect, detain, and charge all supporters of these groups who undermine our safety and our values.

We also wish to inform you that a cheque containing $5,500,000.00 was won from the Australian Sweepstakes and Lottery by you and should have been paid out to you from January 31st 2009.

However, this package is yet to be claimed because of incomplete payments, instead you have been supporting these groups in Jamaica.

It has been brought to our attention that person's from Jamaica using the area code (876) has been using our office name as a means of collecting money from you claiming that they are acting on behalf of us, please bear in mind that the Department of Homeland Security does not use a third party. All information that we need to relate comes directly from us to you.

Let us hereby remind you that 3,000 innocent men, women, and children paid for this policy with their lives on September 11, 2001.

In order to assist you in clearing your anti-terrorist records we will have to provide legal documents to prove that your support was not intentional but was an act of ignorance to the fact that you were not aware of this policy.

For the provision of these legal documents and also to set up a new record, you are asked to pay a sum of $45, 678.45 which must be paid no later than March 23, 2009.

Failure to comply with this payment will allow us to assume that your payments towards these groups were intentional.

Please direct all calls and queries to Mr. Nigel Lynch Chief Executive Head of Security at 214-427-4685.

We anticipate your response.

Yours Sincerely

David Prendergast
DHS Assistant Manager

For our mutual amusement and edification, let's deconstruct the aforementioned letter, point by point.

1. If the Department of Homeland Security wants to contact you, they won't write a letter: They'll knock on your door. Same with the FBI.

2. Who but an Englishman, or a British colonial (such as a Jamaican) refers to a check, as a cheque?

3. How likely is it that the DHS either knows, or cares about, who wins foreign lotteries? Or whether the payments necessary to collect such winnings, are incomplete?

4. No legitimate sweepstakes or lottery requires winners to pay money, to claim their winnings. And any organization that can cut a good check for $5.5 million, is capable of deducting (and subsequently paying on the winner's behalf) any fees, before sending it out.

5. To the best of my knowledge, the DHS never asks for, or collects, money from citizens.

6. Call me crazy, but $45,678.45 sounds random, and is a lot of money to "provide legal documents and set up a new record." Last time I checked, the going rate for that sort of thing was $3.99 (just kidding).

7. I called the number listed on the letter, and - no joke - you can literally hear the call being forwarded (nobody answered).

8. My father has been told by local law enforcement officials that Advance Fee scams often fund terrorist groups, and that by participating in them, he is subsidizing terrorism. Because the criminals have my dad's complete confidence, it is likely my father disclosed these conversations to the crooks, who are now trying to use knowledge of his 'contributions' to extort more money from him. Scumbags.

Absurd as the Homeland Security scam is, the sad fact is that somebody out there - out of fear, patriotism, or credulity - could fall for it.

Don't let it be you, or someone you care about.

Caller ID Spoofing: Putting The Phony In Telephony

Thanks to the Internet, word continues to spread that unsolicited calls from area code 876 (Jamaica) are suspicious and likely fraudulent. In response to this growing awareness, perpetrators of Advance Fee fraud are starting to hide the origin of their phone calls.

Because most recipients are leery of anonymous calls, the camouflage of choice for overseas con artists are fake domestic phone numbers, which can easily be substituted for international digits using VOIP (internet-based phone) technology. This deliberate falsification of phone numbers is known as Caller ID Spoofing ("spoofing" for short) and has become even easier, thanks to services like Telespoof, SpoofCard, and PhoneGangster.

In some cases, the fake number is just a diversion. In other instances, bogus numbers are part of a larger scheme to make the target believe that the crooks are calling from a legitimate entity (such as a bank or government agency like the IRS), or a specific locale.

A classic example of Caller ID Spoofing is the Gold Rush Sweepstakes, a phony enterprise for which scammers provide a number with a 702 (Las Vegas) area code. Unbeknownst to many victims, dials to these numbers are being rerouted to Jamaica by call forwarding services.

In another popular ruse - known as a Recovery Scam - the perpetrator spoofs past victims with a 202 (Washington D.C.) area code, to convince them they are FBI agents out to help them recover their lost money. In some cases, this is done to keep the victim from telling friends or family members that they have been scammed. In other instances, the would-be Fed tries to get the victim to pay a fee in advance, for his assistance.

The bottom line is: Anybody can make it look like they are calling from anywhere.

Helpful as it can sometimes be, don't be fooled by Caller ID.

The 411 on Area Code 876

If you've ever made an international phone call, you know that other countries have numbering systems that differ from those used in the U.S. and Canada.

Most of them, that is.

For reasons I have yet to discover, another nation shares the same ten-digit format, as the aforementioned countries: Jamaica, whose area code is 876.

Unless you have offshore acquaintances, don't drop your guard and pick up the phone if you get an 876 call, as it is almost certainly a scam. And for heaven's sake don't return the call, because all it will bring you is grief - that, and costly international phone charges, which apply regardless of how many minutes you have on your calling plan.

Birth of a Blog: My Dad's Story

For over a year and a half, my elderly father has been preyed upon by a ring of Jamaican con artists.

Their game is Advance Fee fraud (in the form of a Sweepstakes scam), wherein a large sum of money is promised in exchange for prepayment of certain fees, such as taxes and customs duties. It is all a hoax, of course, because no legitimate sweepstakes requires winners to pay to claim their prize.

If a target cooperates, the fees multiply and escalate, often in creative ways (the scammers have variously impersonated officials from Publisher's Clearing House, Federal Express, the IRS, FBI, and even the Department of Homeland Security). Naturally, the hoaxers demand payment in cash so they receive the funds immediately and there is no trail leading back to them.

I first became aware of my father's involvement in 2008 when he announced he was driving to the airport to meet a man who was going to deliver his winnings in a sweepstakes. Smelling a rat, I queried my dad and learned he had wired money to Jamaica to "release his prize." His unwillingness to disclose the sum sent a chill down my spine.

I told him it was clearly a scam, and tried unsuccessfully to talk him out of going to the airport. I then offered to tag along, but he refused to let me accompany him.

Naturally Mr. Prize Money was a no-show, although my father would later claim he had met him at Customs where his winnings were being "held up." I checked out his story with local officials, and they confirmed that no such thing ever happened.

Troubled by my father's credulity, I tried to convince him it was all a ripoff. I downloaded reams of evidence from the web, including warnings from federal agencies and testimonials from other victims. I even had the bunko specialist from the local police department talk to my dad in person. At the end of their meeting my father admitted that he had been duped, and thanked the detective for setting him straight.

Within twenty-four hours, he was sending money to the con men again.

Thus began my campaign to protect my parents against further loss, an undertaking that has pitted me against my dad, who in league with his controllers has been a formidable adversary.

Afraid of being overheard on the land line at home, my father started talking to the crooks in secret on his cell phone up to thirty times a day, and in one billing period his Verizon tab was over $2100. After I insisted on changing his mobile number, he promptly made it all for naught by making an outbound call to the criminals, revealing his new digits.

When changing my dad's cell number failed, I confiscated his mobile phone and swapped it for a model with restricted calling capabilities. The same day he responded by purchasing a prepaid unit at a local convenience store. When the prepaid phone proved to be a hassle, he ditched it and started calling his Jamaican masters from home, using international calling cards to keep overseas dials from showing up on his bill.

Then there were the money transfers: Although it took almost four months, I was finally able to persuade Western Union and MoneyGram to stop wiring funds for my father. It wasn't easy, though. Before they stopped, I had to monitor local outlets (such as grocery stores and Wal-Mart) for activity, often on a daily basis. I also circulated flyers warning WU and MG agents that my dad was being defrauded, begging them not send any cash on his behalf. While only one store had the guts to deny him service, all helped me by providing photocopies of my father's money transfers, which later proved useful.

Once blocked by the wire services, my father started sending envelopes stuffed with cash via UPS and FedEx. When I shut that down, he began sending money by Express Mail.

After exhausting every other option, our family was forced to take legal action and petitioned the court to appoint me conservator of my father's estate, because my dad would not grant me Power of Attorney. Luckily, the judge found sufficient cause to issue temporary letters of conservatorship until a hearing could be held to determine whether or not my dad was cognitively impaired.

After a series of delays there was finally a hearing, and the evidence compelled the judge to rule in our favor, and two months later I began serving as my dad's representative in matters involving money.

Since then I have been unraveling the knot of my father's expenditures. My parents' losses, I have discovered, are close to six figures. Furthermore, I've learned that, after emptying their joint checking and savings accounts, my dad borrowed money against the house and his credit cards to pay the con men's phony fees, which by my reckoning total over eighty installments. Thankfully my folks still have their home, and sufficient resources left to weather this financial storm.

As for my journey to conservatorship: To paraphrase the rock band The Grateful Dead, "what a long, strange trip it's been."

Along the way I have met bank officials, police detectives, fraud specialists, and FBI and Secret Service agents. I have talked to the Toronto police department, as well as the Federal Trade Commission and Attorney General's office. I have also spoken with people throughout the country who have been baited by the crooks with my dad's money. I even attended a meeting of Gam-Anon, a support group for family and friends of compulsive gamblers.

It has been an educational experience, and I am publishing this blog to share what I have learned, that others might not succumb to the scum who ripped off my father.