Nigerian Inheritance Scam Artist Busted

Four men have been indicted on federal charges they masterminded a Nigerian get-rich-quick spam scheme that netted the alleged fraudsters more than $1 million, the U.S. Department of Justice announced

The defendants – Nnamdi Chizuba Anisiobi, Anthony Friday Ehis, Kesandu Egwuonwu and "John Doe 1" – are accused of persuading victims into sending them more than $1.2 million in cash in exchange for a piece of an non-existent inheritance, according to a Justice Department statement.

The men were charged with eight counts of wire fraud, and one count each of mail fraud and conspiracy. Anisiobi additionally was charged with one count of bank fraud.

Anisiobi, Ehis and Egwuonwu are awaiting extradition to the United States after Dutch authorities arrested them Feb. 21, the statement said. Two of the men are Nigerian citizens who were living in the Netherlands. The fourth defendant, John Doe 1, whose aliases include Eric Williams, Lee, Chucks and Nago, remains at large.

"We cannot allow these scam artists to prey on innocent victims in this country," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher said, "and we will work across the globe to knock out these fraudulent get-rich-quick schemes."

U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf warned Americans to protect themselves against similar solicitations.

"Potential victims need to know that any email offering millions of dollars that requires they send money to receive this windfall is a scheme," she said. "Delete it."

Scammers Working Overtime

Award Claim

This is to inform you that your email ID has won
US$1,000,000. 00 in the first category of our computer ballot email
lottery with the said winning numbers giving below;

Ticket Number:
132/756/40027
Batch Number:VNFL/2986542754/AAF

Contact the claim dept
office:
E-Mail: ecoworldintern@aim.com
ecoworldintern3@aim.com

TEL: +31-610-698-963
www.staatsloterij.nl

You are also advice to
provide the following information:

Names:
Telephone
Ticket And Batch
Number:

Congratulations!
Mrs. Mariam Dominquez.
PROMOTION CO-ORDINATOR.
------------------------
How hard can it be to track these guys down they give phone numbers,Names and E mail addresses, how brazen have these people become , then we complaint that so may elderly fall victim to the scammers when the authorities that could do something, don't.

FBI Warns About Internet Fraud Schemes

The FBI is warning the public about an ongoing scheme involving jury service. Please be aware that individuals identifying themselves as U.S. court employees have been contacting citizens by phone and advising them that they have been selected for jury duty. These individuals ask citizens to verify names and social security numbers and then ask for their credit card numbers. If the request is refused, citizens are then threatened with fines. Details

Get e-mail updates when new fraud schemes are posted here

The FBI has an ecellent article covering all types of internet fraud schemes which are at a all time high, I highly suggest that you go and read this article and become familiar with the scammers's MO's methods of operation. Read more here =>>

Keep Hackers Out! Hackers pose a constant threat to the Home PC.

Hackers pose a constant threat to the Home PC. Keep Hackers Out!

Article by Valeria Gooner

If you've ever spent time just hanging around a big city's street, you may have noticed an interesting phenomenon: the car door handle flipper. He's the dude sauntering alongside a row of parked cars nonchalantly trying each door handle to see if it opens. He's looking for that promotion from urban nuisance to car thief. He's in no hurry and he doesn't discriminate between the cars. This is how computer hackers work as they search for access to someone's home computer.

Like the prospective car thief, hackers randomly and systematically scan machines on a network, like Road Runner's or Earthlink's for example, looking for a way in. The way in is one of the 65,535 ports that exist as a part of any machine's IP address.

If nothing is holding these access points closed, the hacker knocks until a port answers. Nothing personal, the whole thing is automated, and the hacker is probably off doing his laundry or playing UNO with his little brother while his port-scanning script runs wild over the network you happen to be using.

“Lately, a number of worms and virus infections have, among other things, ‘listened' on a particular port, so that when scanned, the infected computer is able to be controlled remotely. Computers that have been hacked this way are said to have a ‘back door,' and are used to send spam and conduct internet attacks, among other things. What this means is that the computer is completely unsecured and readable from across the net,” explains Rob Noel , Client Services Manager for OASIS. It is frightening to think that your machine might be used for nefarious purposes, isn't it?

Abridged for E.A. >>

When Sweepstakes Scammers Target The Elderly Should it be Considered Elder Abuse? Or Business as Usual?

Lottery and sweepstakes scams are on the rise and there seems to be little help for the victims, who fall for them. There also seems to be not very many consequences for the criminals, who are stealing people blind.

Paul Wenske of the Kansas City Star did a telling story in the Kansas City Star, which focuses on how senior citizens in the Midwest are being targeted and losing their entire life savings in the process.

Canadian telemarketers spent two years bilking Walter Blevins of Arkansas City, Kan., out of $300,000 — his life savings.

The scammers initially told the 78-year-old former aircraft worker he’d won $2.2 million in a lottery. He just needed to wire cash to cover the taxes and other fees on his windfall.

The article also states that no one seems to be able to help these people once they’ve sent the money, but these crimes are now being classified as “cross border fraud.”

The Missouri AG has tried to step in, but is limited in his jurisdictional powers to sending cease and desist letters to the scammers up North:

Seniors who make the mistake of responding to one mailing or phone call often end up on lists that are sold and resold, resulting in a flood of junk mail.

Late last year, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon launched “Senior Sting,” an ongoing operation in which 300 seniors were asked to save such solicitations. They collected 8,000 pieces of mail in the first month.

Don Burnett, of Louisiana, Mo., said at one time he was receiving eight mailings a day from foreign lotteries, sweepstakes and check schemes.

Interestingly enough, a lot of these solicitations are coming in junk mail and telemarketing calls and not from spam e-mails.

The article speculates that the fraudsters doing this are compiling telemarketing lists. While this is probably true, an information broker (InfoUSA) was recently accused of selling market segment targeted lists to some of these scammers.

Given the fact, most of these enterprises pose as legitimate businesses, I wonder how hard it is for them to simply purchase these lists?

The article also cites information from the Federal Trade Commission and the National Consumer League’s Fraud Center.

The NCL site has an entire section on Elder Fraud, which can be reached by clicking, here.

Not to be outdone, the FTC also covers this subject in great detail on their site, here.

What’s interesting to me is that I see elder abuse becoming a hot issue. The National Center for Elder Abuse is an organization that lobbies for stricter laws when senior citizens are abused.

While most of these telemarketing scams are considered fraud — which many think of as a low priority crime, perhaps if when it involves senior citizens, we think of it as elder abuse — the authorities on both sides of the border might begin to get more aggressive in prosecuting the criminals behind these schemes.

In my opinion — stealing a senior citizen’s entire life savings is nothing less and the criminals doing this deserve to be considered as what they truly are — one of the lowest forms of life on the Planet!
------------------------------------------
I could not agree with the writer more. Elder Financial abuse is a thriving business that supports others, such as legal, advertisement, marketing, in the name of capital gains our elders seem to be casualties and this is not acceptable to sensible people everywhere who are appalled by the insensitiveness of the authorities to move foward and make financial elder abuse a crime with tangible penalties and NOT business as usual.

Letters To Editor 9-4-2007 Beware Scams Everywhere

SAMANEGO & COUNSELORS AT LAW

06 BP 1409 AKPAKPA DODOMEYCOTONOU REPUBLIC OF BENIN.

Dear Friend, I have been waiting for you since to come down here and pick your Bank Draft but did not heard from you since that time.Then I went and deposited the Draft with Global Security Company here in Benin Republic, because I travelled to Iraq to see my boss and will not come back till next month end.I want You to contact the Shalom Courier Company to know when they will deliver your package. I have paid for the delivering charges and insurance fee.The only money you have to send to them is there security keeping fee which is $85.00 Us Dollars to received your package.This is their Contact Address, Contact Dr. PAUL ERIDirector Shalom Courier Company Benin Republic. E-mail:(daybydayservice_company001@yahoo.com.br)Phone number +229-93914170 Try to contact them as soon as possible to avoid increasing the security keeping fee.Below is the information you required to send to them;Full name......................Home address.....................Telphone...............Age......................Sex................I gave them your delivering address but you have to reconfirm it to them again to avoid any mistake on the delivering.__________________________________________________Note. The SHALOM COURIER COMPANY BENIN REPUBLIC don't know the contents of the Box. I registered it as a Box of an Africa cloths. They don't know it contents money. this is to avoid them delaying with the Box. don't let them know what is contains.I am waiting for your urgent response. You can even call the Director of SHALOM COURIER COMPANY with this line +229-93894157.Let me know immediately you receive your Draft.Thanks. BARR IDUU BAB

---------------------------------------------------

Dear Counselor Samanego

I see your are doing a good job counselor Samanego, you are doing what you do best .

How many of these messages do you have to get out to screw some old people out of their savings ? 1 out of 400 perhaps, maybe if you buy the mailing list InfoUSA advertised lists of “Elderly Opportunity Seekers,” 3.3 million older people “looking for ways to make money,” and “Suffering Seniors,” 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. “Oldies but Goodies” contained 500,000 gamblers over 55 years old, for 8.5 cents apiece. One list said: “These people are gullible. They want to believe that their luck can change.”

Perhaps if you try the List Suffering Seniors,” 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease your odds will be better and perhaps one day when Elder Financial Abuse isn't such a popular and profitable undertaking our politicians will pass laws to put scum like you in Jail.

Your New Badges and Banners Are Ready

Here are some badges for the initiative Bloggers against Abuse. For any and all information about the project Go to : You Can Be Part of Blogging History

Instructions: Copy and Paste the code in the box next to the badge you've chosen, in order to insert it into your website.

Spread the word among all the bloggers you know!

and link them to the page relevant to the abuse that you want to document and have on record .....

--- and be sure to link your posts to You Can Be a Part of Blogging History.

I don't know how to thank Zazzà enough so I am not even goin to try ....to tell you how good that was, the new Banners and Buttoms, that is. Zazza you Rock !


Thank You Zazza your work on the design of the new badges !

And reading your Blog in your native language the daddy of the Romance Languages, Italian.. it doesn't get any better than this Folks !

To be perfectly fair thanks to all the graphic designers who put their time into this , please Email me and I will link you.

Bilking the Elderly, With Corporate Assistance

The thieves operated from small offices in Toronto and hangar-size rooms in India. Every night, working from lists of names and phone numbers, they called World War II veterans, retired schoolteachers and thousands of other elderly Americans and posed as government and insurance workers updating their files.

Then, the criminals emptied their victims’ bank accounts.

Richard Guthrie, a 92-year-old Army veteran, was one of those victims. He ended up on scam artists’ lists because his name, like millions of others, was sold by large companies to telemarketing criminals, who then turned to major banks to steal his life’s savings.
Mr. Guthrie, who lives in Iowa, had entered a few sweepstakes that caused his name to appear in a database advertised by infoUSA, one of the largest compilers of consumer information. InfoUSA sold his name, and data on scores of other elderly Americans, to known lawbreakers, regulators say.

InfoUSA advertised lists of “Elderly Opportunity Seekers,” 3.3 million older people “looking for ways to make money,” and “Suffering Seniors,” 4.7 million people with cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. “Oldies but Goodies” contained 500,000 gamblers over 55 years old, for 8.5 cents apiece. One list said: “These people are gullible. They want to believe that their luck can change.”

“I loved getting those calls,” Mr. Guthrie said in an interview. “Since my wife passed away, I don’t have many people to talk with. I didn’t even know they were stealing from me until everything was gone.”

Telemarketing fraud, once limited to small-time thieves, has become a global criminal enterprise preying upon millions of elderly and other Americans every year, authorities say. Vast databases of names and personal information, sold to thieves by large publicly traded companies, have put almost anyone within reach of fraudulent telemarketers. And major banks have made it possible for criminals to dip into victims’ accounts without their authorization, according to court records.

-----------------------------------------------

Elders everywhere seem to be getting very little protection from the system they contributed to all their lives, when an elder starts to get infirm, and his mind starts to fail it's a race to see who can get to his/her assets first.

Family members often get first shot at them and if they fail or fall sleep on the job then professionals step in with corporate assist, then the attorneys and the courts follow once a guardian is named by the courts, regardless of what that person set out in his Will and Testament, or what other arrangements that person made, the courts take over and the 'Ward' then has less rights than a convicted criminal and becomes legally a non person.

Clara was diagnosed with dementia and started being aggressively treated for Alzheimer's in 2004 by summer of 2004 she was scurried away, put in isolation, drugged and made to sign new Power of Attorney, Quit Claim Deeds and her accounts were closed and liquidated.

"When did this become acceptable behavior in the United States of America? How can it be that a widow with the foresight to prepare a will to govern in these exact circumstances can have her wishes overruled without ever being heard or considered while the funds and permission necessary to clear her name are placed in someone else's hands?" Albert Simon

Your help is needed to persuade legislators to do something about this problem. Please share this information with family members, friends, neighbors, legislators, and other acquaintances.

Internet Scams Rise : Authorities Lack Inclination to Curtails This Kind Abuse

But there's no one way that people try to take advantage of the elderly. Greenwood described a contractor scam, in which contractors tell elderly homeowners that they need crucial structural work done immediately and if the owner will just write a check, the contractor will fix it. Or there's the salesmen who persuade 85-year-olds to purchase 10-year annuities—a legal transaction, but perhaps not practical. But Kulinski, Cartier and Greenwood all spoke to CityBeat about the "in" con: The Canadian Lottery Scam.

The grift runs like the Nigerian scams so common over e-mail. An elder—let's call her "Ethel"—receives a letter congratulating her on winning the Canadian lottery. The envelope contains a check for the first payment, but to get the rest, she needs to pay the taxes on it. To find out how best to pay the taxes, all Ethel need do is call the number in the letter to figure out where she should send the tax payment. Naturally, even if Ethel sends the money, she will never receive her winnings, and the check for the first installment will bounce.

In one specific case recently, the niece of an elder like Ethel intercepted the letter and passed it on to Greenwood. He called the number and tried to lure the scammer into giving himself away. When he didn't, Greenwood identified himself to the scammer and received curses for his trouble. On the day last week when Greenwood showed CityBeat the letter, he then turned to the phone, pushed the speaker button and dialed 778-318-6211.

"This guy is a crook, he has no conscience at all," Greenwood said as the phone rang.

A man answered.

"Hello, Liberty Investments, how may I help you?" a voice purred on the other end, with a hint of a Caribbean accent.

"Is this Jim Lewis?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"This is Paul Greenwood, the prosecutor."

A pause. Greenwood pushed harder: "Are you still scamming old ladies for their money?"

"Go to hell!" The accent was distinct now. "You are an idiot! You don't have a job to do!"

And he hung up. Greenwood looked up. "They're so brazen."

Greenwood has contacted the federal authorities, plus colleagues in Vancouver (the city with the 778 area code) and Los Angeles, but everyone lacks either the resources or inclination to pursue this kind of case.

Internet Scams - On the Rise!

RS ONLY:
THE PEPSI COMPANY PROMOTION/PRIZE
#1 PEPSI AVENUE,
GRANDMAND LONDON.
QW1 3HW UNITED KINGDOM

Dear Lucky Winner,

THE PEPSI COMPANY OFFICIAL SEASONAL PRIZE PROMOTION 2007 We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws held on the (5TH MAY, 2007 ) by pepsi world Promotion, your email was among the 16 Lucky winners who won £1,500,000.00(One Million Five hundred thousand Great Britain Pound Sterlings) each on the pepsi company promotion.

However the results were released on the26TH MARCH, 2007 and your email was attached to ticket number (HTT726W) and ballot number
(BT:5643325/30) The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of 30,000 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet.

How ever, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy. The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.
This Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.

In other to claim your £1,500,000.00(One Million Five hundred thousand Great Britain Pound Sterlings) prize winning, which has been deposited in a designated bank. However,you will have to fill the form below and send it to the Promotion manager of THE PEPSI COMPANY for verification and then you will be directed no how you can claim your winning funds.

NAME:.....................................
AGE:........................................
SEX:........................................
ADDRESS:...............................
EMAIL:....................................
PHONE:...................................
OCCUPATION:.........................
COMPANY:..............................
NEXT OF KIN:...........................
ZIP CODE:...............................
STATE......................................
COUNTRY:................................
NATIONALITY............................

Please you are adviced to complete the form and send it immediately to our events manager through email for prompt collection of your fund.

(CONTACT EVENT MANAGER)
Name: Mr. Jimmy Jones,
EMAIL:pepsieventmanager_jimmy@yahoo.co.uk

You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your ticket number and ballot number. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).

*Staff of pepsi and the British American Tobacco Company are not to partake in this Lottery.Accept my hearty congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Rawling Phill
C0-ordinator

Protecting Elders from Fraud

by Zac Bissonnette

A piece in the Sunday New York Times tells the sad story of Richard Guthrie, a 92-year-old man who was defrauded of his life savings through an elaborate scheme perpetrated by criminals posing as telemarketers. These evil people take advantage of elders like Mr. Guthrie, who are particularly susceptible to fraud because they may be too trusting or lonely, and in dire financial straits. In Guthrie's case, he was living on the $800 per month he receives from Social Security. He passed the time since his wife passed away by entering sweepstakes contests, and the promoters frequently, and knowingly, sold his personal information to unscrupulous people.

Elder fraud strikes me as the most evil of white-collar crimes, and I did some looking around on the internet for resources for understanding and preventing the financial abuse of the elderly.

I have a copy of ex-con turned private investigator Barry Minkow's Frauds Gone Wild: Protecting Yourself from Elder Abuse. The DVD provides an entertaining look at the psychology of this crime, as well as offering an acronym that provides some suggestions for how to avoid being taken. While it strikes me as expensive at $17.99, it's a must for senior centers or church groups. Watch it with friends.

Fraud.org also has a nice section on elder fraud and telemarketing fraud, as well as Five Tips for Protecting Elders from Telemarketing Fraud. The Department of Justice also has a piece on why seniors are so vulnerable to fraud, and how to prevent it.

If you have elderly parents, or perhaps a neighbor, I strongly recommend reading through these materials, and discussing these issues with them. I had a nice talk about it with my grandmother today.

Email Internet Scams

Hello My Dear,

Complement Of The Season,

This is to thank you for your effort.I understand that your hands were tied.Not to worry. I have succeeded,the money has been transfered into the account provided by a newly found friend of mine in Australia.

To compensate for your past assistance and commitments,i have dropped an International Certifie Bank Draft of the sum of(US$950,000.00) for you.
I am in London with my family presently.I do intend to establish some business concerns here,and possibly buy some properties.Contact my Secretary in BENIN-Republic, Mr Frank Oji on(frankoji00@yahoo.fr )
Tel:+229-9301-7559 Forward my mail to him,then ask him to send the cheque to you.

Take good care of your self.
Regards,
Dr Andy West.

That's very kind of you Mr. West to have dropped that check for me , of course there will be small handling fee that will cover the cost of your secretary mailing me the check, I wonder how many people fall for these scams, obviously some people make a living scamming elders who are trusting and suceptible, especially if they have never heard of these types of scams.

Internet Scams on the Rise -BEWARE-

There has been a rise of Internet scam such as these, with my E mailbox inundated with lotteries,bank letters and all types of Internet scams.

They are coming in about as fast as I can block them them.

COMPENSATION FOR YOUR PAST EFFORT

Dear Colleague,

This is to inform you about my success in getting the money moved under the cooperation of a new partner from South Korea.

Now contact my secretary,his name is Peter Rock and his email address
is(peter.rock0@yahoo.com) ask him to send you US$800,000.00 in a Certified Draft which i kept for your compensation for all the past efforts and attempts to assist me in this matter.

The Secretary is very much informed by me about you and I instructed him to hand over the Draft to you as soon as you contact him. I gave him the CODE 555, which you have to mention for identification.

Note that at times I will be in the site and the Internet does not work there. Only when I am in the city.

Regard
Marc Moussa