A New Patriotic Wrinkle in an Old Financial Scam L. Wayne Mansur President and CEO Texoma Community Credit Union
Q: A reader forwarded an email to me with the following question: "I just got an email with the subject, A U.S. Marine Needs Your Assistance! and I’m wondering if it is legitimate." A: In a word, the answer is NO. I, too, have received a copy of the email you are referring to, and it saddens me to say that not only is it a blatant attempt to defraud you and steal your money, but I suspect that it will probably be relatively successful in the coming months at ripping off many unwary Americans. The email tells the tale of a Marine Captain who supposedly has found a stash of millions of U.S. dollars in Iraq, and needs your help in getting it back to the states. He conveniently fails to mention that his scheme and your involvement in it, would be enough (if true) to land the both of you in prison for the rest of your lives! Hopefully, you are already familiar with the old “Nigerian 419” scam, which is named after the statute in the Nigerian crimial code that deals with this sort of scam. It usually starts with an email, which is simultaneously broadcast to millions of unsuspecting Americans, purporting to be from someone overseas who needs your help in getting millions of dollars of “found” money out of their country. For your help, you are typically promised up to 20% of the total. Many, seeing a chance to score over a million dollars just for doing someone “a little favor,” let their greed override their common sense. According to the email, all you have to do is give them your bank account information, so they can transfer the money! Sometimes, they also require some “up front” money from you, supposedly to pay bribes, or to show your good faith. Often, victims are milked again and again for these payments, as more “unforseen problems” arise with the money transfer. Other times, they’ll send you an official looking (but counterfeit) cashier’s check, to show their “good faith.” Once you deposit it, the crooks transfer some or all of out it out of your account before the check comes back bad, leaving you with a huge debt to the financial institution! Needless to say, these scams hook thousands of unwary Americans every year. Some, who lost huge sums of money and then tried to track down those who conned them, have actually gone to Nigeria and turned up missing or dead. Now, this new version of the same old scam has surfaced. It’s just a new wrinkle in an old, old scam. Unfortunately, many Americans - usually people who can afford it least - will fall for this scam in the coming months. Share this information with others, and remember, anything that sounds too good to be true… usually is. `