Guest Column by Sy Vanthavong

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part column. This first printed Thursday.

 

Emergency/grandparent

This scam involves the scammers obtaining enough information on the victim to notify relatives of an emergency — I’ve been mugged, I’ve been jailed, I’ve been hospitalized, etc. The scammers will call relatives, most likely a grandparent, and pretend to be the grandchild with an urgent plea for help and needs money.

They’ll also tell the grandparent not to mention anything to their parents. The scammers will sound legitimate as they have certain information that makes the grandparent think their grandchild is really in need. The scammers will have obtained this type of information via identity theft or even social networking sites such as Facebook.

 

Relationships

This type of scam simply starts out as a relationship.

Example: A man and a woman meet online and began dating.  They even exchange emails, letters, even photographs. Eventually a plan is made to meet each other, even get married, and the scammer will ask the victim to wire money for a plane ticket.

During the course of the relationship, the scammer will ask for small amounts of money first — needs to fix a car, visit sick relative, etc. Eventually the victim is providing larger amounts of money and never gets paid back, while also never meeting their supposed significant other.

This type of scam has also evolved into the scammer making the victim believe they are going to be beneficiary to a large money inheritance after getting married and needs money sent to a third party to “unfreeze” the inheritance money by paying some sort of fees or taxes, being promised to be part of the inheritance.

They provide believable documents from “lawyers” or bank letters explaining the fees that need to be met before the money is distributed. Most of the time these relationship scammers target people who live alone, are constantly online in chat rooms, etc. These victims have been brainwashed into thinking they are actually in a significant relationship even though they have never met the person on the other end.

 

Re-shipping fraud

As stated above, these types of scams involve being offered an “at-home” job that involves repackaging stolen goods — typically consumer electronics.  The merchandise is most likely purchased on the internet using unsuspecting victim credit card information. Victims are asked to pay shipping with their own money and are given reimbursement funds via stolen checks or money orders, and even wire transferred the money via MoneyGram or Western Union after the goods have been shipped.

The cycle continues with having the victim retain a portion of money for their time and having the rest of the money sent (wired) to a different location. The “job” continues for some time with the victim believing they have a legitimate job until they find out the checks they were given have bounced from their bank accounts and are stuck with paying their respective banks back for the negative balances.

All the money laundering scams involve wiring money to certain countries, cashing checks in personal banking accounts, having packages sent to a victim’s address, and being asked to sell merchandise for cash.

 

FBI warning on your      computer or similar

Scammers have also been known to hack home computers and use that information to obtain information about you.  They have also been known to send “alert” messages on your computer claiming to be the FBI and states that you have been viewing illegal websites and need to pay a fine or otherwise be prosecuted.

Scammers/hackers have also been known to take actual pictures of the room where your computer is by hacking into your webcam and sending you the photograph making you believe the information they are giving you is true.

This is called “scareware” or “ransomware.” A good way to combat this is to purchase good malware/virus protections software and to turn your webcam off when not in use. Remember, the FBI will never ask you for payment for a fine.

The above examples are simply a small portion of what people have been scammed into, even here in Albert Lea. Some of the scams are commingled together and have victims falling prey to multiple scenarios.

Victims are simply used as mules to launder money and could get into trouble with the law. Remember that your name and information is put into the paper trail for law enforcement to later find. Protect yourself from money transfer scams and similar scams by:

• Using your common sense — if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

• Never send money, or give your credit card or bank account information, to someone you do not know; especially someone you have never met in person.

• Beware of products or schemes that claim to guarantee income or winnings.

• Beware of job offers that require you to pay something up front or pay out of your own pocket.

• Beware of job offers that do not have a legitimate application process or face to face interviews.

• Do not open suspicious or unsolicited emails (spam). Simply delete them. Most of the time they are already in your junk mail folder.

• Remember there are no “get rich quick” schemes.  The only people making the money are the scammers and that money is yours that they are taking.

Money laundering is a criminal offense. Do not agree to send or transfer money for someone else. Ask yourself: Why would someone ask you to send money or goods to another location, when they could have simply done it themselves? Why would they need you as a middle man?

If you receive such communication (most likely by email) for the above scenarios or similar, simply ignore or delete them.  Do not click on them as they may even be viruses that attack your computer.

If you feel you have been victim of or unknowingly a part of a money laundering scheme, feel free to contact the Albert Lea Police Department or the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office, depending on where you live. Prosecution, however, is very hard as most of the time the suspects are found to be located in a different country.  Another way to report these incidents is to contact the FBI.

Below is a link for the FBI website outlining scams from A to Z and also information on how to report these types of scams.  You can report them to the FBI or the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/frauds-from-a-to-z

www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

 

Albert Lea officer Sy Vanthavong was on the Minnetonka police force for 12 years and worked financial crimes for two years.