Scammer Education 101

  • Scams are a BIG business and I mean business in the literal sense. These are run just like any organization; there is a hierarchy, an organizational structure, the peons, the managers, the big bosses, the pimp daddy's. They shut down the internet cafes to normal business so the scammers can do "their jobs". Home computers are a rare commodity, most cannot afford them and they cannot afford the monthly connection. This is a HUGE business for them, there are well-to-do, respected business men/ women who have quit their "normal" daily jobs in order to get in on the scamming, and it’s easy money.

  • The scammers work in shifts. They have a script that they follow, just like telemarketers. That is why they all sound the same; that is why the words are so similar. They are taught what to say and when to say it. They normally work in groups of six people, and they take shifts. This is why they are always on the computer and at times it seems you are talking to different people. There maybe times that they have forgotten what you talked about before, they call you a different name, and they take time to respond to you because they are talking to other people. When they are gone from the computers for any amount of time they are either looking up the information in order to answer you or they are consulting with a more experienced member of their "team".

  • The scammers send sweet words, the poems, and the love letters...all swiped off the internet. The people behind these scams are men, women, and teenagers of ALL ages. The male victims, who think they're talking to a real beauty, may in fact be talking to a man or a 13 year old child.

  • The pictures are stolen off various modeling sites, there are some sites listed in the "Modeling Websites" section. Recently scammers have been using “regular looking pictures” stolen pictures from prior victims and social net work sites.

  • Nigeria is cash based society, all services, all hotel rooms, all hospital services must be paid for in advance. If a "true" Nigerian has a problem they call a family meeting, they have family meetings for everything, they do not get on the internet and pick a stranger off a dating site and fall in love within a few days and immediately ask for money.

  • Scammers may they claim they're being held hostage in the hospital, call the hospital directly and ask about the "patient". If they are asking for money to be released from the hospital, they aren't really in the hospital. Nigeria is cash based society all hospital services must be paid for in advance.

  • When they claim they are an American overseas they should go to the American Embassy for help, the Embassy will help send them home. The American Embassy highly recommends that individuals doing business in Nigeria be registered with the Embassy for their safety.

New Twist on a Scam

  • When the scammer is caught by their victim and admits their crime, the next thing they do is swear they actually fell in love with the victim. Some people walk away, but others do believe what they are being told. After all, the victim has such strong feelings for their scammer, how in the world can he not have feelings for them. So the victims who believe and stay are sucked into a whole different scam which turns out to be a whole lot more dangerous. The scammer then works to get their victims love and trust. The requests start coming for a visit to come and see them.
  • When the first visit comes it is grooming time. They use this first visit to solidify the relationship, so the victim thinks this is real. After that they suck them into the scam and actually use them to scam other people. We were informed by the FBI there was a lady they are dealing with now who has visited their scammer four times. The first visit was a dream come true, after that she started getting sucked in to help her "love". When she came back from the fourth visit she was petrified with all that was going on and went to the FBI. She is in this so deep now it is hard to get out. She is facing felony charges for what she is involved in. Turning in evidence can get her a lighter sentence. However, she is now under protection as she is so deep in this that her life and the lives of her loved ones are in danger. As long as victim cooperated they were safe, once they stopped cooperating then they would be in grave danger.

Scam Baiting Dangers and Terrorism

  • We advise all victims to block, delete and move on. So many people do not take this warning seriously. People have said, “They are there, we are here, they can't find me and I like messing with their heads”. We have been told by the FBI that was not true. Not only can they hack into your computer, they can steal your personal information (identity theft) along with having many viruses installed onto your computer. Depending on the amount of money that was involved in your original scam; you could be putting yourself in danger.
  • Most people want revenge on their scammer, so they try to scam back them. But in more cases then we would even like to remember, the victims still had feelings for their scammer and got sucked right back into the scam.
  • We were informed of a scam that was for big bucks, the victim was backing down and the threats escalated in the form of an itinerary of all of the person's loved ones daily activities. This person's family was being watched and common sense will tell you that can not happen unless someone are physically there watching them.
  • This is not fun and games. This is a war and they are not doing well, so they are escalating their efforts in a different manner. For the most part if you lost a few thousand dollars to them and then you cut off all connections you are pretty safe. But those who for revenge or just for sport continue to talk to them, the danger level will escalate.
  • Whether you want to realize it or not you are playing with people who have terrorist connections. The FBI admits that a portion of all money scammed is funneled into terrorism. These scams pull in over 15 billion dollars a year into Nigeria.

Identity Theft

  • If you were scammed you need to make a report to the Credit Bureaus to flag your accounts. So many people give their scammers their personal information and the scammer uses this to do identity theft on their victims. If you have been a victim, call and explain to your situation to the credit bureaus. They will flag your accounts and alert you of any activity that goes on. We have helped many victims who have had credit cards open in their name and charges have been made. We had one victim whose scammer set her up with a business web site, published her personal telephone number on that site and set it up to sell cell phones. She could not shut the site down because she did not pay for it or set it up. She was terrorized by this.

Fake Investigators

  • We are aware of some so called “detectives” who are offering their services, for a fee to track down a person's scammer. They promise to identify who the scammer is and for an additional fee have them arrested and bring them to justice. Many people have been contacted by fake officials asking for money to assist and we know this is just a continuation of the scams.
  • There are some that have set up websites saying they are NET Detectives. There are some that are showing associations to different investigative organizations. We spoke with the FBI about the affiliations and were told that they are PAID associations and anyone can be a member if they pay the fee. It in no way makes them legitimate.
  • The FBI also said there is NO WAY for anyone to really trace who the scammers are from this end. They are cloaked behind phony names and identities. The most they can tell you is they are scammers, but then we can tell you the same thing right here and we do it for FREE. If the investigator is based in Nigeria, 99.99% they are also a scammer. They make it sound good, saying they will help you. After they have supposedly located your scammer, then they need additional money to have them arrested and brought to justice. The truth is all they are going to do is help you open your wallet again and give them more money.
  • These are either scammers who want more money, or these are people who are trying to profit off of everyone's pain.

Cyber Attacks

  • We can tell you that when the authors of Cyber Love's Illusions were writing the book about the people in this group their computer came under cyber terrorism. The FBI was called, the authors were placed under protection and were told the attacks were coming out of the Middle East. They sealed their computer and have software that tracks any attempts to get into their computer. One night alone they got over 2,800 hits and most of them were generated from countries that have terrorist connections. The authorities said that there were people who did not want the book to be released. They did not want the truth of these scams to get out.

How to Stop being Scammed:

  • Immediately cease all contact with the scammer! Block their email address, ignore their instant messages, ignore their phone calls
  • Contact Western Union to see if the payment has not been picked up yet.
  • Make copies if your email conversations, and instant messages. Keep originals for yourself, give copies to the various reporting agencies, and keep all receipts and envelopes, anything that can be used as evidence • Report scammer to dating site you were contacted on, Yahoo Profiles, the FBI IC3 , police department (make a report) and our data base
  • Contact the bank fraud department and make payment arraignments if a check/money order has been found fraudulent and you owe money to them.
  • Contact the bank fraud department if you suspect a check you deposited will come back fraudulent
  • Contact your Postal Carrier/Post Office and ask that no packages to be delivered at your home/ work. Also bring checks and Money orders that you received to the Post Office to make a report and turned them over.
  • Contact your Postal Carrier/Post Office if you have been sent packages or letters to forward for a scammer. Keep the envelopes or shipping package for evidence.
  • Contact any companies that have sent you gifts or merchandise and inform them that they were purchased on a stolen credit card and make arraignments to have the items returned.
  • Contact your local Police Department, they may not do anything but it will help you to create a paper trail.
  • Share your experiences when you feel comfortable, listen to others stories, and make new friends that have experienced being scammed
  • After being scammed you are put on a “contact” list by the scammers. You will be receiving random instant messages and emails from people you do not know. These are scammers trying to scam you again. Please tell them you know they are scammer and block them. You will know within 5 minutes if it’s a scammer by looking at the profile, how they write/speak, their picture, they state they live in Nigeria, they confess their love in the first meeting, they claim God brought you to them etc. After you keep blocking them, they will stop and you will be placed on a “NO” contact list

For a more detailed list of what the scams are see Type of Scams Stories and They Might be a Scammer If

For a more detailed list on how to report these scams see Reporting the Scam

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