Scams Hoaxes Fraud Chain Letters

Part 1 Internet Scams and Rip-Offs

Scams, hoaxes, fraud and chain letters are an everyday risk in our lives. While most would be deliberate attempts by unscrupulous people to make money, create havoc with out computer systems or seek attention, a few are possibly unintentional actions which result in undesirable consequences. Unscrupulous criminals are out there prowling for opportunities to make easy money at the expense of their victims and even the most seasoned sceptic is at risk. Perhaps this is a pessimistic view of reality, the fact remains there is an element of risk in almost every aspect of interaction between two people, more so when it comes to money.

I fell victim to my own stupidity and naive trust in my younger days and still feel the same resentment towards the person who took advantage of me today. I chose to learn from the experience and spent considerable time and effort researching what I have since discovered is quite an interesting area of research. What started out as a curiosity soon began to evolve into a bit of a passion and I now try to share the results of what I learn with everyone I can. What better way of retaliating for what happened to me see to it that the rug is pulled from under every scam, fraud, hoax, or rip-off scheme I can discover and expose.

This is my composition however I will refer to a number of Internet sources from which I have summarised or otherwise given an interpretation of content regarding a selection of specific cases. Please take the time to check out some of the sources provided and see for yourself in more concise detail exactly how some of these work against you.

Perhaps the most infamous of the contemporary fraud scheme is the Nigeria 4191 (See Reference 1). This scam predates the Internet and was circulated by way of mailing letters to many thousands of people in the hops that some respond in the desired manner that is; send money based on their promise to send you even more money in return. It really is really that simple. The amazing fact is this scam is one of the oldest and most widely publicised scam I can think of yet people still fall for it and loose significant amounts of money. The Nigeria 419 takes on many guises however the theme remains constant and the victim is always asked to send money up front.

This scam is in the category of "Advance Fee Fraud" and you can discover for yourself the history and specific details of this

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