by Amanda Fowler

Created on: October 24, 2008

Write your article This is a sad scam. Unfortunately, this Nigerian scam is not the only one that is happening. There are many types of scams that affect people. I worked as a Fraud Investigator in a bank, and the saddest part of my job was to notify customers that they were victims of a scam, and now their account is negative and they owe the bank money. The three top scams I encountered during my banking career are the lottery scam, the bookkeeping scam, and the mystery shopping scam. Of course there are many other scams to be aware of out there also.

The lottery scam:
In this scam, the victim usually receives a notification that they won the Lottery from a foreign country. This notification is usually received either through mail, E-Mail, However, in order to get the money, the victims are required to pay the taxes and fees up front. The con-artist will tell the victim that a check will be mailed to them through Fed-Ex or UPS, the victim will be instructed to deposit the check in their account and as soon as the check becomes available, wire the funds through Western Union. The con-artist will stress the importance of confidentiality, and tell the victim that by not telling anyone will eliminate the stress that is involved with becoming a millionaire.

The Bookkeeping Scam:
There are many people today trying to earn extra money, especially in this economy, and landing a way to earn an extra income from home is even better. The con-artist will send you and E-Mail stating that his company from overseas is looking for a part-time bookkeeper. This bookkeeper will be responsible for processing payments for the company from the company's clients that are located in the United States. This company needs these bookkeepers to process payments because it is quicker and easier this way rather then waiting for foreign checks to be processed. The bookkeeper will earn a commission of about 10% of the payments processed. When the bookkeeper receives the payments, they are to deposit them into their own account, and when the funds become available, the bookkeeper is to wire the funds through a third party wiring agency.

The Mystery Shopper Scam:
This is another earn extra money from home. The victim will receive a check ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. Along with the check are instructions for the mystery shopper. The check will have to be deposited or cashed first. Then when the funds are available, the instructions will tell the mystery shopper where to shop, what to buy, and how much to spend. Usually there will be instructions to wire a majority of the funds through a third party wiring agency.

Unfortunately, there are very gullible people that will believe that they won the Canadian Lottery even though they never played the Canadian Lottery. The con-artist feed off of people who are down on their luck and could use a little bit of extra cash. If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is.

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