ADVANCED FEE SCAM

Advanced fee fraud is when fraudsters target victims to make advanced or upfront payments for goods, services, and/or financial gains that do not materialize.

STATISTICS

• In 2009, over 32,000 complaints of advanced fee fraud accounted for nearly 10% of all reported cases of Internet crime reported to the internet crime complaint center
• 64.8 million dollars was lost

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WHAT WAY IS THE SCAM DELIVERED?

• Signs of Email fraud in general:
• Email is unsolicited
• Tone, grammar, and overall style of the email are noticeably less polished than expected from an established corporation
• The offer seems too good to be true
• The situation described seems bizarre or unlikely

SIGNS OF ADVANCED FEE FRAUD

• Payment is requested in advance
• Payment is much smaller then the promised payoff- almost incidental

WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU FALL VICTIM

• Contact your bank immediately
• File report with the IC3 at www.ic3.gov

HOW TO AVIOD SCAM

• Learn signs of fraud
• Don't answer emails if you don't know the sender
• Do not provide your bank account info to anyone
• Request some sort of official documentation proving legitimacy

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CITATIONS

• http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-advance-fee-fraud
• http://www.nw3c.org/research/white_collar_crime_consorttiom.cfm
• http//:www.pacificlansworks.com