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Cyber 911 Tiplines Scams and fraud
Nigerian e-mail scam
E-mails from operators claiming to be high-ranking officials in the Government, Armed Forces or major industries are being sent worldwide and appear to have originated from various African countries (although this is not always the case) asking you to supply bank details to enable them to get large sums of money out of Nigeria through those accounts - in return for a large percentage. What actually happens is your account is immediately emptied.
Basic safety tips
- THINK! Why would a perfect stranger pick you, how did they get your contact information? Remember "if it sounds too good to be true..."
- If you receive a 419 e-mail (or snail mail - potential victims are targeted via regular mail as well) - do not respond.
- Send a copy of the 419 e-mail to the spam e-mail sender's ISP. The e-mail address for this is usually abuse@theirisp.com or postmaster@theirisp.com but if you are not sure, visit their ISP's Web site and search for the information - it will be there.
- If appropriate (it varies from country to country) report it!
Reporting Nigerian e-mail [419] scam e-mails
At this Web site
- Scams and fraud tipline - WiredSafety's Internet scams and fraud report form
In the US
If you have already lost funds as a result of a 419 scam, the United States Secret Service Web site has information about how to proceed.
The FTC accepts copies of offers via e-mail, claiming to need your help getting money out of Nigeria (or any other country), forwarded to: spam@uce.gov.
In the UK
The Specialist Crime OCU Fraud Squad has information on what to do if you are targeted by a 419 scammer.
For all other countries try making a country specific search on Google for: "report 419 "
For example: http://www.google.com.au/ will let you search pages just from Australia. We will add more information for other countries as we compile it. If you can help with information, please contact us.