How to recognize a scam email

[Gentle Giant]

Well, scammers are unfortunately everywhere. In particular, many of them have migrated and formed communities elsewhere. And, as you can guess, there are a few rotten apples among the immigrants as well. In Europe, London, Amsterdam, and Madrid are favorite places for them to scam from.

In North America, Toronto, Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia have also become sites of large communities and some scammers as well.

In Europe there are also numerous Romance scammers, particularly in Russia and Eastern Europe (sometimes referred to as "Vlads"). These scammers are often men posing as women trying to find romance with foreigners.

If you get an email from one of these locations, you can almost bet it is a scam. Best thing to do? Hit "delete".

[Gentle Giant]

Well you can bet that's a scam. The forms are pretty basic. Cancer victims will write you and tell you they have 90 days to live. They have a form of cancer that has "defiled" all forms of treatment. They usually have no friends or family, and they want to leave their money to charity, and they want you to make that dream possible for them. Sorry, but they are scammers, not cancer victims. They are never cancer victims.

Is the email from a poor widow or orphan, maybe living in a refugee camp? Did their husband/father leave millions of dollars in a security company which the widow/orphan needs your help to get? Was he the former president of an African country? Was he a former government minister in an African country? Was he a former gold mine owner, cocoa plantation owner, or rich businessman? Well, sorry, but the person sending you the email is not a widow or orphan. It's just a scammer. It's always a scammer.

Scammers love to play on your sympathies. Think how you would feel about a real cancer victim or widow or orphan. They want you to feel like that for them. But they are just scammers and they deserve none of your sympathy. Disdain, loathing: that they deserve.

Got one of those emails? Hit "delete".

[Gentle Giant]

You may get one of these. One type of scam involves moving large sums of money that belong to a former dictator/government official. Aside from the ethical question, you have to ask yourself, doesn't this "money" actually belong inside of country "x"? And the answer would be yes. If there actually was such money, it would have been stolen from the citizens of "x" and it belongs to them. It should be invested in their country. No matter what the barrister, lawyer, or banker tells you, you cannot ever get any of that money. You can give lots of your money to the barrister, lawyer, or banker.

If the email is asking you to basically launder money through a bank (yours), you should know that money laundering is illegal in virtually every country, and banking officials come down hard on people who do that. Well, in many countries they do. There isn't really any money so you aren't going to be guilty of money laundering, but you can imagine your problems if the story was true.

If what the barrister, lawyer, or banker says looks funny, it is. You know what to do: delete that email.

[Gentle Giant]

This is a common scam format. A banker will suddenly find an inactive account with millions of dollars that belongs to someone who died, usually in a plane crash. If they are in Nigeria, they probably died on an accident on the Sagamu Express Road, apparently the deadliest road in Nigeria. A "barrister" or "lawyer" might also approach you with the same story. In any case, they will tell you they they can't get the money out of the account and out of the country (because it is called stealing and is illegal), but that you can help them do it.

You can't. It's that simple. You can never be the next of kin for someone you are not related to. If someone dies, the money goes to their estate. A second question you might ask is, why would someone invest money in a bank in Nigeria when there are better and safer investment methods than a certificate of deposit in an African bank with higher returns? People wouldn't.

No matter how many "documents" the scammer produces (see "Documents" in the "Little (Photo)Shop of Horror" section), no matter how many times they assure that everything is entirely legal and risk-free, it isn't. None of it is real.

Got one of those emails? Just hit "delete".

[Gentle Giant]

No matter who is asking, it is a scam. No matter who they tell you to contact, it is a scam. Cancer victims ask you to contact a lawyer or friend. A business person will ask you to contact his or her "secretary" about getting funds moved from point A to point B. It doesn't matter, the story is a scam.

Got one of those emails? Just hit "delete".

[Gentle Giant]

If you did, then you can bet it's a scam. Scammers don't want you to talk to anyone about their "deal". It always has to be hush-hush. After all, if you talked to someone about it, like a spouse, a family member, a friend, that person might tell you it isn't real. A scammer wouldn't like that. Scammers thrive on secrecy.

If you had just won millions of dollars in a lottery, wouldn't you tell everyone you know? Of course you would. And the media would be all around your house trying to make you famous. No secrecy about it.

That's why we are here. We are trying to expose them publicly. As Miyuki says, "Knowledge and information are the scammer's worst enemies; silence is the scammer's best friend". We don't intend to be silent. Neither should you.

Got one of those emails? The best thing to do is to delete it. If in doubt, get a second opinion. Don't be afraid to violate the scammer's secrecy or privacy. They aren't afraid to violate yours, after all.

[Gentle Giant]

Well, it is remotely possible that it could be real, but it is very unlikely to be true. Scammers always push you to do things quickly because...they want your money fast. They don't like delays. Armed robbery is fast, internet robbery is much slower, so they try to speed things up. If you get a mail telling you to move quickly or that gives you a time deadline, it's most likely a scam.

Your response? Delete it.

[Gentle Giant]

That's because it is fake. Our section the Little (Photo)Shop of Horrors is full of fake passports and fake IDs. You might even compare the one you got with what we have. (And we're always happy to add to our collection). We also have pages and pages of fake documents. We also have lots of photos that scammers use, and re-use.

If it looks fake, it is fake. Got one of those emails? Delete it. You don't need it.

[Gentle Giant]

Such emails promise you LOTS of money in the future for a little money in advance. That's why this is known as the "Advance Fee Fraud" or "Advance Fee Scam". If you get one, it's a scam.

But could it be real? No it could not be real. It's never real. The only money involved is yours, and all you will do it give it away.

Got an email that promises you a big financial future? Best just to delete it.

[Gentle Giant]

It is about 99.9% likely to be a scam.

Scammers love Western Union and Moneygram. That's because ID requirements are more lax than elsewhere, like banks. In addition, WU and MG use "security questions". You can set one up, but as long as someone at the other end knows the answer, they can get the money. And you really never know who is getting the money at the other end, although if you do send it, you have sent money to a scammer.

Sometimes the email comes from a business that says they have difficulty in clearing payments from one part of the planet and that you can be the company's representative to do that. The story is false. Trillions of dollars move around the globe every day with no problems at all. Only scammers use this format claiming they have problems clearing their funds.

If the email even mentions using Western Union or Moneygram, the best thing is just to delete it.