Enhancing the fight against fraudsters through self-awareness

(Article submitted by the Financial Intelligence Unit in recognition of Financial Information Month 2016)

The types of Fraud perpetrated by scammers and fraudsters are increasing in complexity and apparent authenticity. A scammer may come into contact with you through email, phone or text. The scammer may even impersonate a person/organization with which you are associated or familiar or pretend to be from an organization/business which is fictitious. The primary objective of the fraudster is to induce the victim to relinquish his/her personal assets in the hope of receiving large sums of money.{{more}} It is therefore prudent for one to be aware of the current trends and types of scams being employed.

Scams may present themselves in various forms, constantly changing and adapting with the shift in times. Despite this, one can avoid being scammed by gaining knowledge of what to look for and how to execute daily activities safely.

There are some general signs that should alert you wherever they are present. These signs include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Receiving a call, text, email or letter from an unknown number out of the blue

• Being asked to give out personal details or passwords. Your bank or other financial institution will never ask for full passwords or PIN code

• Being pressed to make hasty decisions, so as not to give you time to consider the matter

• Being asked to make an advance payment to an unknown person/institution

• Being told that youhave won a competition that you have never heard of or participated in

• Being told to keep something as a secret

• Being promised something that appears too good to be true.

• The content of the email or text suggests that English is not the person’s first language, but they are purporting to be from an English speaking country.

• Unclaimed Money: This scam is usually perpetrated by a person purporting to be an employee of a professional business or a financial or governmental institution (bank, lawyer or tax department). The common content of such scams is that the person is aware of a large sum of unclaimed/stolen money or gold belonging to a deposed or dead corrupt government official, terminally ill wealthy person with no relatives or a wealthy foreigner who deposited money in the bank just before dying in an accident. The victim’s assistance is needed to move or clear the money. The potential victim is promised a huge part of the money; however, before he can obtain such he must pay certain fees in advance. Ordinarily, the victim may receive an invalid cheque for the promised amount.

• Distressed Friend/Relative Email: The intended victim receives an email from a family member or friend claiming that they are in a foreign country on vacation (e.g. Spain, London, etc) and was the victim of a mugging (robbery) and all their money and identification were stolen. In other cases, the friend or relative may have encountered some unforeseen medical expenses. The email usually instructs the victim to wire a sum of money (via Western Union or MoneyGram) to pay medical/hotel/food bills and expenses with a promise that all the monies would be refunded on the return of the friend/relative. This may appear authentic, as the emails would normally be coming from the friend/relative’s known email account. However, the scammer would have hacked into the email account of the friend/relative.

• Payment Order Email: The intended victim (bank or financial institution) receives an email from one of their customers requesting that payment be made to a known/usual business partner of the customer for services rendered or goods purchased. Usually, the email would include the name and account to which the monies should be sent. This information would appear authentic, as the details bear close resemblance to that of the customer’s usual business partner. The bank or financial institution is authorized to make the payment. In such cases, the bank would have honoured a fraudulent payment order, thereby losing a substantial amount of its customer’s money.

• Apparent Overpayments: In this scam, monies are wired or cheque sent in advance to a business account for payment of services or goods. The monies wired are usually in excess of the charged amount. The business receives an email requesting that the excess monies be resent to a particular account number. The scammer would press for this to be done before the wire transfer or cheque is cleared by the bank. If the business complies with the request, it would only become aware that it was a victim of fraud after the bank would have cleared the wire transfer. By this time the scammer would have withdrawn the monies and left without a trace.

• Job Offer: There are a variety of job scams ranging from promises of a new career or offers to work at home. With the new career scams, the victim is asked to pay for training and other material up front or asked to make payments to organize visas and accommodation for a non-existent job abroad. Customarily, the victim is required to use his/her bank account to receive and pass on payments for the employer, who is a foreign company. The inducement to this particular scam is a promise that the victim would receive a commission for each payment passed on. As a result, the scammers would have successfully collected all your personal and banking details which they can utilize to further rob you of your hard earned money.

The FIU of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines therefore urges all, citizens and foreigners alike, to be vigilant in their daily operations. Be mindful of the fact that these schemes used by scammers could be facilitating money laundering or financing acts of terrorism. Furthermore, these scams are often perpetrated by persons operating from foreign countries behind many aliases and covers. As such, it is difficult for law enforcement to pursue these matters. It therefore means that more often than not your money is lost, with little or no opportunity for redress. (Submitted by Financial Intelligence Unit)