Chapter 26/International con artists

One of the biggest threats that consumers face today is from international rip-off artists. With cheap long distance rates and e-mail, foreign con artists now have access to the United States. Law enforcement officials have trouble finding and prosecuting these criminals.

Many con artists I have been chasing have gone over the border to Canada. More Americans are being ripped-off from Toronto than any other city in the world.

It's estimated that rip-off artists over the border take about 500 Wisconsin consumers for millions of dollars every year with you've won-the-prize calls or advance fee loan scams (we have that loan you want but you have to pay the fee first). Wisconsin refers a lot of complaints to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

When you go on the Internet, con artists around the world are watching you, figuring out a way to steal your money.

Counterfeit checks are flooding into Wisconsin from con artists in places such as Nigeria and Canada who are stealing money from unwary victims selling cars and other items on the Internet.

The counterfeit checks are high quality, and it takes banks about five days to discover the checks are bad. This gives foreigners time to pull off their confidence games.

Take the following case history for example. A Wisconsin man is selling his car on the Internet for $5000. A Nigerian says he will buy the car for the asking price of $5000, and will also send an additional $5000 for shipping the car to Africa.

The Wisconsin seller receives the Nigerian's cashier's check for $10,000, and deposits it in his bank account. Then the Nigerian asks him to send the extra $5000 for shipping to an address in Africa.

After writing the check and sending it off to Africa, the seller receives a call from his bank and it's bad news. The Nigerian's check is counterfeit and the bank demands reimbursement by the seller for the $5000. The seller doesn't have $5000 so the bank forces him to take out a loan and pay back the money with interest. What's more, his car remains unsold. And the Nigerians will hound him for more money because he is now on a "sucker" list.

Never pay out money from a check sent to you by a stranger unless you know for sure the check has cleared! Even if the bank says a check is good, it may be counterfeit.

Con artists also send counterfeit checks to laid off workers desperate for employment. The "hired" victim is asked to open a new branch office funded with the check from the (fake) home office located in another state.

After the job seeker deposits the check into his bank account, the home office tells him to withdraw most of the money and send it by Western Union for a company purchase. This is a cruel con to play on someone who has lost his job.