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Spam Email Fraud

By Aaron Larson

Law Offices of Aaron Larson

June, 2004

Contents

• What Is Spam Email Fraud?
• Examples of Spam Email Fraud
  • Identity Theft
  • Fake Products
  • Nigerian Email Fraud (419 Scams)
  • Lottery Fraud
  • Chain Letters and Pyramid Schemes
  • Promises of Inheritance
• What Can I Do About Spam Email?

What Is Spam Email Fraud?

Spam email fraud involves a criminal utilizing a mass email to try to cheat people across the country or even across the world. By sending out thousands or even millions of emails, the odds are that the criminal will trick some small percentage of recipients into buying a fake product (or ordering a product that will never be delivered), paying a fee enticed by the promise of a huge amount of money or lottery winnings, or providing them with account information for a bank, credit card, or online service.

Examples of Spam Email Fraud

Common forms of email fraud include the following:

Identity Theft - Identity fraud involves enticing you to provide personal information - your address, birthdate, social security number, bank account information, eBay passwords, or other similar details which enable the person to access your accounts to steal your money, or to set up fake credit accounts in your name.

It is very frequent for this type of fraud to involve requests for eBay passwords or Citibank account information. An example:

The email address is designed to make the request look real, and the message may look very genuine and include corporate graphics. But no reputable company will send you this type of email message. If you follow the link, and look carefully at the URL in your browser, you will find out that you are not on the server of the company which supposedly sent you the email. If you fill out the form on that page, you will provide your account name and password to a criminal.

If you think an email like this might be real, don't follow the link in the email. Instead, go directly to the real company website (e.g., citibank.com or ebay.com) and log into your account. If there is any problem with your account, you will be able to resolve it at that time without the risk of identity theft.

Fake Products - There are two types of fake products scams. In one, the vendor intends to sell you a product, but the product has no value. For example, you might get an email offering to sell a "male enhancement patch" or "miracle diet pill". If you place your order, you may well receive patches or pills, but they won't do anything. In the second type, you order the product and send your money, but get nothing in return. (In a worst-case scenario, they not only charge you for the undelivered merchandise, but also steal your credit card information.)

Nigerian Email Fraud (419 Scams) - A criminal sends out thousands of spam emails, hoping that an unsuspecting soul will reply. Once contact is made, and it appears that the response is from somebody who may fall for the scam, the criminal will repeatedly make promises to send the promised cash, but problem after problem will arise. These problems can only be resolved, the criminal will swear, if the target sends them money to pay certain fees or bribe various officials. (This is a form of "advance fee" fraud, because the criminal entices you to pay a fee up front to cover fictitious expenses - and despite the criminal's promises of riches, you never get a cent in return.) For more information on Nigerian email fraud, please see this associated article.

Lottery Fraud - You are informed that you are the winner of a lottery, or can receive some portion of an unclaimed lottery award. All you have to do is pay a fee, provide your bank account information, or both and... the criminal will walk away with your money, never to be heard from again.

Chain Letters and Pyramid Schemes - As with those which used to come by mail, you are invited to participate in a multi-level scheme, whereby you send money or gifts to, or buy items from, a list of strangers. Once you have satisfied your obligation, you are assured that you will receive similar gifts or a business profits. In most cases, you won't receive a thing. In virtually all of the others, you will receive at most a small fraction of what you pay into the scheme. Worse, these schemes are typically illegal, and you can end up having to explain to the legal authorities why you were participating in a fraud.

Promises of Inheritance - You are contacted by a person claiming to be a foreign lawyer, barrister, or administrator for an estate. You are told that an heir must be contacted, sometimes within days, or a multi-million dollar estate will revert to the government. You are asked to provide proof of identity, and possibly for banking information, and likely also for "fees" necessary to effect the transfer of the money to you. The criminals obtain your money, information necessary to empty your bank account or obtain credit in your name, or both. For more information on inheritance fraud, please see this associated article.

Please note that this list is far from exhaustive - there are many types of fraud, most of which can be perpetrated through email.

What Can I Do About Spam Email?

The best approach to avoiding spam is ordinarily to be very careful about the distribution of your email address. Once you start to receive spam at a particular email address, you will usually end up receiving increasing amounts of spam at that address no matter what you do. There is filtering technology which some find helpful, which helps to screen out spam email from legitimate email. Please review this associated article about the problem of spam email, and possible steps to avoid it.

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