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The Intent Of Internet Scammers
by Felix Goins
Sender's Question:
I recently got an email from Mrs. Fatima Nora Wilson/Mrs. Mariam Williams, the
letter was almost identical to the one on your site. What is it that they
are trying to do?
Answer:
Basically what most of these financial scams try to do is get your bank account
information. With that information they can withdraw money from your bank
account...unfortunately, our banking system isn't very secure and all anyone
needs (with most banks) is your bank's number (routing number) and your account
number and they have access to your account. You can dispute the charges
on your account, but by that time the scammers have withdrawn your money from
their account and moved to a different financial instituation (on their end).
Another version of this has people calling individuals looking for them to donate
to their "worthy" cause. The people doing the scam always use banks outside
the US (since 9-11 our banks have stepped up the identification process to make
it harder to "hide" your identity when you get a bank account). The people
calling will ask you to "just send us a check with a small donation", once they
get your check, they have your bank information and they withdraw as much money
as they can before you get your monthly statement...which, for most banks, is
after the first or fifteenth of the month.
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