A typical business scam

A typical business scam goes like this ...

You get a call from an operator. If you haven't received a Relay call before, the operator explains the service. After that, the operator is not supposed to talk to you except to read what the caller is typing.

The caller may or may not say he is calling from Nigeria. He asks for a specific item. If you have it, he asks how many you have in stock “right now.” If you don't have it, he asks if you can order 10, 20, or 50 of the item to have in stock the following morning. If you don't even carry the item, he asks, “What do you have in stock right now?” Whatever it is, he wants it — in bulk.

The caller wants to place the order with a credit card, but will sometimes offer to send a check, money order or cashier's check. None of these is any good. The credit card usually goes through, though, and the merchant thinks the sale is good. In fact, it may take weeks and several more fraudulent transactions with the same “buyer” before the merchant gets word the card was no good.

The caller gives a shipping address in Nigeria, some other country, or the U.S. The merchandise is picked up by a shipping company. The caller insists on getting the tracking number. He may even offer to arrange shipping or have the items shipped on his account so he can be sure to get it. If the package ships to Nigeria, this helps him pick it up. If it's sent somewhere else, he uses the tracking number to divert it to its true destination.

Throughout, the caller tries to create a sense of urgency, saying things like, “Run the card now while I hold.” His goal is to get the merchandise out the door before theft is detected.

Typical individual scams

Most individuals can't process credit cards, so here the caller takes a different tack.

You list something for sale in the Classifieds. This is most likely a car or puppies, but it could be anything. Your paper has an online version as well as a print version. That's where the caller saw your ad.

You get a call from an operator. If you haven't received a Relay call before, the operator explains the service. After that, the operator is not supposed to talk to you except to read what the caller is typing.

The caller asks you to describe the condition of the car or email “pics” of the puppies. He asks you how much. He tells you he is ready to buy. He will mail you a “cashier's check” for the amount of the sale plus $1,000 or $2,000 more — to pay “the shipper.” As soon as you get the check, you are to deposit it and wire the excess to “the shipper.” There is no shipper and the check is no good. But if you wire money, your money is good. You are now out of pocket the amount of the “excess.” Hopefully, no one ever comes to pick up what you were selling. If they do, you'll be out that too.

The “Lonelyhearts Scam”

If you fall for this scam, your life may be in danger.

A Nigerian gentleman or lady you meet on the Internet professes to love you. Whatever they say, it is a man — not a woman — you are dealing with. The romance develops with incredible speed, but without much detail, at least on his part. This is because it's too much work to invent a life, and imagination is not his strong suit. Furthermore, he's running several of these scams at once, and it's just too difficult to keep track of all of them once you start getting into specifics.

The romance does not stay exclusively in chat rooms on the Internet. He also calls you through Internet Relay. This is more efficient for him. He can tell you when to meet him online. It also helps deepen his hold on you. Even through an operator, a phone call is more “real,” more personal. And the operator doesn't sound threatening, does she?

If you are a beautiful young lady, he may want to see if he can trick you into coming to Nigeria for marriage, or to meet his family. If you go, you will become some man's possession or wind up in a brothel. If you resist, you will be beaten or killed.

If you are anything other than a beautiful teen or twenty-something girl, he will want other things from you first. He may want you to accept packages for him and ship them to Nigeria. If you do this, you may find yourself in prison as an accessory to his crimes.

He may tell you about a sick mother who needs money for an operation, or some such story. He will see how much money he can get from you this way.

He may want you to help him get a visa to get into the United States.

Finally, he may trick you into coming to Nigeria. He and his accomplices will then hold you hostage until you or your family pays ransom. Even then you may be killed rather than released.