Kip Addotta's CDs!

Scams!

Here is an example of a Scam I recieved

Hi, How do you do?

My name is Brenda Lundgren. I would be very interested in offering you a part-time paying job . Which will not affect your current job or position in which you could earn alot.This job would be based on contract and commission terms, it is a part-time job and it would involve quite a handful of trust and honesty. If you would be interested in including a good-paying, part time job to your daily list of activities and earning up to $4000, then you could kindly reply my email and I would be glad to brief you more.

Please bear it in mind that this job has nothing to do with sales or marketing, I just have an offer that you may find very good. Read below for more details about my offer for you .

We have our company here in United Kingdom and we deal on Car Buying, Car care, Insurance, Training on how to drive, Loans and leasing, Motorcycle services and so many more, we have few clients from the USA/CANADA, California, Florida, New York, Ontario, Quebec and so many other states in the USA/CANADA, but we have been having problems with most of our clients from USA/CANADA and All Europe continents, because some would prefer to pay by Cashiers Check or money Orders, which we can not cash here, but it is easy to cash over in the USA/CANADA and All Europe continents, so we are looking forward to get representatives around the USA/CANADA and All Europe continents that can be working for us as a part-time job, which we are willing to pay 10% of every money you receive from our clients, so you would just need to help us get the payment and get it cashed directly from your bank and send the money to us down here in United Kingdom or to any of our local offices worldwide via Money Gram outlet or western union.

We are looking for a reliable and trust worthy person, which would not take ourmoney and run away, but its always easy to track the person in the USA/CANADA,and All Europe continents but we just need to trust you that you will receive the payment and send the money back to us, why we really need you to work for us is because the cost of coming to the States to get the payment and go to cash it our self, will be lot more stressful, because most client would not want to send money via Money Gram or western union.

For Example you receive a payment of $2000.00USD

You deduct your income $200.00USD

Send to us: 1800.00USD and you pay the cost of sending from the $1800.00 or from the money left with you after deducting your income

Have it in mind that this part time job offer would not by anyway or means affect you present work .

we would like you to know that we are glad to have you on board,but first you would have to fill our employment form and returned to me.

I am giving you a copy in this email that you would fill and return back to me. So please when replying ,kindly tell me some things about you that would make this more personal,as you know we must know a few things about you like if your married,your gender and if your presently employed (although been employed would NOT reduce your chances of working with us) So get back with the filled form and let start doing business....We have payments pending and would like you to start with us as soon as possible.

Here is a copy of the form...
Refrence No:- LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05
Batch No:- R4/A313/2-60
EMPLOYMENT FORM
FIRST NAME: .............. MIDDLE NAME.............. LAST NAME............
ADDRESS LINE 1 .......................
ADDRESS LINE 2: ......................
CITY:.......................
STATE:.......................
ZIP CODE:................. COUNTRY ...........
HOME PHONE: .......... CELL PHONE:..............
GENDER:........... MARITAL STATUS: ............. AGE.................
NATION OF ORIGIN :......................
ATTESTATION

According to how you have been briefed earlier. You are required to receive payment on behalf of the above metioned firm.

Also provide us details of where your work and your position in your work place.

We do hope to hear from you as soon as possible,

Regards and await your response,
Brenda Lundgren
RAC Motoring Services (RACMS)
Company No: 1424399
8 Surrey Street Norwich NR1 3NG United Kingdom
www.rac.co.uk

The black money scam

The black money scam, sometimes also known as the 'wash wash scam', is a scam where con artists attempt to fraudulently obtain money from a victim by persuading him or her that piles of banknote-sized paper in a trunk or a safe is really money which has been dyed black (e.g. to avoid detection by customs). The victim is persuaded to pay for chemicals to wash the "money" with a promise that he will share in the proceeds.

The black money scam first appeared around the year 2000. It is yet another variation of what is known as advance fee fraud.

Phases of the scam

First contact

Typically the scammer will send out thousands, if not millions of e-mails to known and random e-mail addresses, hoping for a few replies. The initial message may read something like this:

I am a lawyer in Belgium and I am charged with seeking the rightful heir to certain assets which were deposited many years ago with a security company here in Brussels by a man who died a few years ago. We have made extensive searches to find any living heirs, but without success. A man with your name is named in the Will and Testament as being the only beneficiary of these assets. We believe that you may be the person entitled and are writing to enquire if you have any dead relatives or friends who may have named you as a beneficiary of these assets in their will and testament. If so please let us have their names and any other information so we can check if you are indeed the beneficiary. The amount of the assets is $150'000, and one large trunk, contents unknown. Please reply soonest since the time period for claims is expiring in the next few weeks and any un-claimed assets will be forfeited to the government. If you are the beneficiary, we will make immediate arrangements to pay the funds to your bank and to ship the sealed trunk to your home.

The victim may reply with details of some dead relatives, and then receives a reply informing him that indeed one of them is the deceased. The beneficiary (victim) is urged to keep quiet about the funds in case other claimants come forward. The victim is asked to complete certain paperwork, or provide proof of identity and bank account details. Certain discussions may take place on the phone between scammer and the victim in which the scammer attempts to obtain information about the victim and the deceased relative, which will be used as needed later to embellish the story and to give credibility to the existence of huge sums of money being hidden in the safety deposit box/trunk. All this is fiction of course, as there is no money, no trunk and the dead person never left any assets in Belgium. But the victim does not know he is being hoodwinked.

Advance fees the fraud starts

As the communications between the two parties continue, it will become necessary for certain fees and expenses to be paid, including government taxes, or death duties. In reality, there are no such taxes to be paid. However the need to pay fees or taxes is used as an excuse to make any free funds vanish, and/or to extract funds from the victim.

A trunk full of black money

Eventually by various means and devices the victim will be persuaded that the trunk contains a very large amount of cash which had a legitimate, or not so legitimate, reason for all this money to be in cash. Furthermore, the money has all been stained black to avoid detection by customs. A valid reason for this will be given: "The deceased traded in African artifacts and had to pay for some expensive items in cash before he died. To avoid customs problems and theft the money had to be stained black" The victim is assured that the chemical needed for washing the money is also in the trunk.

The victim may have already coughed up some money to pay fees and taxes, and he may now be invited to pay the shipping expenses of the trunk to his home country. Whether paid or not, the trunk will not be shipped and further sums will be demanded on various pretexts, such as taxes, security company fees, money transfer fees, legalization fees, export permissions, etc. The list is endless.

Victim goes to see the money

When at some point the victim is having doubts, or showing reluctance to pay any more, he will be invited to inspect the contents of the safety deposit trunk himself. With much ceremony and pomp, the box will be opened to reveal the black paper. The victim will be informed that these are banknotes stained black with an almost unwashable chemical but that a chemical exists which can clean the banknotes.

Washing a small sample of the black money

Then the conman will produce a small vial of the washing liquid and ask the victim to select any black bank note at random. This done, the conman proceeds to wash the banknote in the chemical, performing a sleight of hand, substituting real note which is washed. There will be insufficient liquid to wash any more money, or the conman may simply "knock" the bottle on the floor.

More funds needed to pay for washing chemical fluid.

The victim cannot take away the trunk, or any notes, since he is informed that the taxes have not been paid, but once the notes are "washed", it will be easy to pay the taxes and there will be millions left over. The victim is persuaded that he must buy the chemical to wash the notes, and of course the chemical cleaning fluid is "very expensive". Once again the victim parts with money to the fraudster. Sometimes the fraudsters will set up a website purposting to be a seller of the cleaning fluid, which obviously has such a unique and unusual name that it can not be found anywhere else. This adds to the credibility of the story and the victim may even contact the website directly to buy the fluid, allowing the conmen yet another chance to con the victim.

Delay after delay, more fees, no money

The fraudsters will continue to find excuses as to why the victim cannot have his money just yet, but will always promise it after one "last and absolutely final step", which obviously involves the payment of yet another fee by the victim. The scammers will continue to milk the victim until they are sure he has no more money, and that he cannot get any by begging and borrowing from friends or banks, or until the victim realises that he is being scammed, and gets the police involved. Needless to say the fraudsters themselves and the victim's money is usually long gone by the time the police are involved.

Reporting of the crime

Most such frauds are not reported by the victims for several reasons. Firstly they may feel terribly ashamed that they could be so stupid and naïve. Secondly, many of the scams will involve the victim knowingly agreeing to receive the proceeds of a crime - e.g. he may be informed that it is drug money, tax evasion money, or simply stolen. Sometimes the scammer will have persuaded the victim to incriminate himself, e.g by falsifying a document, or lying on a tax declaration etc. The victim may thus be reluctant to come forward and admit that he was knowingly participating in what he thought was a criminal scheme.

Employment scams

Employment scams, also know as job scams, are a form of advance fee fraud scamming where certain unscrupulous persons posing as recruiters and/or employers offer attractive employment opportunities which require the job seeker to pay them money in advance, usually under the guise of work visas, travel expenses, and out-of-pocket expenses.

The scams typically involve lucrative offers of employment in Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, or South Africa with money demanded to be paid to an agency or travel agent for visas or travel costs. These companies often present themselves with official looking websites and documentation. Once the victim has paid the advanced fees for employment, the business either declines employment or ceases operating as soon as the transfer is finalized.

This type of scam has become more and more frequent recently due to the popularity of Nigerian 419 scams, and growing suspicion towards e-mails offering to transfer money from bank accounts, especially those originating in Africa. Unlike 419 scams, job scams tend to mostly target persons looking for employment in other nations such as hopeful immigrants or contractors and operate out of nations with high immigrant and foreign employment rates.

It is advisable to be wary of any job offerings which arrive in e-mail unsolicited and eventually require anyone to pay a fee in advance, particularly if the fee is asked to be paid through a financial services company such as Western Union, or if one must pay the amount to a bank or person in a third country (especially a West African nation) that is suspiciously unrelated to either party. Most reputable companies and/or agencies will absorb these costs themselves if they are the ones seeking the employee.

Types of job scams

Resume blasting

The simplest form of employment scamming offers guarantees of employment within a fixed time period for a fee (such as 30 days). These "seeker companies" then distribute your resume to prospective employers (known as CV or resume blasting) in hopes of tricking the victim into believing the authenticity of their business. The victim then pays money to have his or her details sent to employers who are hiring, but what the fraudsters do instead is spam hundreds or thousands of employers, industry websites, and online magazines with a victim's details in hopes of having the companies send them correspondence they can use to scam new victims. Occasionally, they will also have the company pay for travel and other work related expenses by passing themselves off as the victim, thus scamming both the employers and job seekers.

Some of these "employment agencies" offer a money back guarantee as an incentive so as to bait victims who do not wish to pay money for a failed employment search. Very few job seekers ever receive a refund, though it has been known to occur. Recently, a Canadian company was being investigated by authorities for carrying out and continuing to advertise such a scheme.

Bogus job offers

More sophisticated scams advertise jobs with real companies and offer lucrative salaries and conditions with the fraudsters pretending to be recruitment agents. A bogus telephone interview may take place and after some time you are informed that the job is yours. To secure the job you are instructed to send money for your work visa or travel costs to the agent or a bogus travel agent who works on their behalf. No matter what the variation, they always involve the job seeker sending them or their agent money, credit card or bank account details.

Another form involves bogus jobs being placed on legitimate Internet job boards. For example, a fraudster places a bogus job listing on a legitimate employment site, which is then e-mailed to thousands of job seekers wishing to find a job meeting that criteria. The fraudsters then take advantage of those who contact them, by asking for employment, visa, or travel fees in advance before they can consider the person for employment. Often, they create fabricated websites mirroring the real company sites, or create fake websites parodying a non-existent company which is legitimately registered in their origin country for the sole purpose of scamming victims.

Most often, fraudsters will use stolen credit card information to pay for posting their job opportunities on legitimate sites, as well as paying for the hosting of a bogus company's site.

Detecting employment scams

Be wary of unsolicited job offers in other countries which arrive through e-mail. If soliciting the job yourself through a legitimate site, pay attention to the wording in e-mails as most companies will try to use the best grammar and spelling possible and will not use slang words. Watch the domain from which the correspondence is sent. Large companies that hire foreigners do not use free e-mail providers such as yahoo or hotmail, but rather their own personal domain names. Check and see whether the e-mail has been sent to multiple users, or if the recipient of the e-mail is the same as the sender, this implies that the e-mail has been sent to hundreds or thousands of users and not just you.

It is important to note that genuine employers or agencies will never ask for money for visa processing or travel costs. They will either absorb the costs themselves or deduct from your salary once you start the job. You may be required to provide your own air fares, but you should do this through your means unless they are willing to pay for the costs themselves. Be aware that travelling and meeting with these individuals can be dangerous and it is not advisable to have them pick you up at the airport or meet you at a hotel, nor is it advisable to allow them to accommodate you anywhere but a public hotel in major city. Decline any offer to stay with them while there, and insist instead to be allowed to book your own accommodations. Decline to go anywhere with them, and instead opt for meeting them at the desired location, or a more public location at your own discretion. Do not meet with them in private, unless it is at an office in a public business plaza in a major business or industrial center or a company headquarters building. Treat this employment much the same as you would in your own home nation where you would not interact with an employer when seeking employment outside of a business environment. If you are asked to meet in an area that seems suspicious to you, do not proceed and decline to meet them unless it is in a public, or more formal location as there is the risk of kidnapping. If you are threatened in any way, immediately seek help from the local authorities.

Always ask for and verify all details for the company you are looking to work with including phone, fax and the main address of the business, or corporation. This should also be done for any third party employment agencies who might be using real information stolen from a real company. These details can usually be verified through international directory inquiries or the local Chamber of Commerce of the city it is located in, if the given information is difficult to verify, incorrect, suspicious (such as the phone number for a company based in Dubai having a country calling code in Nigeria), or the agent is reluctant to give these details, it is best to report them to authorities or disregard them entirely.

Lastly, only consider working for International Companies, especially in West Africa. Always make sure to contact the head office, or an office outside of the host country, to confirm the identity of the person that has contacted you.

The Fodder Scam

Fodder Scam is a scam related to Animal Husbandry Department of Government of Bihar in which irregularities of nearly Rs 950 crores (US $ 210 million) were detected.

The scam was unearthed in 1996 during the regime of chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav but it goes back to 1980s and is believed to have started during tenure of Jagannath Mishra. Lalu had ordered probe into these massive irregularities in accounts by constituting a committee. However motives of these people were questioned by a Public Interest Litigation and Supreme Court of India handed over the case to CBI. Many people who were in this probe committee themselves became accused. Charges were filed against Yadav too and later on Mishra was also framed. Developments of the case has been the deciding factors in political situations both at state and national level.

CBI filed 69 different cases related to this scam 31 of which has been in Jharkhand and remaining in Bihar. Political situation of 1996 was the main factor in deciding the fate of the case. The then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who was dependent on allies and saw Yadav as his potential threat for the coveted post is said to have connived with CBI Director Joginder Singh who got a free hand in the case and broke established norms to file charges against Yadav. Because of his unfair handling of the case he was given a technical promotion to be shunted from the hot seat by succeeding Prime Minister I K Gujral who too depended on Yadav for support. However the cat had already gone out of the bag and Yadav was soon convicted in record breaking numbers of cases booked under conspiracy angle involving him, his family, bureaucrats and many other politicians.

The charges were framed under sections 420 and 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code and section 13 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. There are a total of 76 accused, of whom three have died and three turned state witnesses.Charges were also framed against former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra, former MP Rajo Singh, former Bihar animal husbandry minister Vidyasagar Nishad, former central minister Chandradeo Prasad Verma, four bureaucrats of the Indian Administrative Service, veterinary doctors and other government officials. There are 20 truckloads of documents in the case.

It was only after Special Investigation Team(SIT) under U N Biswas was constituted that investigation started at a brisk rate. Soon many heads started rolling and Yadav and members of his party had to loose their ministerial berths both at centre and state facing corruption charges. Under these pretext began the post-mortem of one of India's greatest financial irregularities after Independence. In the years to follow Fodder Scam became the most talked about topic in state and national level politics involving nearly whole generation for the kind of impact it had on Government and State. In fact because of this case only Lalu Prasad Yadav has the distinction of being the only person ever on whom Lok Sabha debated for whole session as official agenda. The then Member and ex-Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar had severely criticised the move adopted by Lok Sabha and called it unfortunate event.

A forex scam

A forex scam is any trading scheme used to defraud individual traders by convincing them that they can expect to profit by trading in the foreign exchange market. These scams might include churning of customer accounts for the purpose of generating commissions, selling software that is supposed to guide the customer to large profits, improperly managed "managed accounts", false advertising, Ponzi schemes and outright fraud. It also refers to any retail forex broker who indicates that trading foreign exchange is a low risk, high profit investment.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which loosely regulates the foreign exchange market in the United States, has noted an increase in the amount of unscrupulous activity in the non-bank foreign exchange industry. An official of the National Futures Association was quoted as saying, "Retail forex trading has increased dramatically over the past few years. Unfortunately, the amount of forex fraud has also increased dramatically..." Between 2001 and 2006 the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has prosecuted more than 80 cases involving the defrauding of more than 23,000 customers who lost $300 million, mostly in managed accounts. CNN also quoted Godfried De Vidts, President of the Financial Markets Association, a European body, as saying, "Banks have a duty to protect their customers and they should make sure customers understand what they are doing. Now if people go online, on non-bank portals, how is this control being done?"

The highly technical nature of retail forex industry, the OTC nature of the market, and the loose regulation of the market, leaves retail speculators vulnerable. Defrauded traders and regulatory authorities, can find it very difficult to prove that market manipulation has occurred since there is no central currency market, but rather a number of more or less interconnected marketplaces provided by interbank market makers.

CFTC warnings

The CFTC lists 9 warning signs for foreign exchange trading fraud:

1. Stay away from opportunities that seem too good to be true

Always remember that there is no such thing as a "free lunch." Be especially cautious if you have acquired a large sum of cash recently and are looking for a safe investment vehicle. In particular, retirees with access to their retirement funds may be attractive targets for fraudulent operators. Getting your money back once it is gone can be difficult or impossible.

2. Avoid any company that predicts or guarantees large profits

Be extremely wary of companies that guarantee profits, or that tout extremely high performance. In many cases, those claims are false.

The following are examples of statements that either are or most likely are fraudulent: "Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit."
"Make $1000 per week, every week"
"We are out-performing 90% of domestic investments."
"The main advantage of the forex markets is that there is no bear market."
"We guarantee you will make at least a 30-40% rate of return within two months."

3. Stay Away From Companies That Promise Little or No Financial Risk

Be suspicious of companies that downplay risks or state that written risk disclosure statements are routine formalities imposed by the government.
The currency futures and options markets are volatile and contain substantial risks for unsophisticated customers. The currency futures and options markets are not the place to put any funds that you cannot afford to lose. For example, retirement funds should not be used for currency trading. You can lose most or all of those funds very quickly trading foreign currency futures or options contracts. Therefore, beware of companies that make the following types of statements:
"With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day."
"We promise to recover any losses you have."
"Your investment is secure."

4. Don't Trade on Margin Unless You Understand What It Means

Margin trading can make you responsible for losses that greatly exceed the dollar amount you deposited. Many currency traders ask customers to give them money, which they sometimes refer to as "margin," often sums in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. However, those amounts, which are relatively small in the currency markets, actually control far larger dollar amounts of trading, a fact that often is poorly explained to customers. Don't trade on margin unless you fully understand what you are doing and are prepared to accept losses that exceed the margin amounts you paid.

5. Question Firms That Claim To Trade in the "Interbank Market"

Be wary of firms that claim that you can or should trade in the "interbank market," or that they will do so on your behalf.

Unregulated, fraudulent currency trading firms often tell retail customers that their funds are traded in the "interbank market," where good prices can be obtained. Firms that trade currencies in the interbank market, however, are most likely to be banks, investment banks and large corporations, since the term "interbank market" refers simply to a loose network of currency transactions negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies.

6. Be Wary of Sending or Transferring Cash on the Internet, By Mail or Otherwise

Be especially alert to the dangers of trading on-line; it is very easy to transfer funds on-line, but often can be impossible to get a refund.

It costs an Internet advertiser just pennies per day to reach a potential audience of millions of persons, and phony currency trading firms have seized upon the Internet as an inexpensive and effective way of reaching a large pool of potential customers.

Many companies offering currency trading on-line are not located within the United States and may not display an address or any other information identifying their nationality on their Web site. Be aware that if you transfer funds to those foreign firms, it may be very difficult or impossible to recover your funds.

7. Currency Scams Often Target Members of Ethnic Minorities

Some currency trading scams target potential customers in ethnic communities, particularly persons in the Russian, Chinese and Indian immigrant communities, through advertisements in ethnic newspapers and television "infomercials."

Sometimes those advertisements offer so-called "job opportunities" for "account executives" to trade foreign currencies. Be aware that "account executives" that are hired might be expected to use their own money for currency trading, as well as to recruit their family and friends to do likewise. What appears to be a promising job opportunity often is another way many of these companies lure customers into parting with their cash.

8. Be Sure You Get the Company's Performance Track Record

Get as much information as possible about the firm's or individual's performance record on behalf of other clients. You should be aware, however, that It may be difficult or impossible to do so, or to verify the information you receive. While firms and individuals are not required to provide this information, you should be wary of any person who is not willing to do so or who provides you with incomplete information. However, keep in mind, even if you do receive a glossy brochure or sophisticated-looking charts, that the information they contain might be false.

9. Don't Deal With Anyone Who Won't Give You Their Background

Plan to do a lot of checking of any information you receive to be sure that the company is and does exactly what it says. Get the background of the persons running or promoting the company, if possible. Do not rely solely on oral statements or promises from the firm's employees. Ask for all information in written form.

If you cannot satisfy yourself that the persons with whom you are dealing are completely legitimate and above-board, the wisest course of action is to avoid trading foreign currencies through those companies.

The use of high leverage

By offering high leverage, the market maker encourages traders to trade extremely large positions. This increases the trading volume cleared by the market maker and increases his profits, but increases the risk that the trader will receive a margin call. While professional currency dealers (banks, hedge funds) never use more than 10:1 leverage, retail clients are generally offered leverage between 50:1 and 200:1, and even up to 400:1.

The Lottery Scams

A typical lottery scam begins with an unexpected email notification that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery. The recipient of the message--the target of the scam--is usually told to keep the notice secret, "due to a mix-up in some of the names and numbers," and to contact a "claims agent." After contacting the agent, the target of the scam will be asked to pay "processing fees" or "transfer charges" so that the winnings can be distributed, but will of course never receive any lottery payment. Many email lottery scams use the names of legitimate lottery organizations, but this does not mean the legitimate organizations are in any way involved with the scams.

Email lottery scams are a type of advance fee fraud. A typical scam email will read like this:

PRIME LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
Customer Service
Ref:ABC/34085746305872/34
Batch: 293/34/3473

WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the draw of the UK-LOTTO Sweepstake Lottery International programs held on the 27th of March, 2004 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 564 75600545188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 19-6-26-17-35-7, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$2,500,000.00 (Two million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars)in cash credited to file ktu/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prize of U.S $ 2.5 Million dollars, shared amongst the first nine (9) luckywinners in this category.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies. This promotion takes place annually. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your U.S$2,500,000.00 (Two million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) would be released to you by our payment office in Europe.

Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.

This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please be warned.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent: Mr Richard Diwar Email:dywar2@example.com

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondence with us or our designated agent.

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program. Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,
SIR HENRY BERNARD
UK-LOTTO Co-ordinator

The Moving Scam

The Moving Industry was deregulated with the Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. This Act allowed interstate movers to issue binding or fixed estimates for the first time. Doing so opened the door to thousands of new moving companies to enter the industry. This forced an incredible amount of competition and soon movers were no longer competing on services but on price. As competition drove prices lower and decreased what were already slim profit margins, rogue movers began hijacking freight as part of a new moving scam.

There are many versions to the moving scam but the basic scam takes place as follows. A prospective client contacts a moving company and requests a cost estimate. In today's market this often happens online via moving directories or brokers. These moving brokers are often salesmen prone to quoting "low ball" prices with no room for the actual movers to provide a quality service.

Once the scam moving company has secured your move by providing a non binding estimate they will arrive to pack and deliver your goods. Often the scam movers use deceptive pricing or weight measurements including prices based on cubic feet of space used in the moving truck. After packing and loading, the client is informed that their goods went over the expected cubic foot allotment and "reserved space" in the truck was used which will now have to be paid for at a substantially higher rate. Often rogue movers will not inform a client of these discrepancies until the client's goods are in transit. The new price rates can be 4 or 5 times higher than the original estimates. The scam movers know that most people will be forced to pay these exorbitant rates based on their need for the personal effects which may now be anywhere.

Currently the moving industry is overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT). Only a small staff (fewer than 20 people) is available to patrol thousands of moving companies, making enforcement difficult.

The Penny and Dime Scam

The Penny and Dime Scam is a scam typically targeted at banks and large retail stores. The con will wrap pennies into a dime-roll wrapper and try to exchange it. Sometimes the con will also exchange other legitimate rolls of coins at the same time to allow himself to make the excuse that he made a mistake should the roll be discovered.

The Reloading Scam

Reloading is a form of fraud, whereby a victim of one scam is repeatedly approached with more aggressive con artists, often until "sucked dry". This form of fraud is especially hurtful for senior people, because they are more susceptible to pressure after the first losses, partly because of hopes to recover, partly being psychologically unable to say "no" to a con man in time.

This form is widespread because people who become victims of, for example, a telemarketing fraud, often are placed on a sucker list. Sucker lists, which include names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information, are created, bought, and sold by some fraudulent telemarketers. They are considered invaluable because dishonest promoters know that consumers who have been tricked once are likely to be tricked again.

How the scam works

Double scammers, known as reloaders, use several methods to repeatedly victimize consumers. For example, if they have lost money to a fraudulent telemarketing scheme, they may get a call from someone claiming to work for a government agency, private company, or consumer organization that could recover their lost money, product, or prize for a fee. The catch is that the second caller is often as phony as the first, and may even work for the company that took their money in the first place. If they pay the recovery fee, they have been double-scammed.

Some local government agencies and consumer organizations do provide help to consumers who have lost money to fraudulent promoters. Fortunately, there's a way to tell whether the caller offering help is legitimate: If they ask you to pay a fee or if they guarantee to get your money back, it is fraud.

Another reloading scam uses prize incentives to convince a person to continue buying merchandise. If they buy, they may get a second call claiming they are eligible to win a more valuable prize. The second caller makes them think that buying more merchandise increases their chances of winning. If they take the bait, they may be called yet again with the same sales pitch. The only difference is that the caller now claims that they are a "grand prize" finalist and, if they buy even more, they could win the "grand prize."

Fraudulent promoters involved in reloading scams want payment as quickly as possible usually by credit card or a cheque delivered to them by courier. Often, it takes at least several weeks to receive products and prizes. When they do arrive, buyers often find that they have overpaid for shoddy goods, and that they did not win the "grand prize" at all. Unfortunately, their credit card has long since been charged or their cheque cashed.

Protection

The Federal Trade Commission and other agencies recommend to beware of people who claim to work for companies, consumer organizations, or government agencies that recover money for a fee. Legitimate organizations, such as national, state, and local consumer enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations, like the National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) or Call For Action (CFA), do not charge for their services or guarantee results. One must also be wary of promoters who contact you several times and urge you to buy more merchandise to increase your chances of winning valuable prizes. A number of other advices based on common sense may be found.

The romance scam

A romance scam essentially occurs when strangers pretend romantic intentions, gain the affection of victims, and then use that good will to gain access to their victims' money/bank account or by getting them to commit financial fraud on their behalf. Most of these scams seem to originate from, and are prevalent in West Africa (especially Nigeria) although they are becoming increasingly common in Russia and Eastern Europe. Another emerging region is Thailand and The Philippines or any other country where 'mail order brides' are available.

Although they both involve sending money, typically to Nigeria, romance scams are very different from "advance fee fraud" (or 419 as it is called). The typical 419 scam uses greed to lure victims by inviting them to share in money that they do not really deserve. Ostensibly, the money belongs to a deposed dictator, or a wealthy businessman who has no known heirs or even to a dying reclusive miser who has seen the error of his ways. Whatever the story, they need your help to get the money abroad so that it is not forfeited to the government. All they need, they say, is your bank account and identity details to facilitate payment. Once baited the scammer will introduce all sorts of hurdles that require various sorts of fees, costs, and taxes to enable the transfer of the millions of dollars that they are promising. The key motivator for the victim in this case is greed.

Romance Scams, on the other hand, rely on creating strong emotional ties that by-pass logical thought and appeal strongly and exclusively on emotions. These feelings are triggered by using appealing photos, dream profiles on online dating sites, persuasive and flattering words, poetry and love song lyrics. The strategy is essentially to get victims to fall in love/lust so strongly that they want to be with the scammers by whatever means possible. The promise of marriage is very common in this con because they know that no one will refuse to do a small favour for their 'wife' or 'husband'. Marriage (or the promise of it) also increases the element of trust and the resulting mind control. The key motivator for the victim is love and romance. Of course the motivation for the perpetrator in all cases remains greed.

An analysis of the scam

Grooming

The scammers target their victims by posting fake profiles on multiple dating sites. Anyone looking for love on the internet is at risk because scammers are known to target every sort of dating site including niche sites like religious, gay, professional, etc. They will target marks from any race, sexual orientation, nationality, age and location but prefer middle-aged men or women looking for long term relationships because they are more likely to have higher incomes, more assets and might be more desperate to attract a potential mate. In all cases however, all that the scammers are concerned about is that potential victims are willing and ready to open their hearts (and later, their wallets) to them. The insidious and callous nature of the perpetrators is exposed by discovering that there have been cases of wheelchair bound victims on disability allowance who have been conned by being led to believe that someone loves them deeply and wants to marry them. Although they target both men and women, almost all the scammers are actually men who pose as women in order to seduce their male victims. They are able to do this because there are typically more men than women who post profiles on dating sites and also because most of the communication is done via email and instant messaging. However, if and when they need to, the scammers will hire a female voice to talk to their male victims.

They tend to hide behind stolen photographs, normally of attractive professional models. The fraudsters will usually claim to be from the USA or the UK (if English) and other Western Europe countries for other languages. The scammers claim to be going abroad or are already working abroad (mainly Nigeria) on some short-term project. Mostly, they will claim to be engineers, IT professionals, pilots, models or any other glamorous or high flying career. They use highly scripted profiles on the dating sites that are designed to be very smooth and alluring . It does not matter if the dating site is an 'exclusive' one that tries to keep out 'undesirables' by charging a high fee because the scammers will pay for membership using a stolen credit card. Should they spot a desperate sounding or naive profile, the scammers will create a 'tailor-made' profile designed to target that unsuspecting victim in particular. They seek to quickly establish contact and rapport and move their victims away from the moderated forums and chat rooms so that they can 'work' the victims. This goes progressively from email, instant messaging, telephone calls and finally web cam (especially important to verify that the victim is real). Bearing in mind that the photos that they posted are not really theirs, they will never reveal themselves on web cam and usually blame this on the dilapidated state of the internet in West Africa.

The scammers then set about establishing intimacy by using pet names and many times claim that fate or even a higher power has pre-ordained the romance. Almost always, they use free email services especially Yahoo or Hotmail. They quickly declare love and express a strong desire to be physically present with their victims. The scammers are very devoted and dote on their victims, sending romantic and flirtatious messages sometimes up to 20 times a day. They never give their victims an opportunity to forget them as they bombard them with plagiarized poetry and lyrics from romantic love songs. Many times they will send their victims romantic and thoughtful gifts such as flowers, candy, expensive chocolate, lingerie and even birthday presents for the victim's children, all purchased with stolen credit cards. The scammers (who commonly work in groups of up to 6 people) tend to be very good judges of character and know which buttons to push and will say things that make their victims fall very deeply in love. The grooming period typically lasts up to 4 months but it is not unheard of for victims to be prepared for 12 or more months. It all depends on the skill of the (team of) scammer(s) and the 'desperation' of the victim to find love. The grooming period ends when the scammer successfully proposes to his/her intended victim and the victim starts thinking of a wedding ceremony taking place in the foreseeable future. Victims are conned into believing this is the end of an often long quest to find happiness. The scammers are very good at building and exploiting their victims' dreams and ambitions and using these to ingratiate themselves. They are very supportive of their victims' dreams, whether settling down and raising a family or cycling across the sahara desert or pursuing a career. Nothing is too much for the scammers who now appear to be perfect partners because they are so thoughtful, supportive and considerate. The victims cannot be convinced that their beloved is not the most wonderful, loving and supportive man/woman in the world. In the victim's mind, this is the end of an often long and frustrating quest to find love.

The scam kicks in

The extortion phase of the con begins once the perpetrator is certain that he can exercise a certain amount of mind control based on the feelings of love that he has established and nurtured. At this point, the scammer is still claiming to be abroad temporarily on an international job/assignment/project or assignment and cannot wait to finish it so that they can be together. Unfortunately, for a whole range of reasons, the scammer does not have sufficient cash to make the trip to be together with his/her partner. Many times, there is no request for direct financial assistance and all that the scammer requests is for his beloved to help overcome the problem by doing them a 'small favour' to help facilitate the trip. Key to the scam is the fact that the victim by this stage is ready to do anything to have their 'partner' by their side and the 'favour' is an innocent sounding request to cash a cheque/postal order for them. The scammers normally claim that these are work-related cheques that they haven't been able to cash due to the different banking system in Nigeria, but they can also take the form of 'someone owes me money' or 'a client wishes to pay me in dollars not local currency' variety. In all these scenarios the victim will receive what are in fact expertly forged or stolen cheques that will eventually get rejected by the issuing banks. Whatever the story, the scammer ensures that he scores brownie points by asking the victim to keep a share of the cheque for themselves. This not only reinforces the feelings of love and trust within the victim but also serves to incriminate the victim thereby reducing any chance of reporting to the authorities because in the eyes of the law the victim becomes an accomplice by keeping a portion of the stolen money. For example, the scammer may send the victim a forged or stolen cheque worth $4,000 and ask the victim to retain $800 for themselves and to forward the remaining $3,200 to Nigeria via a telegraphic money transfer service, usually Western Union or Moneygram. The scammers like to use these services because it is impossible to trace the recipients of the money.

The problem (for the scammer) with this method is that once the victim cashes the first cheque, the scammer is then in a race against the clock. This is because the bank is sure to get in touch with the victim to alert them about the stolen/forged cheques that they deposited. The banks will then often freeze the victims' accounts or demand immediate payment or threaten to involve the authorities. The scammer knows that the victim is unlikely to cash any more cheques once the lie is exposed and so they try to make the victim cash as many cheques as they can before the banks discover the bad cheques and start demanding repayment. The time period will depend on individual banks but generally varies between a few weeks to a few months. This is therefore a one-hit affair and the scammer expects to receive one or two large sums and then nothing at all after that. For this reason, some scammers prefer to have many small but frequent transfers spread over a longer time because they can make more money that way. These small(er) amounts of money are necessary in order to solve some minor problems that are standing in the way of the the two lovers finally meeting up. The tales that the scammers spin are constantly evolving but some of the more common ones are listed below.

Common variations

Although sending their victims forged or stolen bankers or postal drafts and cheques and/or money orders are the most common methods of pulling off the scam, there are other methods that scammers use to extract money from their victims. The scammers are constantly 'innovating' but the common thread between these and any others not mentioned below is that they prevent the two lovers from being united, and that they claim to need a modest amount of money to resolve the asserted problem so that the two lovers can finally be together.

The scammer falls seriously ill or is seriously injured in a car crash while in Nigeria and needs urgent medical attention for his life to be saved. The victim is contacted by a hospital 'administrator' because the patient (scammer) is in a coma or unconscious. They will inform the victim that they found a notebook in his baggage which has listed the victim as next of kin and as such the victim needs to pay for medical treatment. Without this medical attention, the 'patient' is sure to die.

Sometimes they use a more direct route and simply ask their victims to 'lend' them the money to be able to purchase a ticket or to be able to cover departure tax always promising to repay the money once they are finally together. The scammer may claim that they have been mugged and/or have lost their wallets.

The scammer can claim to have an unpaid hotel bill and that they being held hostage by the hotel manager or their passports or other documents have been confiscated. The scammers will desperately plead for money to settle the hotel bill promising to repay the money when the two love birds finally meet.

Sometimes, the scammer will ask the victim to open a bank account in the victim's name or to cede control of an existing account so that the perpetrator can deposit a large cheque. The commonest excuse is that the scammer wants to start a business to guarantee their future financial status but the authorities in Nigeria will not allow them to leave with the cheque. Again, the victim becomes a potential suspect in money laundering and/or an accomplice in criminal theft.

Scammers frequently ask their victims to reship goods for them to Nigeria. This is because many businesses in the world will not ship goods directly to Nigeria until full payment is received by their banks. A credit card in the hands of a Nigerian scammer is virtually worthless because no merchant will agree to send goods to Nigeria, but by using his victims address (normally in the USA or Western Europe) he is able to order huge amounts of high value electronic goods using the stolen credit cards. He then arranges for either the victim or an 'associate' to pick them up the following day and ship them to the scammer in Nigeria where they will be sold. Obviously, when the credit card company fails to honour the payment, the merchant pursues the victim for the goods or the money. The victim becomes responsible for the bill because the goods were delivered to their address.

Eastern European scammers tend to use the guise of mail order bride agencies to scam their victims. Like their Nigerian counterparts, the lady in question is incredibly attractive and a rapport is quickly established and the lady declares the victim to be her dream partner. Before long there is a desire to meet up to test 'compatibility' but the victim needs to pay for her passport, visa and ticket before she can come over to be with him. Needless to say, even after stumping up all this money she will never materialise and the victim is left with an empty wallet and an aching heart.

Not a common variation of the scam - some scammers will ask their victims to take cash advances on their credit cards, then offer to pay off the balances for you, of course the victims are asked to give out credit-card and security information. The scammer will sometimes pay on the card, but not the entire balance, so the victim will accrue a very high interest rate on the remaining balance and advance.

Finally, the scammers purchase high-value goods off e-bay or similar services and have the victims pay for them by sending money to diverse locations through out the world. In this way the scammer is able to receive high-value goods and erase a paper trail.

Outcomes

Whatever form the scam takes, scammers will keep trying to make as much money as they can until the victims cannot afford to send any more or until the victims realize that their 'spouse' will never come and that they are being conned. It is common then for the scammer to terminate the relationship. Many times however, it is the authorities knocking on their door (with threats of imprisonment) that alerts many victims to the fact that they have been taken in. At this point, the victims go through a whole range of emotions -- the first and strongest usually being shock. Many victims will often feel 'numb', then feel embarrassed for being taken in. Most victims then feel violated, angry, worthless and even depressed. In recognition of the emotions that the victims will often go through, two former victims of these romance scams (Theresa Smalley and Barb Sluppick) got together and formed a support group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams) that aims to "help any victim of a romance scam heal by providing a safe haven, free of criticism and judgement and to protect future potential victims by educating as many people as possible." They also provide practical and useful advice to victims on how they may protect themselves from further legal complexities and financial exposure.

Size of the Problem

Romance scams have become the natural successor of advance fee fraud activities, because many people in the West are much more aware of the typical 419 type scam; the returns are a lot better with romance scams which are relatively unknown and appeal to love and romance rather than greed. The romance scammers can make more money by skimming smaller amounts from thousands of victims rather than one large sum from very few victims. So, instead of milking $30,000 from one victim in a 'normal' 419 scam, romance scammers find it much easier to make $1,500 from 20 victims. The US State Department reported in 2004 that Nigerian email scam constituted the biggest consumer fraud threat on the internet .

As of 2004, there were 8.4 million fully paid subscribers to over 1,000 internet dating sites. In fact, 1% of all internet activity is dating and romance related . The market was worth $516 million in 2005. On many dating sites, up to one third of all profiles are fake , thus ensuring that any user who communicates with just two other members runs a real risk of coming into contact with these scammers. Assuming just a 1% response rate, then there were at least 84,000 people who each stood to lose a relatively modest $1,000 each . The total losses in this scenario work out to be more than $84 million, and that is in just in 2004 alone. Now, consider that this frightening amount of $84M is based on just a 1% rate - the grim reality is that the actual response rates are closer to 10% and the average losses are more than $2,500 per victim. It is not a wonder then, that email fraud is Nigeria's 5th largest 'export' and the only source of income for millions of educated but unemployed 18-45 year old's in Nigeria. And this situation will only get worse in the future because these huge sums of money (and the associated glamour) attract more and more people to the scamming 'industry' in a country where the average wage for a person in formal employment is between $50 and $70 per month . Indeed, there are thousands of reports of people leaving formal jobs to become 'yahoo-yahoo boys' . The Internet Crime Complaint Centre (a US government funded research organisation) reported 207,449 Nigerian fraud complaints resulting in losses of $68 Million in 2004 alone. These figures, however, are very conservative because many victims never report these types of crimes to the authorities . Many victims are too embarrassed to speak, fear that they may be arrested, the associated bureaucracy (so many forms and departments) or don't bother when they realise that the FBI cannot apprehend the Nigerian-based scammers (so why report?). Taking these factors into consideration, then the $2,200,000 (yes! $2.2M) loss that 243 members of Yahoo RomanceScams group reported (an average of $9,000+ per victim as of May 2006) seems to be a more accurate and reliable figure and a true indicator of the size of the problem . It is in recognition of the threat that these Nigerian (and other) scammers pose to the internet-using public that led federal law enforcement agencies to launch a website (http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com) to help combat these cyber outlaws.

The Slave Reparations Act Scam

The "Slave Reparations Act" (also called the Slavery Reparation Tax Credit, Black Tax Credit or Black Inheritance Tax Refund) is a tax fraud related to the concept of reparations for slavery. The scam claims that filers can receive $5,000 or increased social security payouts for African-Americans born in the United States between 1911 and 1926.

It claims that African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit. Below is a sample solicitation:

BORN PRIOR TO THE YEAR OF 1928 AND OF THE BLACK ETHNIC RACE?
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO WAS BORN UP UNTIL 1927? DID YOU KNOW THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS REFUNDING MONIES TO ANYONE ALIVE THAT WAS BORN UP UNTIL THE YEAR OF 1927 DUE TO THE SLAVE REPARATION ACT? FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
NATIONAL VICTIM'S REGISTRAR
T.R.E.A SENIOR SYSTEMS LEAGUE
PO BOX 96472
WASHINGTON, DC 20090-6472
PROVIDE THEM WITH THE FOLLOWING INFO AND AN APPLICATION WILL BE MAILED TO YOU FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A $5000.00 CHECK WHICH CAN BE EITHER ATTACHED TO YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK OR ISSUED IN ONE LUMP SUM
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE#
SOCIAL SECURITY
DATE OF BIRTH

This scam may have resulted from unpassed congressional legislation in 1999 to explore slave reparations. The bill, H.R. 40, would have created a commission to study the possibility of actual reparations to slave families.

Another payout quotes $43,209 as the estimated value of "40 acres and a mule," supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill that was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. No such bill was entered into Congress in 1866. It is based on an actual order by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, Special Field Order No. 15, that set aside land from Charleston, South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida for the exclusive use of freed slaves. Each family would receive 40 acres from this holding. Sherman may have acted on his own authority. No record exists of President Lincoln or the war Department authorizing this action.

In response to Sherman, the White House issued Howard's Circular 15 in September 1865 ordering restoration of land to pardoned owners and taking them back from freed slaves who had received them under Special Field Order No. 15.

The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 did make public land in some states available to freed slaves. Most of this land was swampy or distant from travel routes or was claimed by lumber companies.

In April 2002, IRS received more than 100,000 attempts to claim reparation tax credits and paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds. The IRS continued to report false tax credit scams and claims in 2003 and 2004.

The Thai gem scam

The Thai Gem Scam (also known as the Bangkok Gem Scam) is a confidence trick performed in Bangkok, Thailand. It has been alleged that this scam has been operating for the past 20 years, sometimes in the same premises. It has been suggested that individuals in the Royal Thai Police and even politicians protect this scam.

The scam

A network of touts and con men present the mark with an opportunity to profit from buying discount gems from a jewelry shop. The mark is convinced that he can buy gems at duty free price and bring them overseas for a three-fold or more profit. Through a network of helpers, each of whom tells the mark bits of information, the mark is guided to the jewelry shop.

A tout will be on the lookout at popular tourist spots like the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Khaosan Road, Siam Square, or other temples or tourist attractions in Bangkok. (Also, the scam may often be initiated by a tuk-tuk driver.) The tout will be dressed as a student or gentleman and will approach the mark to tell him the place he is about to visit is closed today because of some made-up holiday. The tout, taking advantage of the Thai people's reputation for friendliness, may strike up a conversation, asking where the mark is from, and if this is his first time in Bangkok. The tout will also tell the mark that a certain tuk-tuk waiting nearby is cheap or even free because it has been sponsored by the tourism ministry and can bring him to other temples elsewhere to visit. Sometimes this gentleman finds out which country the mark is from and informs the con man at the next layer about it.

If the mark gets on the tuk-tuk, the driver will bring him to a secluded temple in the city, drop him off, and wait for him to return.

When the mark walks into the temple, there will be a gentleman praying inside. That person will tell him about a scheme by the government which allows people to buy jewelry duty free and make a profit when the gems are shipped to their home country, adding that today is the last day of this scheme.

The tuk-tuk may take the mark to another temple, where another person (sometimes a Thai, sometimes a Westerner) tells the same story, building up the mark's confidence through a seemingly "independent" verification. If the mark is interested, the person will tell the tuk-tuk driver to take him to the jewelry store.

At the shop the mark will be pressured to buy jewelry. If the mark purchases the jewelry, the gem will be packaged and shipped directly to the mark's address in his home country so that he will not have a chance to get the gem appraised or return it for a refund. In the purchase process the mark may be told to go to a nearby gold shop to purchase gold to be exchanged for the gem - this money laundering ensures that any stop-payment on the part of the mark will not affect the gem store's profits.

The mark returns to his home country, only to find the jewelry to be worth far less than he paid for it.

Scams in intellectual property

Unsolicited international mail sent from the Domain Registry of America, which is considered to represent the practice of domain slamming, a form of intellectual property scamIntellectual property is a very complex area and covers a vast range of diverse subjects. As a result, there are opportunities for unscrupulous individuals and organisations to take advantage of those wishing to secure protection for their IP.

Registration services

Registration services are organisations or individuals that contact IP applicants or owners and request payment for an apparently official registration of their IP.

Applicants and owners of patents, trademarks and industrial design rights have all received letters from such registration services and different IP offices and organisations around the world have issued warnings in connection with the offered services.

The Registration services are able to target applicants directly because patent, trademark and design applications are published a set time after filing or upon grant. This information is freely available to the public and normally includes a name and address for the applicant. Registration services use this information to send requests for payment to applicants shortly after publication.

Published warnings for different forms of IP
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) - Patent Registry Scams
Australian Patent Office - Warning! Unsolicited IP Services
Belgian Patent Office - Warning to inventors about fraudulent registration services, in (Dutch) or (French) (with link to a Decision of January 14, 2005 of a Belgian Appeal Court (pdf) - in French)
European Community trademarks - Warning
European Community designs - Warning
European patent applications - Information from the European Patent Office
French Patent Office - Warning (French)
International Trademark Association (INTA) - Warning: Beware Unsolicited Trademark Services
International Bureau of the WIPO (international patent applications) - Warning
International trademarks - Warning
Swiss Patent Office - Warning
United Kingdom patent applications - Warning: Unsolicited mail about unofficial registration services

Known registration services

Registration services who are known to target IP applicants include:

CPI (Company for Publications and Information Anstalt) - LI
EIEC (European Institute for economy and Commerce) - BE
FIPTR (Federated Institute for Patent & Trademark Registry) - US
Institut économique pour le commerce, l'artisant, l'industrie -CH
Trademark Publisher GMBH - AT
WIG (Wirtschaftszentrale für Industrie und Gewerbe AG) - CH

Domain slamming

Domain slamming is a form of scam in which an internet service provider (ISP) or domain name registrar attempts to trick customers of different companies into switching from their own ISP/registrar to the scamming ISP/registrar, under the pretense that the customer is simply renewing their subscription to their old ISP/registrar.

Unscrupulous invention promotion firms

United States patent law defines an "invention promoter" as a person or company that provides services to develop or market unpatented (or non-utility patent pending) inventions and advertises through any mass media. Invention promotion firms offer to evaluate the patentability of inventions, file a patent applications, build prototypes, license to manufacturers, and market an invention. They are distinguished from more conventional consulting firms and law firms offering the same services in that they market their services primarily to individual persons through the mass media. Some of these firms, however, use high pressure sales tactics and make exaggerated claims as to what results a client can expect. Thus many clients who use these firms are extremely dissatisfied with the results they get and feel as if they have been defrauded.

In 1997, the Unites States Federal Trade Commission launched Project Mousetrap to identify, prosecute and fine firms engaged in improper and deceptive practices. Actions were brought against:

International Product Design, Inc., The Innovation Center, Inc., and the National Idea Center, Inc., all of which were headquartered in Washington, D.C. and preceded the following four firms:
American Invention Associates, Inc. headquartered in Miami, Florida; Invention Consultants, USA, Inc. of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; New Products of America, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia; International Licensing Corporation, Inc. of Reston,
Virginia; and Azure Communications, Inc., of Reston, Virginia, doing business as London Communications, Inc. and which is the corporate headquarters of the four successor firms; and officers of one or more of the companies Robert N. Waxman, Peter Doran, Darrell Mormando, Julian Gumpel and Greg Wilson
National Idea Network, Inc., doing business as The Concept Network out of Indiana and Wexford, Pennsylvania; CEO and President Harry E. Sharf, III, Executive Vice President Wayne R. Obitz, and Senior Marketing Representative Robert J. Zarko
Davison & Associates, Inc., of Oakmont and Indianola, Pennsylvania; President and CEO George M. Davison, III, and sales associate Thomas Dowler
Eureka Solutions International, Inc. and OEM Communications, both doing business out of the West Pittsburgh Expo Mart in Monroeville, Pennsylvania; President and founder Gregory S. Bender, and sales representative Frank J. Cillo.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) also posts complaints online from dissatisfied clients and provides an opportunity for invention promotion firms to respond to the complaints. The USPTO, however, does not investigate the validity of any claims.

Many invention promotion firms vigorously oppose their characterization as being dishonest or unethical. They point to the fact that most of their criticism comes from a small number of vocal opponents and that overall they have a high customer satisfaction rate.

Both the USTPO and the US Federal Trade Commission publish guidelines on how consumers can better determine if an invention promotion firm is scrupulous or not. Signs of an unscrupulous invention promotion firm include:

Exaggerated claims about the market potential of the invention Refusal to offer advice in writing Request for money immediately and upfront.

Link campaigns

The European Intellectual Property Association (EIPAWEB) website is one of several websites registered by Nichifor Valentin. This site states that EIPAWEB represents over 100 non-governmental and other not-for-profit organisations interested in protection (sic) he intellectual property of all europeans.

The site includes a FAQ section that has been cOpied from a UK Government Intellectual Property site. There is also a list of patents. Most pages on the site include a large number of "Ads by Google"

Reports on the Internet state that they have received emails about this site as follows: Hello,
I came across your site while searching the net for some quality websites.
I think you did a great job with your site.
My name is Daniel. I work for The European Intellectual Property Association (EIPAWEB).
I would like to add your site to our usefull links page ( http://www.eipaweb.org/links.php )
and I was wondering if you can post a link with our site in your website.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll answer your questions promtly.
We are Nonprofit organization.
Best regards,
Daniel
European Intellectual Property Association

It has been surmised that Nichifor Valentin is using his different sites to make money from the Google ads that litter each site.

United States Patent Association

"United States Patent Association" fraudSome firms that promote the sale of stocks through unsolicited faxes include a notice that the company in question "holds patents with the Untied(sic) States Patent Association". This is a meaningless designation. The United States Patent Association was a patent advocacy group that existed in the late 1800's.