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NEWARK
– The state Division of Consumer Affairs
received more than 60 complaints from advance
fee scam victims last year and residents
are cautioned to be wary if a stranger asks
them to assist in transferring funds from
overseas bank accounts.
The
advance fee scam, sometimes called the Nigerian
scam, involves a con artist who typically
claims to be a foreign government official
or former official who needs assistance
in transferring funds to the United States.
The con artist asks that the person being
contacted provide their bank account information
and also advance their own money to help
facilitate the transfer of funds. In return,
the con artist promises a large payment
to compensate the person for their efforts.
Victims
may receive official looking documents from
the scam artist to gain trust. When the
victim agrees to assist, the scam artist
may send an authentic-looking cashiers’
check written for more than the agreed-upon
compensation. The victim is instructed to
deposit the cashier’s check in their
personal account and immediately withdraw
the money in excess of their compensation
payment. The victim then wires these excess
funds to the scam artist.
Several
days or weeks later, the bank notifies the
victim that the cashier’s check is
fake. The consumer is expected to cover
the funds they unwittingly “returned”
to the scam artist. A variation of the scheme
includes a bogus job offer where the “recruiter”
asks the victim to provide their social
security number and provides a cashier’s
check as an advance against the first paycheck.
Ultimately,
any funds provided to the con artist are
lost and no transfer of funds or promised
payment occurs.
“Unfortunately,
the advance fee fraud continues to be perpetrated
on the public,” Attorney General Anne
Milgram said. “Consumers need to be
wary of such unsolicited offers.”
Consumers
should never give bank account and other
personal information to unknown callers
or in response to an email, Acting Consumer
Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo said.
“If
someone receives a call or email to assist
an unknown person in the transfer of funds,
the person should stop and ask why they
have been chosen,” DeMarzo said. “The
advance fee fraud continues to claim New
Jersey victims and consumers need to be
skeptical of such solicitations.”
Consumers
who receive advance fee fraud emails, but
have not suffered a money loss, are best
served by adding the sender to their email
“block” list and forwarding
the emails to their Internet Service Provider.
Consumers who have lost money or have mistakenly
given personal account information to the
scammer can contact the Division of Consumer
Affairs for assistance by calling 1-800-242-5846
(toll-free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200
or online at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov
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