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Home --> Crime --> Fraud Squad

Fraud Squad

The schemes of those intent upon separating you from your money are many and varied. In this section you will find descriptions of actual con games you need to be wary of falling victim to.
The claims indexed on this page are preceded by color-coded indicators:

        Green bullet identifies actual frauds that have the potential to cost their victims their large sums of money.

        Red bullet identifies warnings against frauds that aren't real.

        Yellow bullet identifies real frauds that do not pose great risk to the general public.

        Multi-colored bullet identifies real frauds that have multiple truth values.


Green bullet A wealthy foreigner who needs help moving millions of dollars from his homeland promises a hefty percentage of this fortune as a reward for assisting him.

Green bullet You've won a large sum of money in a foreign lottery you don't remember entering.

Green bullet Telephone solicitors call out of the blue looking to hook you up with thousands of dollars worth of government grants (aka free money) they say you're eligible for.

Multi-colored bullet Pressing #-9-0 on your telephone will allow scammers to make long-distance calls and charge them to your phone bill.*

Multi-colored bullet Scammers lure unsuspecting phone customers into placing calls to the 809 area code.*

Green bullet Folks lured by the promise of $200 gasoline coupons for practically free hand their bank account and charge card information to swindlers.

Green bullet Con artists gather marks' banking information by promising $200 Wal-Mart shopping sprees in return for $3.49 processing charges.

Green bullet Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties have been defrauded by con artists.

Green bullet Vendors have been duped into shipping large orders to Nigeria, only to find they've been paid with stolen credit cards.

Green bullet Cards from a "Parcel Delivery Service" notifying recipients of parcels awaiting delivery were part of a premium rate telephone scam.*

Green bullet Scammers pressure office workers into "ordering" substandard, overpriced supplies.

Green bullet Job seekers are lured into wiring part of the cost of their airfare for travel to exotic interview location.*

Green bullet Scammers defraud aspiring secret shoppers.*

Green bullet Unwary duped into paying a "hitman" to not murder them.

Green bullet Scammers pretend to be FBI agents offering "ATM Cards" to help victims recover money from Nigerian scammers.

Green bullet Folks duped into paying a "security keeping fee" to receive a courier parcel that supposed contains a large check.

Green bullet "Oprah Millionaire Contest Show" e-mails solicit personal information for non-existent contest.

* Entries marked with an asterisk will display in a separate browser window.

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2013 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
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