Advance fee frauds involve individuals or organisations being targeted by unsolicited communications offering significant money-making opportunities. The fraud occurs when respondents are asked to pay advance fees as a business investment. The most well-known type of advance fee fraud is West African 419 fraud, which exploits the gullibility and greed of its victims, who are often drawn into colluding with the fraudsters, and are thus less likely to report the crime. Millions of unsolicited letters and emails are sent out annually, enticing victims to offer their bank accounts as the destination of large sums of money (often openly stated as being illicitly gained) in return for a percentage of the funds. Those who respond positively are requested to provide advance fees in order to overcome various bureaucratic hurdles and free up the promised returns on investment. Victims are often requested to travel to other countries to collect the money, where they unknowingly face further risk from fraud, possible intimidation, and even kidnap. Public awareness remains the key to countering this type of advance fee fraud, ensuring that potential victims understand the risks.
The fraudsters take advantage of the latest technology. The internet provides a degree of anonymity and the facility to send blanket emails to multiple potential victims, and the number of reported email approaches has risen considerably. Emails and fax documents are sent from web-based accounts, which are only used for a short period of time before being abandoned. Letters are still used, and it is possible that the take-up of 419 letters is greater than that of email communications. In the case of letters, there is a growing trend towards the use of post-paid impressions from countries other than Nigeria.
Source: National Criminal Intelligence Service