Campaign against email and prize draw fraud

[Cockney Mackem]

The National Fraud Authority has today launched a campaign against email and postal scams of the "You have won the lottery, send money now" variety. There's an email address and post box you can send all mails and letters you receive to, and they will gather intelligence and investigate.

I'm glad this is happening but why the fuck has it taken them so long? Nigerian scam email is so widespread it's got it's own character on TV sketch shows, and reports today say mass marketing fraud accounts for a quarter of all fraudulent activity and 90% of all losses. Fuck's sake, this has been going on for years - what exactly have the authorities been doing up to now? The money made in scams flows into a massive illegal economy, if they'd got onto this they might have gone up the chain to even bigger criminals as well.

Cnuts.

[thebigman]

Originally Posted by Cockney Mackem

The National Fraud Authority has today launched a campaign against email and postal scams of the "You have won the lottery, send money now" variety. There's an email address and post box you can send all mails and letters you receive to, and they will gather intelligence and investigate.

I'm glad this is happening but why the fuck has it taken them so long? Nigerian scam email is so widespread it's got it's own character on TV sketch shows, and reports today say mass marketing fraud accounts for a quarter of all fraudulent activity and 90% of all losses. Fuck's sake, this has been going on for years - what exactly have the authorities been doing up to now? The money made in scams flows into a massive illegal economy, if they'd got onto this they might have gone up the chain to even bigger criminals as well.

Cnuts.

I'm a fraud investigator with the SFO.

THe main reason int's not investigated is because Police force fraud departments are being reduced. They have had their budgets slashed for the last 10 years or so.

Add to that the fact it's almost impossible to get any international assistance from Nigeria. If it is in fact a Nigerian scam you'll get nothing from Nigeria. I've been waiting 3 years for an answer to a letter of request as a perfect example.

Add to that most of the time they want your money via money transfer services which are pretty much untraceable money moving services.

Fraud departments have tried to use the educate the public method to reduce the amount of money lost to this kind of fraud, but people still throw their money away.

Secret is.... ask yourself "have i played the spanish lottery?"

if the answer is no. Then you haven't won the spanish lottery.

[not spavin]

Stuff like this gives us Nigerian Princes a bad name tbh.

[thebigman]

after reading that back, thats a pretty simplistic answer, there is more to it than that but the points are right