International Jurisdictions:Interpol • New Scotland Yard • Royal Canadian Mounted Police • The EFCC FBI & Secret Service International Operations
NOTE: Regardless of the country in which you live, before filing a complaint with a foreign agency you must first file a complaint with your local police. The complaint number, police station name, address, phone number, and the investigating officer's name are vital for international correspondence. If you do not supply this information, you will be directed to call back when the information is available.
Interpol stands for International Crime Police Organization. Contrary to popular belief as dramatized by Hollywood and crime novels, Interpol is not an independent international police agency that operates on its own in every country in the world. It is primarily an organization that assists local law enforcement in member countries coordinate enforcement efforts with law enforcement in other member countries. Not all countries belong to Interpol. Go here to see a list of member countries: http://www.interpol.int/Public/Icpo/Members/default.asp, and here to see a list of Interpol's main areas of activity: http://www.interpol.int/Public/icpo/about.asp. In the fraud arena, Interpol polices money laundering and human trafficking activities. Money laundering is not only related to drug monies, but to funds that are obtained from fraudulent investment victims and then laundered through other accounts to hide the funds from investigation attempts, and funds laundered in Nigerian and Eastern European fraud activities. Interpol's definition of money laundering is "Any act or attempted act to conceal or disguise the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources'. http://www.interpol.com/Public/FinancialCrime/FOPAC/default.asp When to contact Interpol: Seldom: Interpol does not provide investigative services directly to individuals. It provides back-up, forensics, analysis, and criminal intelligence services to local law enforcement in member countries. However, if you have solid evidence of a crime in a country other than your own you can contact Interpol to see if they have the criminal on file and if they would like to forward your evidence to the right investigative party.
Unlike the Scotland Yard portrayed in the movies, the Yard is actually the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and it's main jurisdiction is London. Founded by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, it is the largest of the police forces that operate in Greater London. It covers an area of 620 square miles and a population of 7.2 million. (http://www.met.police.uk/about/index.htm) In order to file a report with the MPS, you must contact the station that is closest to the address of the swindler, and you must have your local police complaint information at the ready. The Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad specializes in high-value crime, that is amounts of greater than £75,000. Therefore, if you have been involved in a High-Yield Investment fraud or high-value 419 fraud where the swindlers have given you coordinates in England, and London in particular, then call the Metropolitan Police switchboard at 020 7230 1212 and ask to be put through to the Fraud Squad. If the fraud is for a value of less than £75,000 then you can either find the nearest London MPS station here: http://www.met.police.uk/about/boroughs.htm Or you can do what I do - go the the MPS directory at http://www.met.police.uk/contact/phone.htm, call any old station, and ask them for the phone number of the station that corresponds to the address the swindler gave you. If the swindler gave you a phone number, check it against the exchanges on the station list until you find one that matches. The Yard does coordinate with law enforcement agencies in other countries both on their own and through Interpol. See how to report to the Yard from out of country on Report Internet & Street Fraud page
THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: Affectionately known as The Mounties, and known for always catching their man, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the Canadian national police service and an agency of the Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada. "The RCMP is unique in the world since it is a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. We provide a total federal policing service to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces (except Ontario and Quebec), approximately 198 municipalities and, under 172 individual agreements, to 192 First Nations communities." http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/about/index_e.htm. They have provided both online and offline reporting methods which you will find at http://www.phonebusters.com/
THE EFCC The EFCC is the Nigerian Economic & Financial Crimes Commission, which is at the forefront of fighting Nigerian Internet fraud. The EFCC has worked hard to remove Nigeria from the FATF's list of uncooperative countries and they succeeded as of June, 2006. You will find how to report a Nigerian scam to the EFCC on the Report Internet & Street Fraud page.
FBI & SECRET SERVICE INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Both the FBI and the Secret Service work outside the US. The Secret Service has several Field Offices abroad: http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml Both agencies welcome contact from residents of any country who have information that is useful toward either opening an investigation or adding to an existing investigation of criminal activity with the US. If you are a US expatriate or the resident of a foreign country, refer to Report Internet & Street Fraud to find out how to report evidence of criminal activity within the US.
|
|
