True crime: Scam avoided, others warned

Harwich officer took the first step, but sidestepped the con

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By JASON KOLNOS
STAFF WRITER, CAPE COD TIMES
 

HARWICH - All reserve officer Keith Lincoln wanted to do when he placed an advertisement on a popular trading Web site was sell his old boat.

He never imagined the personal posting would rope him into a seedy and complex international counterfeit check scam that could have cost him thousands.

Lincoln's cybernightmare began in late November when he tried to sell his vessel for roughly $24,500 on http://www.boattraderonline.com/, a classified-ad-type Web site used by thousands of sellers and buyers.

Within a few days, Lincoln was contacted via e-mail by a man who identified himself as Al Richmond and who used an e-mail address based in the United Kingdom.

Richmond claimed he was an online broker for a party interested in purchasing Lincoln's boat. Happy that he had found a potential buyer, Lincoln responded to the inquiry with enthusiasm.

But when the two began to discuss monetary transfer arrangements, the seemingly innocent sale morphed into a sketchy transaction that made Lincoln, 33, think twice.

According to Lincoln, Richmond said his "client" was going to send the officer a check for $32,000 and then Lincoln would send back the difference of $7,500 via Western Union to an account in Amsterdam.

"Right off the bat I thought that was odd," said Lincoln, a Harwich police officer since 1997. "Who pays somebody more money than what they are asking for?"

When he quizzed the so-called broker about the unorthodox practice, Lincoln received few answers.

"He told me that it was easier for the buyer to cut me a check for the larger amount of money and for me to send the difference," he said.  "That didn't sit well."

Lincoln had reservations, but went along with the transaction anyway, giving Richmond his address.

On Dec. 4, Lincoln received a FedEx envelope with a $32,000 cashier's check inside. The return address was Lagos, Nigeria.

At that point, Lincoln figured this was probably a fraudulent deal and he took the check to his bank in Chatham to verify its validity. Within minutes, bank officials determined the money was bogus.

Although Lincoln never sent the requested $7,500 check to Amsterdam, "it was kind of nerve-racking," he said. "I felt like I was violated in a way and I could have been out a lot of money."

Coalition 419

The scam prompted Lincoln to do some investigating of his own about this Nigerian operation fraud, which investigators call "Coalition 419." He found out these scammers target sellers and buyers everywhere - from online postings to local newspaper advertisements. 

Lincoln placed a call to the U.S. Secret Service branch in Boston, where he was told thousands of people fall victim to this same operation each year, he said.

He also said a representative from the boat trading Web site he had used told him they send 500 e-mails to the FBI each day about this scam and that their clients have lost $500,000 this year alone.

Annette McGuire, a fraud investigator* and owner of www.fraudaid.com, estimated that thousands of people worldwide have lost $75 million in 2003 to this latest Nigerian scam.

The majority of victims, she said, are Internet users who post on sites such as eBay and Yahoo classifieds, because transactions are fast, free and often anonymous.

"People these days will do more business with a complete stranger than their cousin Joe," McGuire said.

And nobody is exempt from being targeted, no matter how Internet-savvy they are, she added.

"These guys study their craft all day," said McGuire, who has been tracking Nigerian scammers for years. "They are the most creative and enterprising people I've seen. They always find a way to get people."

Experts say: Be vigilant

McGuire said the only thing sellers and buyers can do is be vigilant. She said people should never send any money via Western Union unless the recipient is well-known. McGuire also warned people not to assume a
bank will catch frauds just because you have a certified check.  Perhaps the most shocking part of this scam is that nothing can be done to stop it.

Timothy Buckley, supervisor of the New England Electronic Crime Task Force of the Boston Secret Service office, said that U.S. officials have been tracking Nigerian scams since the mid-1980s.

The Secret Service's hands are tied, Buckley said, because they have gotten little help from the Nigerian government in tracking these thieves over the years.

"It's a dead end as far as making arrests," he said. "At this point it's just a matter of public education to stop this."

Buckley's advice to the public is to report any suspicious checks, letters or e-mails to local authorities or their nearest Secret Service division.

Lincoln said he shared his disaster story so the public would be more informed about what is going on. There is information on the Web, he said, but details are hard to find.

"I hate to use the cliché, but if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is," Lincoln said.

For more information about the Nigerian scam, visit www.fraudaid.com.  The address to send any letters or e-mails suspected of fraud is U.S. Secret Service, 10 Causeway St., Suite 791, Boston, MA 02222.

(Published: December 18, 2003, ©Cape Cod Times, all rights reserved)

* Although I spend time investigating fraud, it is more in the line of research or assisting victims to provide a fraud report to law enforcement.  I am not a licensed investigator and cannot perform the same type of investigation as a licensed detective.  When true fraud investigation is required, I refer the victim to one of my associates - G2 or Straight Shooter.