Were you contacted by a long lost uncle who happens to be the grand-nephew of a Nigerian heir who now wants to send you money? While most of us don't fall for these scams, there are a few who, unfortunately, get sucked into the famous Nigerian Scam, AKA 419 or Advance Free Fraud scams.
Our chief Trend Hunter, Jeremy, just phoned from the road to share a story about a really controversial 419 scam.
The owners of a website were upset about one of these Advance Free Fraud scams, so they conned the sender, Odama, into going to Darfur. They then told him that his mother had died.
Now that's scandal. While some people are really upset that they would do this, others are in support of it.
The worst part of it, and I really don't get this, is that when the sender got back to Nigeria, he started scamming again! Now they are trying to lure Odama back once more.
Thanks Jeremy, for the radio update!
Unfortunately, my online searches revealed nothing, but the radio show featured an interview with the site owners, so something could still pop up.
What's Driving This Trend
- Anti-fraud Campaigning
- There is an opportunity for businesses to create anti-fraud campaigns that target victims and potential perpetrators of Advance Free Fraud scams.
- Crowdsourced Retaliation
- There is an opportunity for businesses to provide victims of Advance Free Fraud scams with a platform to collectively retaliate and minimize the possibility of future scams.
- Reverse Scamming
- There is an opportunity for businesses to develop reverse scamming tactics that target Advance Free Fraud scammers and create an obstacle for future scams.
Who This Affects Most
- Cybersecurity
- The cybersecurity industry can invest in developing new technologies that detect and prevent Advance Free Fraud scams.
- Financial Services
- The financial services industry can offer more education and fraud prevention advice to their customers to protect them from Advance Free Fraud scams.
- Legal
- The legal industry can provide legal representation to victims of Advance Free Fraud scams and help them recover their losses.
