From the 1500′s on there has been a scam that has proven very lucrative for thieves and has left thousand of victims destitute. It’s called the Spanish Prisoner due to its origins. It seems that back then Spain was a constant threat to many countries resulting in much mistrust. “Marks,” or victims, would be notified that a royal person was being held prisoner and to set them free would require bribes. In exchange the victim would receive not only a generous reward, but also the hand of the princess in marriage.
The con man had already researched to be sure the quarry was wealthy but gullible, and to be able to present a convincing story. The hustler must be able to persuade the individual to cooperate and provide the money, without letting him know that he is being taken.
This type of confidence game continues today, but can take various forms. As always it relies on confidentiality, mystery, and a feeling that a great deal is at stake. They play on the fact that, at heart, people want to save the world and come out financially well-off in the process. As the con continues, more and more money is harvested. Eventually the mark has invested so much they can’t pull out without risking losing it all, which they do in the end anyway.
One of the most common forms today is called the advanced fee fraud, also known as the 419 fraud. With the Internet this has become easier than ever. Not only can names be pulled from email headers, but the last name can often be determined from that information. The result is a conman often claims they are a relative and has the name to prove it.
When you contact them over the Internet, you tend to follow up with a call that explains the detailed situation. Since you’ll be using the phone, consult a telephone look-up service like 411infoseek.com/310/768/ which can help you to figure out whether or not their claims are legitimate. The Spanish Prisoner con is the basis for the majority of today’s scams, with plenty of alterations.
The advance-fee fraud, where operational fees are required up front to secure the release of far greater wealth, has generated many branches. A wide variety of con games, including the overpayment, reshipping, employment, and romance scams and the more recent Internet email lottery and work-from-home scams have arisen to take advantage of naive individuals.
Besides using telephone look-up services, there are several other safeguards available to guard against being scammed. The easiest is simply to delete any e-mails sent by unfamiliar people. If the e-mail is even opened, the sender can access the opener’s address book with a single click of a button. They are assured of ultimately finding a patsy when someone opens their e-mail.
Even if you open the email, just check it for spelling errors, as well as finding out exactly what you have to give them in order to receive what they’re offering, being suspicious of anything you may see in the email, regardless of its origin. However, despite the fact that no policing really exists for the Internet, there are government agencies who are attempting to find scam groups like this and put a halt to their operations. If you inform them of an impending scam, this process can go faster.
Please go to 411infoseek.com/269/708/ if you want to find out more about telephone look up services online
Tags: 419 fraud, Email, internet, scams, spanish prisoner scam