Last Updated on by SCARS Editorial Team
A Comment About Reporting
From the Romance ScamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. Now Team
As we have said many times, you have to be thorough and meticulous in the information that you report. Report everything you can get, and if you don’t have much, keep the scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. engaged until you have everything possible: recipient’s names, phone numbers, emails, address, everything you can get.
But reporting is just the start!
Why? Because in some of these countries the local police will not believe you. They view this as a voluntary transaction between you and the fraudsterFraudster A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.. Meaning, that no crime took place, or at least it happened outside their country.
Malaysia is great for taking this seriously though, and they do go after scammers, but it takes multiple reports before they act.
In the Philippines, most scams are of no importance to the local police, but their NBINBI The National Bureau of Investigation (Filipino: Pambansang Kawanihan ng Pagsisiyasat, abbreviated as NBI) is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Justice, responsible for handling and solving major high-profile cases that are in the interest of the nation. The NBI was modeled after the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when it was being established. has also good about following up. But they have so many scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost., and child porn complaints, they are overwhelmed, so they prioritize their resources.
However, in Western Africa, we have found it more useful to go after scammers using different tactics. Namely the money. We have been successful approaching it as TAX fraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements.
A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim., and operating a criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. gangGang A gang is normally a group or society of associated criminals with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over a territory or business practice in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. Online gangs are not limited by territory and may operate side by side with other gangs while engaging in crime online. Some members of criminal gangs are initiated (by going through a process of initiation), or have to prove their loyalty and right to belong by committing certain acts, usually theft or violence, or rituals. Gangs are usually rougher and more visible than scammer cartels, and more often arrested.. It’s about following the money, because this is what get’s their attention.
We are sorry to say that a single victim will not get much attention in the source countries, though it is important to report it regardless, if for no other reason than you can get some tax relief in your country (a deduction).
Reporting is the starting point for us. We look for patterns, and multiple reports tracking back to a single team or location. We look for things like IP addresses, to track them to the cyber cafes. We work to identify multiple recipients and try to flag Western Union and other agencies, though the problem is that YOU told Western Union this was not a scam transaction.
Of course you can personally hire an investigator in the source country at an average cost of between $500 to $5000 to track down a scammer, but as we said, just tracking one down doesn’t usually result in an arrest or getting your money back.
Please don’t be discouraged by this, your reports are critical – they are filling the pieces of the puzzle that can lead to action. Just don’t expect a single scam report to yield immediate action. It just doesn’t work that way.
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