Why Should You Report Scammers?

Did You Know That Most People Do Not Report Scammers?

We know that 95% of you who will read this will not report your 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. to law enforcement or any credible entity

That is Truly Tragic!

As citizens, each of us has a duty to report crimes. Yet when it comes to scammers most victims remain silent.

There are so many excuses:

• The police are mean
• The police do nothing about it anyway
• I am embarrassed – I am ashamed
• Why bother, scammers will just keep scamming

Yet, a huge number of people decide to expose their scammer on social media.

Why Is It Important To Report Scammers To Your Local And National Police?

Of course, the first reason is that it is your duty! But in an age of instant gratification, who cares about their responsibilities to anyone else?

However, there are many real reasons why you should do it!

Reporting Scammers To Law Enforcement Is Critically Important

Beyond keeping the local peace and preventing crime, all law enforcement has a legal responsibility to report crimes up through government, so local, state (provincial), and national governments understand the reality of crime. This reporting determines resources such as money and manpower. It determines training requirements and victims’ support needs. It also helps the government at the national level to understand what new laws and international cooperation may be needed to control this.

When you do not report, you deny this information up and down through your government, keeping them in the dark. Governments work off of hard statistical data in making their decisions. If it is not in the data, it did not happen. They have to be objective, and only hard data reported is objective.

Failing to report crimes also means the police do not know what local victims assistance resources they need to better train their officers and support victims in crisis. With more than a million victims in 2016 – governments around the world only saw about 5% of those victims (and since victims are typically scammed more than once, the number of reported crimes was about 2-3% of those that actually occurred).

Now you know why police do not respond more seriously to the small number of reports they do receive. Because they do not see it as that big of a problem – because victims are not reporting them.

Report Scammers Now!

At The National Level

Since most online 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. is transnational – meaning the victims and scammers are not in the same country – extradition treaties are required to arrest scammers. Very few countries will extradite fraudsters currently. These treaties envisioned traditional criminals, such as murderers and bank robbers. But 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. are unique since the victims willingly send the money to the scammer under fraudulent pretexts, but this makes a huge difference when trying to extradite 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. in most of the African countries especially.

This means that new treaties are needed that specifically address these types of crimes, and this means that national politicians need to fully understand the magnitude of these crimes. By not reporting them, you deny them the information they need to make decisions about the need for new extradition treaties.

Do You See How One Simple Failure Can Cascade Up The Line?

This is a simple argument, do the right thing, and the rest sorts itself out. Failing to do the right thing, and the whole system fails.

People do not believe romance and other online scams are a big deal because victims have failed to report them. A few moments of discomfort can make all the difference to your community and your country.

As parents tend to tell children, there are no short cuts to a reward. You have to do the work. Do the hard thing to get the benefit.

Without your report, police are left in the dark and it goes on from there.

But The Police Do Not Do Anything Anyway …

This is a statement we hear hundreds of times a day. Victims are fed a steady stream of nonsense and urban legends from other victims about what the police do or do not do. Plus the police themselves contribute to this when they tell victims there is nothing they can do to catch the scammer or get their money back.

That Is True, But Not The Whole Story

When the police take a report, of course, it serves to collect data needed as we have said, but it also does something else. It collects data that can be used to help police understand the use of Money MulesMoney mules Money mules are a type of money laundering where a person transfers illicit funds through a medium (such as a bank account) to obfuscate where the money came from. There are different types of money mules including witting, unwitting, and complicit.. Often Money Mules are within your country – that means that even though the scammer may be in Africa, the MuleMule A money mule sometimes called a "smurfer," is a person who transfers money acquired illegally (e.g., stolen) in person, through a courier service, or electronically, on behalf of others (usually criminals that they are knowingly or unknowingly affiliated). Typically, the mule is paid for services with a small part of the money transferred - but not always. Mules may or may not be aware that they are performing these actions. Money mules are often dupes recruited online for what they think is legitimate employment, not aware that the money they are transferring is the product of crime. The money is transferred from the mule's account to the scam operator, typically in another country. Similar techniques are used to transfer illegal merchandise. Mules can be prosecuted for numerous crimes. is helping the scammer from within your country. These Mules contribute to as many as 20% of all scams, and shutting them down has a big impact.

By reporting the crime to the police, they may not say they will do anything because they do not want you to get your hope up, but the wheels will keep spinning behind the scenes. Whenever they can find a nexus in your country, responsible police will explore it. This can lead to the shutdown of a Mule, and in many cases the recovery of some funds. If nothing else, many Mules are victims living in denialDenial Denial is a refusal or unwillingness to accept something or to accept reality. Refusal to admit the truth or reality of something, refusal to acknowledge something unpleasant; And as a term of Psychology: denial is a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality., and this gets them help and forces them to recognize that they were being scammed too.

WE ASK YOU TO BE AN ADVOCATE

We ask you to be someone that makes a difference. Instead of useless exposing scammers on social media, talk to other victims and help them understand why real reporting is so important.

Tell them that there are three places where scammers need to be reported:

• National Police (such as the FBIFBI FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes, including financial fraud. www.IC3.gov)
• Local PoliceLocal Police The Local Police is your first responder in most countries. In most English-speaking countries and in Europe report to them first. In other countries look for your national cybercrime police units to report scams to. In the U.S., Canada, & Australia, you must report to the local police first.
• www.Anyscam.com

If You Do Your Part They Will Do Their Part!

You have to make the effort. It will not be easy to report your 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. to real people, especially right after you discover it. In fact, it will be very difficult, because it will require that you fully confront it – but in the end, this will make it much easier to get over it. Plus local law enforcement usually has local crime victim support services that they can suggest for you.

AVOID VIGILANTE SCAMHATER GROUPS ON SOCIAL MEDIA & THE WEB

One of the worst mistakes you can make is to take up with a vigilante group on social media (so-called Scam Haters), who spend all of their time “Exposing” scammers to closed audiences – exactly how does that help anyone? Do the social media companies watch those scam hater groups? NO! Does law enforcement? NO!

All they do is to keep victims whipped up into a continuous stream of hatred for criminals that only prolong their recovery, and offers no real support – certainly not legal support since only SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. is a registered online crime victims’ assistance organization.

Every victim feels powerless after the scam, but the real first step in restoring your control over the scammer is to report them.

Will You Do The Right Thing?

We sincerely hope that you will be a good citizen and help yourself, your community, and your country! Report scammers now!

I Want You To Do The Right Thing And Report Every Scammer!