How to Avoid Internet Based Scams
We have compiled a list of resources to help our advertisers and users of Free Ads Group identify and avoid Internet based scams.
Importing Pets, Monkeys or Parrot eggs?
Please do not respond to "adopt a pet" ads where you are asked to send money for shipping the pet from abroad or from a far away location, all these ads are scams and we will delete all ads and accounts when we find this type of ad. If you are buying a pet, please view the pet before parting with any money, never buy from overseas, never send money by Western Union, it is like sending cash and cannot be traced.
Telephone Numbers
Please be aware that telephone numbers starting 0704 and 0703 can be used to direct calls to an international number, if you dial a 0704 type number please take extra care.
Re-shippers
Re-shipping scams trick individuals or small businesses into shipping goods to countries with weak legal systems. The goods are generally paid for with stolen or fake credit cards.
Do not respond to any ad that offers free goods or pets and asks for you to pay just the shipping, nearly always this is a scam. Overseas export?
Please be aware of emails originating from overseas, wanting you to export your goods for sale. Nearly always, these are a scam of some kind. The majority of scams that are targeting Free Ads Group ad sites tend to be from criminals based in Nigeria or Cameroon, or are using Nigerian/Cameroon bank accounts. Remember: If it sounds too good to true, then it usually is!
What is West African "419" fraud?
Advance fee fraud or &undefined;419&undefined; fraud (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code) is a popular crime with the West African organised criminal networks. There are a myriad of schemes and scams - mail, faxed and telephone promises designed to facilitate victims parting with money. All involve requests to help move large sums of money with the promise of a substantial share of the cash in return.
This type of scam, originally known as the "Spanish Prisoner Letter", has been carried out since at least the sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail. These scams have come to be associated in the public mind with Nigeria due to the massive proliferation of such confidence tricks from that country since the mid-eighties, although they are often also carried out in other African nations, and increasingly from European cities with large Nigerian populations, notably London and Amsterdam.
The laws from Section 419 and laws in place in other jurisdictions criminalising the offences do not scare away the criminals who profit from these crimes. The stakes and profits are simply too high and many government officials are believed to be involved with the criminal gangs.
Victim&undefined;s individual monetary losses can range from the low thousands into multi-millions. True figures are often impossible to ascertain, because many victims, embarrassed by their naiveté and feeling personally humiliated, do not report the crime to the authorities. Others, having lost so much themselves, become "part of the gang" recruiting more victims from their own country of residence. There are tragic cases of victims being unable to cope with the losses and committing suicide.
Cash the check system
In some cases, fraudsters approach merchants and ask for large orders: $50,000 to $200,000, and agree to pay via wire transfer in advance. After brief negotiation, the buyers gives an excuse about the impossibility of sending a bank wire transfer. The buyer then offers to send a check, stating that the merchant can wait for the check to clear before shipping any goods. The check received, however, is a counterfeit of a check from a medium to large U.S. company. If asked, the buyer will claim that the check is money owed from the large company. The merchant deposits the check and it clears, so the goods are sent. Only later, when the larger company notices the check, will the merchant&undefined;s account be debited.
In some cases, the fraudsters agree to the wire but ask the merchant for their bank&undefined;s address. The fraudsters send the counterfeited check directly to the merchant&undefined;s bank with a note asking to deposit it to the merchant&undefined;s account. Unsuspecting bank officers deposit the check, and then the fraudster contacts the merchant stating that they made a direct deposit into the merchant&undefined;s account.
Money Transfers Fraud
This type of Fraud consists of an employment offer to help transfer money to a foreign company, supposedly because it costs too much to do it through other methods (which is usually not the case).
The fraudsters will then send fake checks or postal money orders, in the hopes of getting the victims to cash those fake money instruments and then getting real money from the victims.
These scams are also use as phishing tools, because many times the fraudsters are able to get the victims full name, address, social security, bank account number, etc, etc, which in ends up being identity fraud.
Business opportunity "Work-at-Home" schemes
Fraudulent schemes often use the Internet to advertise purported business opportunities that will allow individuals to earn thousands of dollars a month in "work-at-home" ventures. These schemes typically require the individuals to pay anywhere from $35 to several hundred dollars or more, but fail to deliver the materials or information that would be needed to make the work-at-home opportunity a potentially viable business.
Often, after paying a registration fee, the applicant will be sent advice on how to place ads similar to the one that recruited him in order to recruit others, which is effectively a pyramid scheme.
Other types of work at home scams include home assembly kits. The applicant pays a fee for the kit, but after assembling and returning the item, it’s rejected as substandard, meaning the applicant is out of pocket for the materials. Similar scams include home-working directories, medical billing, data entry (data entry scam) at home or reading books for money.
Please use our contact form to notify us if you receive a scam email, together with the user email address, or senders ID number and we will terminate their account.
If you do receive an email that is a scam, report it to their ISP by forwarding the offending email to the ISP&undefined;s abuse department at abuse@(insert ISP domain name) for example abuse@yahoo.com or abuse@hotmail.com and they will close the scammers email account.
We do not want scammers/fraudsters using the Free Ads Group web site, please report all fraudsters if you receive an email from them.
