What's Advance Fee Fraud?

You may get emails from a "bank official", "disinherited Prince", "lawyer" or countless other people, but the stories are very similar. Someone has died in a foreign country, leaving millions of pounds or dollars behind them that can only be accessed by someone claiming to be the legal beneficiary. They want you to pose as that beneficiary to claim the money, and will pay you a hefty percentage for the use of your bank account. There are also many variations on the story, including the "dying man" who wants you to use the money to help charities (after you've taken your cut of course) or the "grieving widow" who just wants to "help needy children" with their husband's money and wants you to act as the trustee.

What happens if I fall for it?

You'll be asked for several things. First, you'll have to provide details of your identity to the "barrister" dealing with the transaction. This will probably include bank details, a copy of your passport, birth certificate and driving license, your National Insurance Number, basically everything that's needed for the fraudster to steal your identity. You'll then be told that before the money can be released to you, somebody needs to be paid. It could be bank charges, taxes or even bribes for corrupt officials, but one way or another, you'll be asked to stump up the cash. Of course it'll be a drop in the ocean compared to the millions that you'll be getting once the transaction is processed. Invariably, you'll have to pay this by Western Union, which is virtually untraceable. If you pay, then the fraudster will keep on finding new charges and bribes that have to be provided for, always dangling the carrot of the big payout which of course, never comes.

How do I avoid getting ripped off?

You'll know one of these scams as soon as they land in your inbox. Simply have a little chuckle and hit "delete". NEVER respond to these emails, even to tell the scammer what you think of them, as this will just confirm that your email is live and you'll be inundated with email scams of every description. If you want to cause these scammers some inconvenience, forward a copy of the email to the abuse department of their email provider for example:

• abuse@yahoo.com
• abuse@hotmail.com
• abuse@gmail.com

What if I've sent money?

I'm afraid you'll never see the payout, and your chances of getting your money back are zero. You can report the fraud to your local police station, but unless you have solid information that can be used to trace the criminals (bank details, addresses, telephone numbers etc) then it's unlikely that anyone will ever be brought to justice.