Attention all!!!
The internet is being abused so much now and impersonation is on the rise. If you ignore this article you might fall victim to these fraudsters. Cyber crime is not a joke, many have lost billions obviously to impersonating fraudsters that claim to be military personnel request for money through mild- coercion, deceptive, romantic, sympathy move.
In Ghana cyber fraudsters are known as ‘Sakawa’ boys while in Nigeria they are known as ‘yahoo’ boys but regardless of what they are called just know that any poor dude beaten by poverty but have a laptop connected to the internet can outsmart you simply through impersonating and you won’t even know it. The impersonation means is a rampant tool in Africa where unemployment is a problem, well educated youth with no job resort to cyber fraud to make both ends meet.
A rapidly growing technique scammers are
using is to impersonate American military
personnel. Scammers prefer to use the
images, names and profiles of soldiers as
this usually inspires confidence, trust and
admiration in their female victims.
Also because military public relations
often posts information on soldiers
without mentioning their families or
personal lives, images are stolen from
these websites by organized internet
crime gangs often operating out of
Nigeria or Ghana. They tell their victims
that they are lonely, supporting an
orphanage with their own money, needing
financial assistance because they can't
access their own money in a combat zone,
etc. The money is always sent to a third
party to be collected for the scammer.
Sometimes the third party is real,
sometimes fictitious. Funds sent by
Western Union and MoneyGram do not
have to be claimed by anyone showing
identification if the sender sends money
using a secret pass phrase and response,
and can be picked up anywhere in the
world. Some scammers may also use Bitcoin
as an alternative payment method.
Social media is the main abode of this activity. Facebook, Whatsapp, and dating sites are the best means they use.
Here is a popular means they impersonate military personnel.
here is a true life story involving a military impersonation scam
When Maria Grette first discovered that the
58-year-old Danish man with whom she had
fallen in love was actually a 24-year-old
Nigerian "419" internet scammer, the 62-
year-old Swede was distraught.
Ms Grette's relationship with Johnny (not
his real name) began after an evening of fun
and games with her girlfriends, during which
they playfully created a profile for her on an
online dating website. A few years before,
she had gone through a traumatic divorce, and
her friends teased her about finally starting
a new relationship.
But when the fun of creating her profile was
over, Ms Grette, who works as an arts
teacher, painter and arts therapist, didn't
give much further thought to the website.
"I received messages telling me that people
had contacted me, but I never looked at
them," she said.
Then, one day, she did.
"I still don't know why," she said. "It was
like a sudden impulse happening before I
could stop it."
That particular message was from a man who
described himself as a Dane raised in South
Carolina, USA; a civil engineer working on
a contract in England; a widower with a son
in a Manchester university.
"I was caught up by the atmosphere and by
something in his words," she said.
The pre-amble
Johnny: "I wish I could see through your eyes
and see what you like to see"
Maria: "I like to see the truth, and often
the truth is more beautiful and greater than
people dare to realize"
Johnny: "You talk in parable´s. I can´t wait
to see you"
Maria: "I cant understand how you can think
so dedicated of me, when you have never met
me. That scares me."
"We spent some time writing, then he called
from a UK number."
Ms Grette, who had lived in different
countries across Europe, was surprised that
she could not place the man's accent. She
mentioned this to him but didn't give it
too much thought.
He told her that he was planning for his
retirement; had Sweden in mind for a place
to settle; owned a house in Denmark
inherited from his parents; wanted to leave
that to his son, Nick, who was very attached
to it, while he looked for a new home for
himself in Sweden.
"I wanted to meet him because I liked him,"
she said. "He had a way and a sweetness I
had never known in a man before. And he
was innocent in a way that puzzled me."
Ms Grette put all these qualities down to
"an old fashioned upbringing and an isolated
life - living in hotels and spending his free
time on golf courses owing to much
travelling".
After three months of communicating, the
man agreed to come over and visit her in
Sweden. But before that, he and his son
needed to make a quick trip to Nigeria for
a job interview, he said.
Johnny called to let her know that he was at
Heathrow Airport. And to say that he had
landed in Nigeria. He also got her to speak
with Nick. The next phone call was to tell
her that he was in a Lagos hospital.
They had been mugged, his son shot in the
head, and they were without money and
papers.
Unfortunately, his bank did not have a
branch in Africa, he added, so it would take
time to transfer money from his UK account.
Meanwhile, the hospital management was
requesting €1000 to proceed with treatment.
The request
"Honey, I am in the hospital right now using
the doctor´s laptop to send you this message
so you can know my situation. Honey, if
Nick dies I will also die with him, I have
been crying, I wish I could call you, I wish
I never came here, I will never forgive
myself for bringing Nick along with me. I
will call you with the doctor´s phone and
send you an email later if I have the chanse.
"Honey, I am happy to hear from you and I am
still at the hospital. The doctor said we
where lucky we where not kidnapped. The
bank does not have a location in Africa, so
it will take time to get money and the
management are requesting 1000 euros to
proceed with treatment. Nick is all I have
got and I will not forgive myself if anything
happens to him. I am confused, and I do not
know where to turn at the moment......"
"I will never forget how I rushed to the
Western Union office, trembling while I
did the transfer," Ms Grette said.
"All I could think of was to get the two
persons in Nigeria out of danger."
The plot developed after that initial
transfer. Medical complications called for
more money. The doctors demanded more
advance fees.
Several thousands of euro later, in what she
describes as "coming to her senses", Maria
realised that something was amiss.
She stopped responding to his messages.
Three weeks after her silence, he called her
and confessed. He told her that he was not
who she thought he was.
"I said I already knew that. I asked him to
tell me his true identity and he did."
He was a 24-year-old Nigerian "419"
scammer. He had finished university two
years earlier but had no job.
These kind of advance fee frauds are known
as 419 scams in Nigeria after the section of
the Criminal Code which covers fraud.
He further described himself as a "devil"
who had wronged "a lovely woman".
here is another means.
Let's talk about the "trunk/box scam." You're
talking to a Soldier, and he wants to send
you a package. It could be a large gift. It
could be his worldly possessions. It could be
gold and jewelry and money that he somehow
discovered in battle. Mostly, though, it's a
big fat LIE. If a soldier asks to ship a box
to you, the next thing you will get is a
message from a (fake) customs or shipping
agent, saying that there are fees/taxes/
customs that must be paid IMMEDIATELY for
the box to be delivered. There's no box.
There's no customs. There's no Soldier. It's
all a scam.
another means is duping people who have interest in enrollment into the country military academy.
these scammers impersonate high ranking soldiers that work in the academy. they post ads which says if you pay them money they wildcat as Godfather for you and secure your admission into the academy with ease. such case is the Nigeria defence academy case which is becoming more rampant ,do not believe such there is nothing like special candidates.
use your head
be warned
its all scam !!!!!
so share so others can be informed.
The internet is being abused so much now and impersonation is on the rise. If you ignore this article you might fall victim to these fraudsters. Cyber crime is not a joke, many have lost billions obviously to impersonating fraudsters that claim to be military personnel request for money through mild- coercion, deceptive, romantic, sympathy move.
In Ghana cyber fraudsters are known as ‘Sakawa’ boys while in Nigeria they are known as ‘yahoo’ boys but regardless of what they are called just know that any poor dude beaten by poverty but have a laptop connected to the internet can outsmart you simply through impersonating and you won’t even know it. The impersonation means is a rampant tool in Africa where unemployment is a problem, well educated youth with no job resort to cyber fraud to make both ends meet.
A rapidly growing technique scammers are
using is to impersonate American military
personnel. Scammers prefer to use the
images, names and profiles of soldiers as
this usually inspires confidence, trust and
admiration in their female victims.
Also because military public relations
often posts information on soldiers
without mentioning their families or
personal lives, images are stolen from
these websites by organized internet
crime gangs often operating out of
Nigeria or Ghana. They tell their victims
that they are lonely, supporting an
orphanage with their own money, needing
financial assistance because they can't
access their own money in a combat zone,
etc. The money is always sent to a third
party to be collected for the scammer.
Sometimes the third party is real,
sometimes fictitious. Funds sent by
Western Union and MoneyGram do not
have to be claimed by anyone showing
identification if the sender sends money
using a secret pass phrase and response,
and can be picked up anywhere in the
world. Some scammers may also use Bitcoin
as an alternative payment method.
Social media is the main abode of this activity. Facebook, Whatsapp, and dating sites are the best means they use.
Here is a popular means they impersonate military personnel.here is a true life story involving a military impersonation scam
When Maria Grette first discovered that the
58-year-old Danish man with whom she had
fallen in love was actually a 24-year-old
Nigerian "419" internet scammer, the 62-
year-old Swede was distraught.
Ms Grette's relationship with Johnny (not
his real name) began after an evening of fun
and games with her girlfriends, during which
they playfully created a profile for her on an
online dating website. A few years before,
she had gone through a traumatic divorce, and
her friends teased her about finally starting
a new relationship.
But when the fun of creating her profile was
over, Ms Grette, who works as an arts
teacher, painter and arts therapist, didn't
give much further thought to the website.
"I received messages telling me that people
had contacted me, but I never looked at
them," she said.
Then, one day, she did.
"I still don't know why," she said. "It was
like a sudden impulse happening before I
could stop it."
That particular message was from a man who
described himself as a Dane raised in South
Carolina, USA; a civil engineer working on
a contract in England; a widower with a son
in a Manchester university.
"I was caught up by the atmosphere and by
something in his words," she said.
The pre-amble
Johnny: "I wish I could see through your eyes
and see what you like to see"
Maria: "I like to see the truth, and often
the truth is more beautiful and greater than
people dare to realize"
Johnny: "You talk in parable´s. I can´t wait
to see you"
Maria: "I cant understand how you can think
so dedicated of me, when you have never met
me. That scares me."
"We spent some time writing, then he called
from a UK number."
Ms Grette, who had lived in different
countries across Europe, was surprised that
she could not place the man's accent. She
mentioned this to him but didn't give it
too much thought.
He told her that he was planning for his
retirement; had Sweden in mind for a place
to settle; owned a house in Denmark
inherited from his parents; wanted to leave
that to his son, Nick, who was very attached
to it, while he looked for a new home for
himself in Sweden.
"I wanted to meet him because I liked him,"
she said. "He had a way and a sweetness I
had never known in a man before. And he
was innocent in a way that puzzled me."
Ms Grette put all these qualities down to
"an old fashioned upbringing and an isolated
life - living in hotels and spending his free
time on golf courses owing to much
travelling".
After three months of communicating, the
man agreed to come over and visit her in
Sweden. But before that, he and his son
needed to make a quick trip to Nigeria for
a job interview, he said.
Johnny called to let her know that he was at
Heathrow Airport. And to say that he had
landed in Nigeria. He also got her to speak
with Nick. The next phone call was to tell
her that he was in a Lagos hospital.
They had been mugged, his son shot in the
head, and they were without money and
papers.
Unfortunately, his bank did not have a
branch in Africa, he added, so it would take
time to transfer money from his UK account.
Meanwhile, the hospital management was
requesting €1000 to proceed with treatment.
The request
"Honey, I am in the hospital right now using
the doctor´s laptop to send you this message
so you can know my situation. Honey, if
Nick dies I will also die with him, I have
been crying, I wish I could call you, I wish
I never came here, I will never forgive
myself for bringing Nick along with me. I
will call you with the doctor´s phone and
send you an email later if I have the chanse.
"Honey, I am happy to hear from you and I am
still at the hospital. The doctor said we
where lucky we where not kidnapped. The
bank does not have a location in Africa, so
it will take time to get money and the
management are requesting 1000 euros to
proceed with treatment. Nick is all I have
got and I will not forgive myself if anything
happens to him. I am confused, and I do not
know where to turn at the moment......"
"I will never forget how I rushed to the
Western Union office, trembling while I
did the transfer," Ms Grette said.
"All I could think of was to get the two
persons in Nigeria out of danger."
The plot developed after that initial
transfer. Medical complications called for
more money. The doctors demanded more
advance fees.
Several thousands of euro later, in what she
describes as "coming to her senses", Maria
realised that something was amiss.
She stopped responding to his messages.
Three weeks after her silence, he called her
and confessed. He told her that he was not
who she thought he was.
"I said I already knew that. I asked him to
tell me his true identity and he did."
He was a 24-year-old Nigerian "419"
scammer. He had finished university two
years earlier but had no job.
These kind of advance fee frauds are known
as 419 scams in Nigeria after the section of
the Criminal Code which covers fraud.
He further described himself as a "devil"
who had wronged "a lovely woman".
here is another means.
Let's talk about the "trunk/box scam." You're
talking to a Soldier, and he wants to send
you a package. It could be a large gift. It
could be his worldly possessions. It could be
gold and jewelry and money that he somehow
discovered in battle. Mostly, though, it's a
big fat LIE. If a soldier asks to ship a box
to you, the next thing you will get is a
message from a (fake) customs or shipping
agent, saying that there are fees/taxes/
customs that must be paid IMMEDIATELY for
the box to be delivered. There's no box.
There's no customs. There's no Soldier. It's
all a scam.
another means is duping people who have interest in enrollment into the country military academy.
these scammers impersonate high ranking soldiers that work in the academy. they post ads which says if you pay them money they wildcat as Godfather for you and secure your admission into the academy with ease. such case is the Nigeria defence academy case which is becoming more rampant ,do not believe such there is nothing like special candidates.
use your head
be warned
its all scam !!!!!
so share so others can be informed.
