They comment on pages or in groups on Facebook, they send messages via Messenger: criminals who have nothing else in mind than trying an old scam: advance fee fraud.

The stories you read here are extremely dramatic, sad, frightening and, above all, one thing: emotional.
They are intended to touch and persuade potential victims to respond. In the case we have now encountered, a message was sent via Messenger:

Screenshot Facebook Messenger / message about advance payment fraud
Screenshot Facebook Messenger/Message

“Hello, I had to contact you because I want to do something very important. It will seem a little suspicious to you, quite rightly, that you don't know me and I don't know you. I am suffering from terminal brain cancer and my treating doctor has just informed me that my days are numbered due to my deteriorating health. I plan to donate all of my property.

I have been living for almost 15 years, part of this money is donated to various associations, orphan and homeless assistance centers. I don't know what field you work in, but I would like to help you help others. I currently have the sum of 590,000 euros in my private account blocked account, which I had withheld for a construction project.

I will gladly give you this money that can help you in your business and projects, please accept it because it is a gift that I give you and without asking for anything in return. I suffer a lot and I suffer very scared, I almost can't sleep at night like during the day because I don't want to die without donating all this money otherwise it would be a waste I think.

Please reply me by giving me your email and WhatsApp number May the peace and mercy of God be with you.”

Text of the message

The beginning of a sad but still very special story? No. Unless you think being ripped off is “very special”.

Advance fee fraud / “scamming”

Such emotional texts herald advance payment fraud. Because there is nothing behind it other than criminal energy and the search for possible victims. This scam comes in a variety of forms. Sometimes it is a terminally ill person like here, sometimes it is a - of course good-looking, successful - person who is looking for true love; this fraud is often also behind apartment or loan offers.

As in every case, the story soon turns around.
In the end, it is the people who want to give away money, who pretend to have found true love or who use another excuse to gain the victims' trust, who then demand money. Typical and predictable process in advance payment fraud. They also find countless explanations for this, be it an advance payment so that the paper can be financed by a notary, be it financial support in a difficult emergency situation or, in some cases, even through blackmail.

We have written an article about the different variants that you can encounter. You can find this HERE .

How to act correctly?

  • Don't accept suspicious friend requests from strangers.
  • Always be suspicious of contacts from strangers who write very quickly and very trustingly.
  • Never transfer money to strangers - especially if you met them on the Internet.
  • In general, exercise caution when paying in advance!
  • Offers that are actually too good to be true usually are. A little research to see whether there are comparable offers from other providers quickly shows that they are usually scams.
  • Always keep, save and take screenshots of emails, chat histories and other communications. If fraud occurs, you can present it to the police.
  • In general, don't blindly trust strangers! Always try to find out more about the person. Reverse image searches can often reveal that photos used have been stolen.

Conclusion

In this case – as in many others – there will be no big windfall. The story will be reversed, the oh-so-generous people will make demands for money: classic advance payment fraud.

In general, there is hardly anyone on the Internet who is so kind and friendly and who really wants to give away their money.
So do the same - and don't blindly give away money to internet acquaintances you've never met in real life!

Matching: 35,000 euros in damage. Woman fell for internet fraudsters


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )