SANDUSKY

New and improved Internet and e-mail scams -- including a modified version of the familiar swindles from "Nigerian nationals" -- are successfully stealing the identities of their unsuspecting victims.

"This is going on in Sandusky, Castalia, Norwalk, Toledo, everywhere," said Richard Eppstein, president of the Northwest Ohio office of the Better Business Bureau, which services 19 counties including Erie, Huron, Ottawa, Sandusky and Seneca. "It is very frustrating for us because consumers are too trusting."

Robert Dunnigan checks his e-mail Tuesday afternoon at OVH. Dunnigan received a spam e-mail Monday asking for bank account numBers in exchange for help with the Patriot Act. (Register photo/JASON WERLING)

The two biggest scams involve credit card fraud and overseas sales of Internet products.

"People have got to not respond to any spam," Eppstein said. "Don't ever link from a spam e-mail to a Web site."

Con artists will send credit card holders e-mails supposedly from the credit card's fraud prevention department, saying on unauthorized purchase has been posted on their account.

Once the card holder clicks on the link included in the e-mail, an official looking Web site is displayed with a notice asking for credit card numbers so unauthorized purchases can be deleted.

But instead of eliminating the purchase, the amount is posted to the unsuspecting card holder's account, Eppstein said, and the con artist has another credit card number to use.

"(Legitimate) fraud prevention people phone you; they never e-mail you," Eppstein said. "What people have to understand is that the companies already have your numbers. Contacting you to reconfirm your numbers is nonsense."

"Whenever you sign on to something like this, it's a criminal scam" which is based overseas and therefore impossible to prosecute, he said. "If you think it's for real, go check it on your own bills and statements and contact the company through that information."

Another swindle involves people or companies selling high-dollar items online. Sellers are contacted by an overseas buyer offering to send a certified check for the item.

"This is the next Nigerian scam," Eppstein said, referring to the late 1990s swindle offering millions of dollars in exchange for the use of a U.S. bank account.

In this case, the seller will receive a certified check for an amount far exceeding the sale price; for example, a $28,000 for an $8,000 truck, Eppstein said.

The buyer simply asks the seller to send the difference when they send the item. When the seller learns the check is bogus, both the money and the item are gone.

"People need to think to themselves, 'Why would a guy in Nigeria want to buy my boat?'" Eppstein said.

To prevent this type of con, sellers should never accept checks from foreign buyers for more than the sale price. Even then, they should wait two or three weeks for the check to clear before sending the refund and the item.

"People must not be so trusting," Eppstein said.

Another scam targeting the elderly involves the Patriot Act. An e-mail informs the target that his or her bank account has been denied insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. because of violations of the Patriot Act. The e-mail asks readers to verify their identities and give account numbers.

"People need to hear about these scams," said Ohio Veteran's Home resident Robert Dunnigan, who received the Patriot Act e-mail Monday.

Dunnigan said he had been warned about the e-mail through an online newsletter, but he made sure the administration at OVH was aware of the problem.

Other, similar e-mails asking for account information are from people posing as representatives from Citi Corp., SBC, the FBI and the Secret Service.

U.S. authorities have difficulties prosecuting people who engineer these scams because they are from places like Nigeria, China, Bulgaria and The Netherlands and cannot be touched, Eppstein said.

"There is no chance the authorities will catch these guys," he said. "A lot of them live in countries like Nigeria where the law isn't what it is here."

Anyone who has been scammed can contact the Federal Communication Commission or the Federal Trade Commission.

"If they want to e-mail us, we will forward it to the appropriate agency," Eppstein said.

All contents © Copyright 2004 Sandusky Register

Call us at 419-625-5500