People are being warned over a worrying scam that is sweeping the UK. The '419' scam is becoming increasingly common, and is even catching out people who think they're clued up on fraudulent activity.
The scam centres around “419” advance fee fraud. These scams involve a bogus request from a stranger to pay an admin fee to help move money from one country to another in return for a portion of the money.
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The average lost to these scams is £2,563. Worryingly, reports of the scam are rising by 61 per cent year on year. The number "419" refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud and the charges and penalties for such offenders. The scam has been used with fax and traditional mail and is now prevalent in online communications like emails, reports Birmingham Live.
The scheme relies on convincing a willing victim, who has demonstrated a “propensity for larceny” by responding to the invitation, to send money to the author of the letter in Nigeria in several instalments of increasing amounts for a variety of reasons. Which? money editor Jenny Ross said: “The Government’s decision to include paid-for scam adverts in the Online Safety Bill, along with promises to make reimbursement mandatory for bank transfer scam victims, was a huge step in the right direction, but it’s now up to the Government and regulators to get it right.
“We will be checking carefully that the Online Safety Bill goes far enough in protecting consumers from fake and fraudulent adverts, and it’s vital that the Government swiftly introduces the right legislation for bank transfer fraud that will ensure victims get fair and consistent treatment.” Paul Davis, director of fraud prevention at TSB, said: “Most people assume that fraud will never happen to them and that only older people are vulnerable but it’s simply not the case, as we refund young, tech-savvy fraud victims on a regular basis through our fraud refund guarantee.”
