Men in Black - Not Quite the FBI You're Looking For
Based on my reading of countless e-mails where an Advance Fee fraudster attempts to impersonate an FBI agent, I have come to the conclusion that the movie Men in Black should be a required viewing for anyone who wants to learn about 419 scams.
Have you seen the movie? It's a rather entertaining feature about two agents of the human government tracking down illegal aliens. The "aliens" part is literal, since the illegals being tracked down are actually beings from planets other than Earth.
The movie's premise is quite removed from reality (unless you are a conspiracy theory buff), but at the same time it gives a stunning amount of insight into just where from exactly do 419 scammers get their ideas about the FBI and the ways in which that particular agency operates. The only other movie that I can think of that comes close to being that enlightening is, you guessed it, The X Files.
Do you think I'm joking? Let's compare a few classic movie cliches related to the FBI, and a few of Advance Fee fraud classics, and see what we come up with.
Movies: The FBI operates an intelligence network that is capable of obtaining any kind of information, at any time, from all around the world.
Scammers: A scammer informs a potential victim that a transaction the victim is involved in is being monitored by an international intelligence gathering network.
Reality: While I am sure that various Law Enforcement agencies would pay good money to become a part of such a network, global intelligence gathering simply does not take place on such a level at the moment. The technological and manpower investment into a system of this sort would be of extraordinarily high proportions, assuming that we actually had both the scientific ability and the international consensus to make it happen. Further, one would assume that such a network would be used to track down and investigate criminal activity, and not to play Big Brother on private citizens and their financial transactions. While this stuff works like a dream to further the plot of a movie, in reality it's just yet another desperate storyline that scammers use to con innocent people out of their money.
Movies: An FBI agent gives a public and official endorsement to a person\group\company. Everyone goes home happy and the credits roll.
Scammers: A scammer informs a potential victim that a transaction the victim is involved in has been verified as legitimate by the FBI, and urges the victim to proceed with the transaction without delay.
Reality: An FBI agent using the power of his office to endorse a private matter as "verified" by the government of the United States would most likely end up in a room somewhere, being talked to by his own Men in Black - the Office of Inspector General. The government of the United States by default does not endorse private enterprises, and on the rare occasion where endorsement actually takes place, it is after a lenghty vetting process that involves much more than just a simple investigation. It also bears to point out that the FBI is not a vetting committee for financial transactions, but rather an agency that is tasked with investigations of a certain group of crimes that take place in the agency's jurisdiction. In other words, if someone tells you that the FBI verified a transaction as legitimate and encourages you to go ahead with it, the best way to proceed is to not to proceed at all.
Movies: A furious FBI agent speaks to a suspect in the case he's investigating and clues him up that he's going down, will get what he deserves etc. The suspect, in sheer terror, instantly agrees to cooperate.
Scammers: A scammer tells a potential victim that he\she is under investigation and that should the victim not proceed with a transaction they're involved in, the victim will get arrested and prosecuted.
Reality: In reality, Law Enforcement Officers do not routinely let the suspects know that they are under investigation. Also, criminals do not routinely agree to cooperate based on a threat. Advance Fee fraudsters, who often come from countries where civil liberties are not respected, assume that a given citizen of the Western world will shriek in terror at such a threat and instantly proceed as directed. They seem to have very little understanding of the ways of Western legal systems, and the gamut of protections that are in place for someone who happens to enter those systems on the wrong end. In other words, if you receive such a threat, do not expect to see black Suburbans pulling into your driveway any time soon.
Movies: An FBI agent solves a case or obtains a result he wants by dropping names.
Scammers: A scammer tells a potential victim that a director of the FBI or the Attorney General of the United States themselves are involved.
Reality: Spare yourself the phone call to the United States Department of Justice - the heads of agencies whose names scammers so much like to use are busy with operating the agency, and they do not get involved in investigative matters unless some exigent circumstances exist. The name dropping is a typical scammer ploy geared towards impressing you, and making sure you believe that the matter at hand is important enough for the Law Enforcement VIPs to get involved. Don't sweat it if you get one of those - it's highly unlikely that the director of the FBI has taken time off from briefing the Congress to personally attend to your supposed case.
Movies: An FBI agent uses official resources to destroy the life of another person.
Scammers: A scammer threatens a potential victim with arrests, jail time, constant monitoring, physical violence, kidnapping and\or harm being brough to their family if the victim does not cooperate. All this, according to the scammer, will happen under the patronage of the FBI.
Reality: This is really the top of the line of scammer delusion. While cases like this do happen in real life, I think we all know how they end - on the front pages of all major newspapers, describing the arrest of the perpetrator and subsequent trial and sentencing. In this case, the scammer is trying to convince the potential victim that the government's powers know no boundaries, and that the government is more than willing to bring the transaction to successful completion through the use of illegal means. It is nothing but an empty threat, often made when everything else has failed and the victim is still refusing to cooperate. It is wise to not to react to it at all.
See? Scammers do watch movies and they seem to take a lot of cues from them. Just like the script of the movie Men in Black is a fantasy, so are the stories put forward by scammers. There is no money, there is no transaction that you have to complete, and there certainly is no FBI looking over your shoulder and offering you advice. So, is there something that you can do once you receive communications of this sort? Sure.
http://www.ic3.gov
IC3, a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance was founded in order to gather criminal intelligence in the area of Cyber Crime. The website provides a vehicle for victims to file a complaint and relay all the relevant information to the Law Enforcement. Please read all the information on the site before you lodge a complaint.
Once everything is said and done, it is always important to remember that scammers will use any and all tactics that in their opinion will produce the desired result - taking money out of your pocket. Becoming wise to their tricks is the only way to prevent that from happening. So, after you've read all this and processed it, why don't you reward yourself and go see a movie? I hear Twilight Zone is really good...
Based on my reading of countless e-mails where an Advance Fee fraudster attempts to impersonate an FBI agent, I have come to the conclusion that the movie Men in Black should be a required viewing for anyone who wants to learn about 419 scams.
Have you seen the movie? It's a rather entertaining feature about two agents of the human government tracking down illegal aliens. The "aliens" part is literal, since the illegals being tracked down are actually beings from planets other than Earth.
The movie's premise is quite removed from reality (unless you are a conspiracy theory buff), but at the same time it gives a stunning amount of insight into just where from exactly do 419 scammers get their ideas about the FBI and the ways in which that particular agency operates. The only other movie that I can think of that comes close to being that enlightening is, you guessed it, The X Files.
Do you think I'm joking? Let's compare a few classic movie cliches related to the FBI, and a few of Advance Fee fraud classics, and see what we come up with.
Movies: The FBI operates an intelligence network that is capable of obtaining any kind of information, at any time, from all around the world.
Scammers: A scammer informs a potential victim that a transaction the victim is involved in is being monitored by an international intelligence gathering network.
Reality: While I am sure that various Law Enforcement agencies would pay good money to become a part of such a network, global intelligence gathering simply does not take place on such a level at the moment. The technological and manpower investment into a system of this sort would be of extraordinarily high proportions, assuming that we actually had both the scientific ability and the international consensus to make it happen. Further, one would assume that such a network would be used to track down and investigate criminal activity, and not to play Big Brother on private citizens and their financial transactions. While this stuff works like a dream to further the plot of a movie, in reality it's just yet another desperate storyline that scammers use to con innocent people out of their money.
Movies: An FBI agent gives a public and official endorsement to a person\group\company. Everyone goes home happy and the credits roll.
Scammers: A scammer informs a potential victim that a transaction the victim is involved in has been verified as legitimate by the FBI, and urges the victim to proceed with the transaction without delay.
Reality: An FBI agent using the power of his office to endorse a private matter as "verified" by the government of the United States would most likely end up in a room somewhere, being talked to by his own Men in Black - the Office of Inspector General. The government of the United States by default does not endorse private enterprises, and on the rare occasion where endorsement actually takes place, it is after a lenghty vetting process that involves much more than just a simple investigation. It also bears to point out that the FBI is not a vetting committee for financial transactions, but rather an agency that is tasked with investigations of a certain group of crimes that take place in the agency's jurisdiction. In other words, if someone tells you that the FBI verified a transaction as legitimate and encourages you to go ahead with it, the best way to proceed is to not to proceed at all.
Movies: A furious FBI agent speaks to a suspect in the case he's investigating and clues him up that he's going down, will get what he deserves etc. The suspect, in sheer terror, instantly agrees to cooperate.
Scammers: A scammer tells a potential victim that he\she is under investigation and that should the victim not proceed with a transaction they're involved in, the victim will get arrested and prosecuted.
Reality: In reality, Law Enforcement Officers do not routinely let the suspects know that they are under investigation. Also, criminals do not routinely agree to cooperate based on a threat. Advance Fee fraudsters, who often come from countries where civil liberties are not respected, assume that a given citizen of the Western world will shriek in terror at such a threat and instantly proceed as directed. They seem to have very little understanding of the ways of Western legal systems, and the gamut of protections that are in place for someone who happens to enter those systems on the wrong end. In other words, if you receive such a threat, do not expect to see black Suburbans pulling into your driveway any time soon.
Movies: An FBI agent solves a case or obtains a result he wants by dropping names.
Scammers: A scammer tells a potential victim that a director of the FBI or the Attorney General of the United States themselves are involved.
Reality: Spare yourself the phone call to the United States Department of Justice - the heads of agencies whose names scammers so much like to use are busy with operating the agency, and they do not get involved in investigative matters unless some exigent circumstances exist. The name dropping is a typical scammer ploy geared towards impressing you, and making sure you believe that the matter at hand is important enough for the Law Enforcement VIPs to get involved. Don't sweat it if you get one of those - it's highly unlikely that the director of the FBI has taken time off from briefing the Congress to personally attend to your supposed case.
Movies: An FBI agent uses official resources to destroy the life of another person.
Scammers: A scammer threatens a potential victim with arrests, jail time, constant monitoring, physical violence, kidnapping and\or harm being brough to their family if the victim does not cooperate. All this, according to the scammer, will happen under the patronage of the FBI.
Reality: This is really the top of the line of scammer delusion. While cases like this do happen in real life, I think we all know how they end - on the front pages of all major newspapers, describing the arrest of the perpetrator and subsequent trial and sentencing. In this case, the scammer is trying to convince the potential victim that the government's powers know no boundaries, and that the government is more than willing to bring the transaction to successful completion through the use of illegal means. It is nothing but an empty threat, often made when everything else has failed and the victim is still refusing to cooperate. It is wise to not to react to it at all.
See? Scammers do watch movies and they seem to take a lot of cues from them. Just like the script of the movie Men in Black is a fantasy, so are the stories put forward by scammers. There is no money, there is no transaction that you have to complete, and there certainly is no FBI looking over your shoulder and offering you advice. So, is there something that you can do once you receive communications of this sort? Sure.
http://www.ic3.gov
IC3, a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance was founded in order to gather criminal intelligence in the area of Cyber Crime. The website provides a vehicle for victims to file a complaint and relay all the relevant information to the Law Enforcement. Please read all the information on the site before you lodge a complaint.
Once everything is said and done, it is always important to remember that scammers will use any and all tactics that in their opinion will produce the desired result - taking money out of your pocket. Becoming wise to their tricks is the only way to prevent that from happening. So, after you've read all this and processed it, why don't you reward yourself and go see a movie? I hear Twilight Zone is really good...