The Best Protection Against Fraud: Common Sense
Sara Moreno
Lexington U.S. Export Assistance Center
The best protection against fraud is common sense. Whenever you receive unsolicited emails, be sure to use common sense in evaluating the “opportunity.” Below are two scam emails that arrived in my inbox recently. They use different tactics, and are designed to get you to respond. The end result will be the same if you fall for the scam: you will lose money, products, or both. Certainly you will lose valuable time.
Train all your employees - especially those in sales - to use common sense when evaluating unsolicited emails such as these.
SCAM ONE (this is verbatim, typos and all)
Dear Value Customer,
We need to talk to you about your parcel that was registered with us here in England and we have be waiting to hear from you all this while because the address that was given to us was not clear and we have be trying to locate you ever since, if you are the owner of this email address, that means we have finally reach you at last. For more information's on how to get your parcel from our custody kindly write our delivery department at ( fedexe60@yahoo.com.hk ) or call +447045749784 for more detail's. Have a nice day.
Yours in service.
FedEx Express.
This variation arrived in my inbox shortly after the first one:
Dear Value Customer,
We need to talk to you about your Bank Draft that was registered with us by one Mrs. Patricia Edward and we have be waiting to hear from you all this while because the address that was given to us by Mrs. Patricia Edward was not clear to us and we have be trying to locate you ever since, if you are the owner of this email address that means we have finally reach you at last. For more information's on how to get your bank Draft from our custody kindly write our delivery department at fexpress30@yahoo.com.hk or call + 234 8136950883 for more information's. Have a nice day.
Yours in service.
FedEx Express.
COMMON SENSE EVALUATION
- Does FedEx call itself FedEx Express? No.
- Would a message from FedEx come from an email address like cc@nic.in (which is where this one is from)? No.
- Is the reply address fedexe60@yahoo.com.hk in England? No. Is it a legitimate FedEx email address? No.
SCAM TWO
This one from "jappiah50@hotmail.com" is allegedly from The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. Ghana is a good place to do business, the organization is legit, and indeed the first several paragraphs may be accurate. However, the last line of this message and the email address make me believe this could be a scam:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re:DOING BUSINESS IN GHANA
Ghana’s wealth of resources, democratic political system and dynamic economy, makes it undoubtedly one of Africa’s leading lights. Gaining the world’s confidence with a peaceful political transition and a grounded and firm commitment to democracy has helped in expediting Ghana’s growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years.
[paragraphs deleted for brevity]
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre wish to welcome you all to our beautiful country. We trust you will find our reputation for unparalleled hospitality well-deserved, and our ability to triumph in challenging circumstances as steadfast as ever. We re-affirm our commitment to moving our continent forward and look forward to very useful engagements between all stakeholders.
Indeed we are looking forward to doing business with you once you indicate your areas of interest.
Revert ASAP,
Sincerely,
Mr. Joshua Appiah
Assistant Coordinator
COMMON SENSE EVALUATION
- The last line is a red flag: “once you indicate your areas of interest.” Any legitimate business or government agency knows what types of businesses and products it needs.
- Most legitimate organizations have email addresses consistent with their URL addresses. Though not always a problem, the inconsistency here is a red flag.
- I took the extra step of running this by my colleagues at the U.S. Embassy/Ghana. The Commercial Officer agreed that this is a questionable solicitation, though the agency is legitimate.
RESOURCES
Here are two web links to information that will help you and your staff be more aware of fraudulent offers.
- http://www.bis.doc.gov/enforcement/redflags.htm: This checklist is designed to help you identify possible violations of the Export Administration Regulations, and it works well for general scams.
- http://www.buyusa.gov/singapore/en/warning_credit_card_fraud.html: Information here is provided by the U.S. Commercial Service/Singapore in response to a large number of credit card scams.
Not sure it's a scam? Contact me or the KWTC about any inquiries you are unsure of. Often a quick evaluation can determine if it is legitimate or not.
Sara Moreno
Lexington U.S. Export Assistance Center
U.S. Department of Commerce
859.225.7001 ~ sara.moreno@mail.doc.gov
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