CBRG

Story #1 Jane was contacted January of 2000 by a so-called "FBI agent" claiming he and his affiliate had a winnings check for her in the amount of $250,000. She supposedly "had won a sweepstake grand prize and now needs to wire $3,000 immediately to pay for the border fees to get the check to her door". Jane was skeptical at first, but after everything was said and done she was convinced it was real. She was also convinced that there is no way someone would make up such an in depth lie just to scam her. Jane sent $3,000 Western Union in hopes that this was perhaps true. 

In November of 2002, nearly 3 years after she had given the initial $3,000, we contacted Jane to follow up on one of our "Beware" mailers sent to her. Having never spoken with Jane and unaware of what had happened, she informed us that over the last 3 years she had given her entire life savings of nearly $423,000 to a sweepstake company in hopes of receiving a grand prize check. She asked us if we could help her redeem her winning check that originally started out at $250,000 and was now up to $52,000,000. She was promised that the check would arrive this year before Christmas guaranteed! CBG investigated and had the difficult task of informing Jane that there were no winnings and the money given was most likely gone forever. Like many victims, Jane is now left with social security income for the rest of her life.

Story #2 Thomas is a land developer in the United States. In February of 2003 he was contacted by a banker and his associates (which included doctors and attorneys) from Nigeria claiming, "an investor in Nigeria had recently passed away and left $23,000,000 that was to be allocated specifically to a developer in the United States". Thomas was asked to wire $4,500 immediately, which would cover all the fees involved in getting the money to the states. He was very skeptical but interested in the outcome. Over the next 4 1/2 months Thomas corresponded with the parties involved via e-mail and over the phone. Some phone calls to Thomas generated by the bankers took place with the banker’s families and kids present in the background. This was done to make the winnings more believable. It was finally agreed upon by both parties that a partial check of $35,000 would be sent to Thomas in good faith without him wiring any initial money. The check arrived and looked as if it was drafted from a medical hospital in the United States. Thomas verified funds, and then deposited the check to see if it would possibly clear. His bank informed him days later that the check was in fact fraudulent. The CEO of the medical hospital involved stated "this was the 3rd check that had been fraudulently drafted by these bankers" and "this was the most official looking draft he had seen so far"! Because Thomas is naturally skeptical he did not participate in wiring the money asked of him. Most nominees of these scams are less fortunate. Investigations are currently underway in both of these cases. The biggest problem is these crooks are located outside the USA. This makes it very difficult, if not virtually impossible to track them down.