Editing Advance-fee scam (section)

=== Other scams ===
Other scams involve unclaimed property, also called "[[bona vacantia]]" in the [[United Kingdom]]. In [[England and Wales]] (other than the [[Duchy of Lancaster]] and the [[Duchy of Cornwall]]), this property is administered by the Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} Fraudulent emails and letters claiming to be from this department have been reported, informing the recipient they are the beneficiary of a legacy but requiring the payment of a fee before sending more information or releasing the money.<ref name="Bona_Vacantia">{{cite web|title=Scam Email Warnings. |url=http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/scam-email-warning.aspx |publisher=Bona Vacantia |access-date=June 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712102227/http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/scam-email-warning.aspx |archive-date=July 12, 2012 }}</ref> In the [[United States]], messages are falsely claimed to be from the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), a real organization, but one that does not and cannot by itself make payments.<ref name="Leamy_Elisabeth">{{cite news|last=Leamy|first=Elisabeth|title=Beware of Unclaimed Money Scams|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/beware-unclaimed-money-scam/story?id=14293877#.T-aW4StYuxI|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=August 16, 2011}}</ref>

In one variant of 419 fraud, an alleged [[hitman]] writes to someone explaining he has been targeted to kill them. He tells them he knows the allegations against them are false, and asks for money so the target can receive evidence of the person who ordered the hit.<ref name="Snopes_Hitman">{{cite web|last=Mikkelson|first=Barbara|title=Hitman Scam.|date=14 January 2007 |url=http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/hitman.asp|publisher=[[Snopes]]|access-date=June 23, 2012}}</ref>

Another variant of advanced fee fraud is known as a pigeon drop. This is a [[confidence trick]] in which the [[Mark (victim)|mark]], or "[[pigeon]]", is persuaded to give up a sum of money in order to secure the rights to a larger sum of money, or more valuable object.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} In reality, the scammers make off with the money and the mark is left with nothing. In the process, the stranger (actually a confidence trickster) puts his money with the mark's money (in an envelope, briefcase, or bag) which the mark is then apparently entrusted with; it is actually switched for a bag full of newspaper or other worthless material. Through various theatrics, the mark is given the opportunity to leave with the money without the stranger realizing. In reality, the mark would be fleeing from his own money, which the con man still has (or has handed off to an [[accomplice]]).<ref name="Zak_Paul">{{cite news|last=Zak|first=Paul J.|title=How to Run a Con|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-moral-molecule/200811/how-run-con|access-date=June 23, 2012|newspaper=[[Psychology Today]]|date=November 13, 2008}}</ref>

Some scammers go after the victims of previous scams; known as a [[reloading scam]]. For example, they may contact a victim saying they can track and apprehend the scammer and recover the money lost by the victim for a price. Or they may say a fund has been set up by the Nigerian government to compensate victims of 419 fraud, and all that is required is proof of the loss, personal information, and a processing and handling fee. The recovery scammers obtain lists of victims by buying them from the original scammers.<ref name="Snopes_Victim_Scam">{{cite web|first=David|last=Mikkelson|title=Scam Me Twice, Shame On Me, ...|date=11 August 2004|url=https://www.snopes.com/scam-me-twice-shame-on-me/|publisher=[[Snopes]]|access-date=June 24, 2012}}</ref>