Editing Advance-fee scam (section)

== Common elements ==
=== Irreversible money transfers ===
A central element of advance-fee fraud is that the transaction from the victim to the scammer must be untraceable and irreversible. Otherwise, the victim, once they become aware of the scam, could successfully retrieve their money and alert officials who could track the accounts used by the scammer.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Wire transfers via [[Western Union]] and [[MoneyGram]] are ideal for this purpose. International wire transfers cannot be cancelled or reversed, and the person receiving the money cannot be tracked. Other non-cancellable forms of payment include postal money orders and cashier's cheques, but wire transfer via Western Union or MoneyGram is more common. {{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

=== Anonymous communication ===
Since the scammer's operations must be untraceable to avoid identification, and because the scammer is often impersonating someone else, any communication between the scammer and his victim must be done through channels that hide the scammer's true identity.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} The following options in particular are widely used.

==== Web-based email ====
Because many free email services do not require valid identifying information and also allow communication with many victims in a short span of time, they are the preferred method of communication for scammers.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Arehart |first1=Christopher |last2=Schmookler |first2=Scott |last3=Nemeth |first3=Taylor |date=June 2021 |title=Guarding Against Email Social Engineering Fraud: Re-examining a Global Problem |url=https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/chubb-sites/chubb-com/us-en/business-insurance/social-engineering-fraud/documents/2021-06.24-17-01-0287-Guarding_Against_Email_Social_Engineering_Fraud_electronic.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630172420/https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/chubb-sites/chubb-com/us-en/business-insurance/social-engineering-fraud/documents/2021-06.24-17-01-0287-Guarding_Against_Email_Social_Engineering_Fraud_electronic.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-30 |url-status=live |website=Chubb.com}}</ref> Some services go so far as to mask the sender's source IP address ([[Gmail]] being a common choice), making the scammer's country of origin more difficult to trace. While Gmail does indeed strip headers from emails, it is possible to trace an IP address from such an email. Scammers can create as many accounts as they wish and often have several at a time. In addition, if email providers are alerted to the scammer's activities and suspend the account, it is a trivial matter for the scammer to simply create a new account to resume scamming.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==== Email hijacking/friend scams ====
Some fraudsters hijack existing email accounts and use them for advance-fee fraud purposes. For instance, with social engineering, the fraudster impersonates associates, friends, or family members of the legitimate account owner in an attempt to defraud them.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gallagher|first=David F.|url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/e-mail-scammers-ask-your-friends-for-money/index.html?ex=1352264400&en=597277d1a0cbde58&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title=E-Mail Scammers Ask Your Friends for Money|publisher=Bits.blogs.nytimes.com|date=2007-11-09|access-date=2012-02-22}}</ref> A variety of techniques such as [[phishing]], [[Keystroke logging|keyloggers]], and [[computer virus]]es are used to gain login information for the email address.

==== Fax transmissions ====
[[Fax|Facsimile machines]] are commonly used tools of business whenever a client requires a hard copy of a document.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} They can also be simulated using web services and made untraceable by the use of prepaid phones connected to mobile fax machines or by use of a public fax machine such as one owned by a document processing business like [[FedEx Office]]/Kinko's. Thus, scammers posing as business entities often use fax transmissions as an anonymous form of communication. This is more expensive, as the prepaid phone and fax equipment cost more than email, but to a skeptical victim, it can be more believable.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==== SMS messages ====
Abusing [[Short Message Service|SMS]] bulk senders such as [[Wireless Application Service Provider|WASPs]], scammers subscribe to these services using fraudulent registration details and paying either via cash or with stolen credit card details.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} They then send out masses of unsolicited SMS messages to victims stating they have won a competition, lottery, reward, or an event and that they have to contact somebody to claim their prize. Typically, the details of the party to be contacted will be an equally untraceable email address or a [[virtual telephone number]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

These messages may be sent over a weekend when the staff at the service providers are not working, enabling the scammer to be able to abuse the services for a whole weekend. Even when traceable, they give out long and winding procedures for procuring the reward (real or unreal) and that too with the impending huge cost of transportation and tax or duty charges. The origin of such SMS messages is often from fake websites/addresses.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

A contemporary (mid-2011) innovation is the use of a Premium Rate 'call back' number (instead of a website or email) in the SMS. On calling the number, the victim is first reassured that 'they are a winner' and then subjected to a long series of instructions on how to collect their 'winnings'. During the message, there will be frequent instructions to 'ring back in the event of problems'. The call is always 'cut off' just before the victim has the chance to note all the details. Some victims call back multiple times in an effort to collect all the details. The scammer thus makes their money out of the fees charged for the calls.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==== Telecommunications relay services ====
Many scams use telephone calls to convince the victim that the person on the other end of the deal is a real, truthful person. The scammer, possibly impersonating a person of a nationality or gender other than their own, would arouse suspicion by telephoning the victim. In these cases, scammers use [[Telecommunications Relay Service|TRS]], a US federally funded relay service where an operator or a text/speech translation program acts as an intermediary between someone using an ordinary telephone and a deaf caller using [[telecommunications device for the deaf|TDD]] or other [[teleprinter]] device. The scammer may claim they are deaf, and that they must use a relay service. The victim, possibly drawn in by sympathy for a disabled caller, might be more susceptible to the fraud.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

FCC regulations and confidentiality laws require operators to relay calls verbatim and adhere to a strict code of confidentiality and ethics. Thus, no relay operator may judge the legality and legitimacy of a relay call and must relay it without interference. This means the relay operator may not warn victims, even when they suspect the call is a scam. [[MCI Inc.|MCI]] said about one percent of their IP Relay calls in 2004 were scams.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Bob |date=2004-04-20 |title=Con artists target phone system for deaf |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4781806 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030075724/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4781806 |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=2012-02-22 |publisher=MSNBC}}</ref>

Tracking phone-based relay services is relatively easy, so scammers tend to prefer Internet Protocol–based relay services such as [[IP Relay]]. In a common strategy, they bind their overseas IP address to a router or server located on US soil, allowing them to use US-based relay service providers without interference.

TRS is sometimes used to relay credit card information to make a fraudulent purchase with a stolen credit card. In many cases however, it is simply a means for the con artist to further lure the victim into the scam.

=== Invitation to visit the country ===
Sometimes, victims are invited to a country to meet government officials, an associate of the scammer, or the scammer themselves. Some victims who travel are instead held for ransom. Scammers may tell a victim that they do not need a [[visa (document)|visa]] or that the scammers will provide one.<ref name="StateDeptPub10465">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/2189.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808173429/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/2189.pdf |archive-date=2019-08-08 |url-status=live |author=United States Department of State |title=Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud (DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 10465) |date=April 1997 |access-date=January 4, 2019 |publisher=State Dept. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs }}</ref> If the victim does this, the scammers have the power to extort money from the victim.<ref name="StateDeptPub10465" />

Sometimes victims are ransomed, [[kidnap]]ped, or murdered. According to a 1995 U.S. State Department report, over fifteen persons were murdered between 1992 and 1995 in Nigeria after following through on advance-fee frauds.<ref name="StateDeptPub10465" /> In 1999 Norwegian millionaire Kjetil Moe was lured to South Africa by scammers and was murdered.<ref>[http://www.norwaypost.no/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8587&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=26 Kjetil Moe found dead].</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=25269|title=The 419 Scam, or Why a Nigerian Prince Wants to Give You Two Million Dollars|work=informit.com|date=February 8, 2002}}</ref> George Makronalli was lured to South Africa and was killed in 2004.<ref name="News24murder">{{cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-cops-Interpol-probe-murder-20041231|publisher=News24|title=SA cops, Interpol probe murder|author =Philip de Braun|date=2004-12-31|access-date=2010-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://freebies.about.com/library/weekly/aa110302a.htm|title=Scam Bait – Don't let greed get you scammed|publisher=Freebies.about.com|date=2010-06-17|access-date=2012-02-22|archive-date=2012-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213193110/http://freebies.about.com/library/weekly/aa110302a.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>