It is rare to recover lost money, which can range into hundreds of thousands of dollars
Prague, October 16 — U.S. Embassy Prague takes this opportunity to remind the public of the following notice concerning internet and email scams:
Internet users are frequently the victims of internet scams, where fraudsters attempt to collect money or personal information from other unsuspecting users either by posing as themselves or as well-to-do nationals of other countries. The following is being provided as a reminder:
Update 2019: According to a Statista.com survey, the US has the third biggest loss from cybercrime, while European countries come close. Let’s take Germany for example: according to the internet security experts from Betrugsversuch, 97% of Germans have experienced scams or fraud while shopping online. Unfortunately, these numbers are growing every year.
International Financial Scams
Many scams are initiated through the Internet; victims range in age from 18 to 81 and come from all socio-economic backgrounds.
While such confidence schemes have long existed, the advent of the Internet has greatly increased their prevalence. Individual internet users have lost considerable money on these scams, ranging from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
All types of advance-fee scams have one point in common – the targeted person is led to believe that he or she has a chance to attain something of very great personal value (financial reward, a romantic relationship, etc) in return for a small up-front monetary outlay. As a general rule, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If you are a U.S. citizen and feel you have been a victim of an Internet scam, please consult the publications below for help and send all reports of Internet fraud directly to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IC3 was established to receive internet related criminal complaints and to research, develop, and refer complaints to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement if appropriate.
If the scam originated through a particular website, also notify the administrators of that website. When it becomes apparent you are the victim of a scam, it is best to end all communications with the scam artist, rather than attempt resolution. It is extremely rare for victims to recover lost money. If you feel threatened in any way, you should report your situation to the local police.
Scams evolve constantly, and we cannot include all scam variations here. We do hope, however, that these examples and resources will help alert you to the indicators of some common scams and actions you should take:
• Grandparent Scams
• Internet Dating and Romance Scams
• Advance Fee Scams – Money laundering and Inheritance Scams
• Work Permits
• Lottery Scams
• Real Estate and Overpayment Fraud
• Hacked E-mail Scams
• Resources for Victims of International Financial Scams
• Help for American Victims of Crime Overseas
More information can be found at the following link:
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/emergencies/scams.html
