Scam? [email protected]

I have been talking to a Captain Jeff Smith for about a month now (Email - [email protected]). He told me he wants to come home from Afghanistan. He had a woman from New Hampshire Western Union me $2500.00 to send to three different accounts in Nigeria, one for $950, one for $950 and one for $450. The rest was for me to pay for the Western Union. He said that the max he could send to Nigeria is $950 without raising a red flag. He said the woman from New Hampshire works for the Admin office of the Army. I looked her name up and she works at some manufacturing company. What do I do? Do I get the money from Western Union and send to Nigeria or just keep money and send back to woman in New Hampshire?

Please help!

[AlanJones]

If you get the money from Western Union and send it to Nigeria then you will be involved in fraud!! The woman in New Hampshire is not in the Admin office of the Army, she is the victim of a scam of one sort or another and when she finds out that she is a victim of a scam and reports it to the police, it will be your details that she gives them and you that they investigate.

You are not speaking to "Captain Jeff Smith" you are speaking to a young Nigerian in an Internet cafe in Nigeria.

Do not collect the money, speak to Western Union and tell them what has happened and they will freeze the transfer so that no one else can withdraw the money and try and contact the person who sent it. If you PM the details of the sender to one of the Support Team here then we will also see if we can contact the woman to advise her that she is being scammed.

Welcome here linmarietaylor.

I am sorry you got into this situation. By what you describe it is clear that you are in contact with a Nigerian scammer. The captain you are in contact with is actually a Nigerian scammer. The woman in New Hampshire is also in contact with this same scammer, and very likely is scammed in the same way as you were. The only difference is that this scammer has asked the woman in New Hampshire to send you money, telling her a lie about who you are, then asking you to transfer the stolen money to the three bank accounts belonging to this scammer and/or his friends. When you would do this you would be money laundering, which is a criminal offence.

The best thing to do is to send the money back to the woman in New Hampshire, explaining her everything. You both have been scammed by this same scammer. Please read this topic about scammers impersonating military personel:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6528

And please post the emails that you received from this scammer, as this scam has not been posted here on the forums yet. This could help in saving others from being scammed.

The others have already alluded to it, but I'm going to be a bit more blunt.

The only thing you have to gain by doing anything for this scammer is a criminal record.
Money laundering is a felony and being charged with it can literally impact the rest of your life.

I am telling you this not to upset you, but so that you understand just what this criminal is trying to do to you. He doesn't care if you end up in jail, or unable to get a job or even vote. He sees you as a way to get what he wants--cold hard cash. So in addition to following the advice above, it is important that you cut all ties with this scammer. He may continue to try to contact you, declaring his innocence and his love. Those words of love are meaningless to him ( and in fact they are often copied.) You need to remember what he really is and NOT let them get to you. He may also try to threaten you, or tell you that you will be in trouble if you don't help him.

The only way to get in trouble is if you do help him, and no matter what he says, he is not traveling from Nigeria to see you.

Block his email address or set up to filter his messages to your trash. If he is in phone contact, block his number from your phone as well. Ignore any further attempts at contact from him.

What would happen if I collected the money?

You would be receiving stolen money. It makes you an accomplice to the scammer's crime and can get you arrested (as it should.)

You would also be doing serious damage to an innocent woman who has fallen for a scam herself.

Edit to add: If you already collected the money, contact Western Union and/or the police and explain what has happened so that they can address it and it is clear you did not intend to be an accomplice.

[AlanJones]

I have been talking to a Captain Jeff Smith for about a month now (Email - [email protected]). He told me he wants to come home from Afghanistan. He had a woman from New Hampshire Western Union me $2500.00 to send to three different accounts in Nigeria, one for $950, one for $950 and one for $450. The rest was for me to pay for the Western Union. He said that the max he could send to Nigeria is $950 without raising a red flag. He said the woman from New Hampshire works for the Admin office of the Army. I looked her name up and she works at some manufacturing company. What do I do? Do I get the money from Western Union and send to Nigeria or just keep money and send back to woman in New Hampshire?

Please help!

What would happen if I collected the money?

I think that Dotti's post has made it very clear what would happen. You would involve yourself in fraud and money laundering.

If you collect the money then you would have great difficulty convincing the authorities that you are just an innocent victim and weren't aware of what you were doing, when you have posted on the Internet and been told the implications of collecting the money and what you should do.

If you think Dotti's warning of what could happen is overkill - take a look in the News section here and you will see stories of money mules who have been arrested and charged.

Thank you all for your help. I greatly appreciate it. I have not collected the money - can I just forget about the whole thing?

Ignore the scammer, not the money.

The best thing you can do is contact Western Union, tell them you discovered this is a scam (they see these kinds of things every single day) and that the transaction should be reversed. Please do give us the sender's information (you can send it by pm) so we can make sure she is warned.

If you just ignore it, who can say that you weren't going to pick up the money eventually? By contacting WU you will have made it very clear you are not part of the crime.

[AlanJones]

If you just ignore it, who can say that you weren't going to pick up the money eventually? By contacting WU you will have made it very clear you are not part of the crime.

The scammer could well also find another way of collecting the money - either by telling the other victim to change the name of the recipient (so your inaction will have cost an innocent woman $2,500) or by finding a way to collect it in your name, meaning that it looks like you have collected it.

How do I report fraud?

If you believe you're a victim of fraud, call the Western Union Fraud Hotline at 1-800-448-1492.

You can also forward any suspicious emails to [email protected].

Visit our Consumer Protection page for more information.

http://www.westernunion.com/sites/us/co ... ction.page

http://www.westernunion.com/

(Do not go to Western Union office. Western Union uses contractors that are able to send money for you, or hand you money you are supposed to get, but won't be able to untangle this.)

Thanks to Scam Warners they were able to contact the woman that sent me the money and warn her that it was a scam. She was told the money was to get a soldier home. I can't thank you enough for your help. I had my doubts but Scam Warners took care of everything.

Thank you again,

Linda Taylor

I am so glad that it worked out for everyone!

If you are dealing with anyone online in the future and aren't sure about them, feel free to stop back and ask for some help in sorting it out.

He is now threatening to deal with me as soon as he gets back. Should I be worried?

Its all threats. The scammer has lost money. So he is upset.

Cease all communication with him. Do not reply to anything from him. Eventually he will go away and find a new potential victim.

He can not harm you. He is in Nigeria that is why he wanted the money sent there. He would have to get a passport and visa plus airline ticket to visit. It will be difficult for him to get a Visa. Scammers do not spend money to visit victims.