There are many different types of fraud and a whole multitude of scams, which range from sophisticated "High Yield Investment" offers (HYIP) securities scams, pump and dump "stock trading", bogus cures for cancer, neurological disorders, HIV and AIDS etc, to the con man who targets the elderly in their own homes.
Most financial scams rely upon greed coupled with a genuine desire upon the part of the victim, to help the needy.
Blocked funds, F.E.D approved programme's, secret investments, high yield bank debentures, roll programme's, SBLC backed loans, self liquidating mortgages and start up funds are all part of the scammers jargon toolbox.
PBIF (Prime bank investment frauds) Bank Guarantees (formats ICC487/500 or ICC600 which do not exist) and HYIP scams are a significant problem exacerbated by sluggish investment markets, which make the promise of high yields attractive to aggressive investors.
PBIF schemes involve sale of fraudulent, often non-existent, investments, these financial instruments may be sold as bank notes, guarantees, letters of credit, debentures, bills of exchange, roll programs/trading programs, foreign currency trading programs, or blocked funds certificates. HYIP crimes, typically involve false claims of a risk free secret market, having extremely high or guaranteed return rates, and containing formats purportedly approved and/or sanctioned by the Federal Reserve, the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, or other known legitimate international organisations.
Potential investors are told that unique access to a trading program, run secretly by a third specially mandated party, may be available to them (The alleged mandate is usually described as being one of only three people in the world allowed to permit entry). Often because of the amounts involved, they are offered a facility to pool their money with other investors.
The investor is told that the investment is insured against loss or non-performance, the cover for which is arranged by yet another group of fraudsters.
Invariably investors must abide by a detailed non-disclosure agreement to protect the secret arrangement, this is a useful tool for the scammer as it delays the onset of discovery, although eventually, the investor realises that there are no such arrangements and lose their investment.
Many such crimes have an international aspect. The base of operations of the con artist may be overseas while the victims are in the US. Proceeds are often laundered by moving them to foreign bank accounts, such as the Bahamas, Latvia or Switzerland.
Click here for a quick have I been scammed check
As mentioned the types and permutations are endless and as such would require more space than we have available. We shall however post new information here from time to time, so please visit with us again.
Remember that there is no substitute for proper due diligence and that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
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