Friday, September 18, 2009

Reporting Scams

"How do I report that I have been a victim of an online scam?" is a question I hear on a regular basis, either on our message board, through emails or left as comments on other sites.

There are plenty of places that you can report that you have been a victim of an online scam. The main place that I would recommend would be the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) which is a combined effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). As you can see, you get the resources of three larger agencies all from one place, and to me, that much better than reporting with multiple agencies individually. To file a complaint with the IC3, go to http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

The following information is right from the IC3 site Frequently Asked Questions section . . .

Q: How are complaints resolved?


The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) thoroughly reviews and evaluates each complaint so that we may refer it to the appropriate federal, state, local, or international law enforcement or regulatory agency. Every complaint that is referred is sent to one or more law enforcement or regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over the matter. Once we refer a complaint to the appropriate agency, it may then be assigned to an investigator. We, therefore, ask that you provide a telephone number in the event an investigator needs to contact you for additional information.

IC3 cannot guarantee that your complaint will beinvestigated.


Why can't they guarantee that your complaint will be investigated? It all comes down to jurisdiction . . . who has the power and authority to address this sort of crime in the location that the crime was committed. Now, you might say that the crime was committed in what ever city or state that you live in, but since this person did not come to your home and take the money from you that is not true. They were sitting in front of a computer in another country and through the information sent to you over the internet they defrauded you. Being that the crime took place over the internet, with the place of origin being the foreign country where the scammer is, it would be the law enforcement and government in that country that would have to address this crime. (why other countries do little to nothing is an issue for another time)

Now, I am not in ANY way discouraging anyone from filing a complaint . .. quite the opposite! I feel that it is VERY important for every victim of a scam to report it. This will bring more attention to the growing problem and history shows us that when enough people feel that something is a problem they will try to do something to change it. So if you area victim of a scam please report it. http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

11 comments:

  1. I was scrammed out of over a 100,000 by a perfect gentleman from the internet dating site. I was a person that never understood how could that happen to anyone until I meet S.P. a Nigerian 419 AFF. These people are very good at what they do, and are not to be underestimated. I think more should be done to make the public aware of these scams. Now I am in financial trouble and nobody really cares or can help! But I am going to find a way to bring attention to the "419 Scam". (Americans beware)

    Sincerely, broke, shame, and embrassed.

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  2. i lost 30k in an internet dating scam along with my heart! i will never be the same. i can't believe i didn't see the warning signs, cuz in hindsight they were there. i am devastated and embarrassedby this. My friends and colleagues warned me, but I kept it to myself, and now I'm paying the price.

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  3. I thought I was alone in this mess, just recently fell victim to a Nigerian counterfiet check scam. I know the feeling, I am alone in all this because I fell for a believable smooth talking person...it is my fault, it's my responsibility...and I pray every day for forgiveness so that I can move on...now if only the bank would work with me to repay them, they are being really difficult...I only had one friend listen to me...it is an awful feeling, the signs were there but I was blind...I wish someone was listening to show me there is a way out of this...I like to repay back this money but what can I do when the bank doesn't want to listen and just wants the whole sum all at once.

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  4. You are not alone! This happens to so many people every day. And I am here to show you that you CAN get out of this . . . we did!

    Please go to ScamVictimsUnited.com and click on the link that says "Victims Start Here"

    Go to the message board if you want to share your story. You can send me a private message (admin link on message board) and I would be happy to talk with you.

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  5. Hi I recently got a job and the process of this job is to receive interac money e-transfer. Im gonna dposit it to my account first and then withdraw. After that I'll go to western union and send it to the recipient.. Lately I found out that I was scammed.. Please help me what should I do.. Am going to tell that to my bank, how can I tell that, what am I going to say? Should I go to the police and report what happen? im so stupid..

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  6. First, report it to the police and turn all information over to them. Then CALL your bank and explain to them that you just found out that you were the victim of a scam and you completed a police report about it. Other places you can report the scam can be found here . . . http://scamvictimsunited.com/Reporting_scams.htm

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  7. hishawn,iam devestated,and trying to recover,i feel so embarrassed and stupid...i got scammed on facebook...these people are very clever...i need your support ..where do i write my story? thanx...anonymous

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    Replies
    1. You can share your story on our message board at http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/index.php

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  8. I got scammed by Pacific advances

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  9. Hi, i am from Colombia and i`ve been scammed by someone in Burkina Faso, they have used a lot of tricks and finally i lost almost U$7.000 in "fees", i am not a rich man, i am a worker man, in this moment i am still paid this amount, i`ve all emails and false papers and fake documents to prove it.

    The original email scam was from Agnes_ahaiwe@yahoo.com and his reverend Father John Major john_amajor@yahoo.com


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  10. Hi everyone weve pass on the same way, i was a victim of scammed a week ago,they took 56 thousand pesos from me,help me what can i do

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