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| The Spanish Prisoner Scam |
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| Written by Odesi Desko |
| Wednesday, 24 March 2010 07:21 |
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Since the 16th century scam artists have employed a highly profitable swindle that has impoverished unnumbered targets. It is labeled the Spanish Prisoner because it originated in Spain. Other nations became suspicious of Spain at that time because of its continuous menace. A "mark" (the prey) is told that an aristocrat has been imprisoned in Spain and is relying on the con artist to raise bribes needed to secure his release. If the mark would supply some of the money, he was promised that he would be rewarded generously upon the release of the prisoner, and furthermore could wed the prisoner's beautiful daughter. The con man had already researched to be sure the quarry was wealthy but gullible, and to be able to present a convincing story. The hustler must be able to persuade the individual to cooperate and provide the money, without letting him know that he is being taken. Similar swindles exist in assorted varieties in modern times. They still depend on secrecy and trust, covertness, and a sense of acute importance. They rely on the tendency of people to want to come of the aid of their fellowmen, especially if they can profit monetarily while doing so. As the game goes on, the victim is told that difficulties have arisen, and more money is required. Rather than lose the money he has already put out, he will invest more, and this will continue until the mark is cleaned out and the game ends. A modern variety of the Spanish Prisoner is the 419 fraud, also known as the advance-fee fraud. The rise of the Internet has made this a very popular and easy scam. Names of potential victims are taken from e-mail headers, which often include the last name. The scammer then alleges to be a relation because of course he has the same last name. When you contact them over the Internet, you tend to follow up with a call that explains the detailed situation. Since you'll be using the phone, consult a telephone look-up service like ip-hunter.com/44/index.phtml which can help you to figure out whether or not their claims are legitimate. The Spanish Prisoner con is the basis for the majority of today's scams, with plenty of alterations. The advance-fee fraud, where operational fees are required up front to secure the release of far greater wealth, has generated many branches. A wide variety of con games, including the overpayment, reshipping, employment, and romance scams and the more recent Internet email lottery and work-from-home scams have arisen to take advantage of naive individuals. You can guard yourself from getting scammed in more ways than the telephone look-up services that were recommended before. First, just don't open emails that come from people you don't know. Once you open the email, you give the scammer access to all the addresses in your directory, which can be hazardous. All they have to do is keep sending out emails until they find the right person who will open it up. Even if you open the email, just check it for spelling errors, as well as finding out exactly what you have to give them in order to receive what they're offering, being suspicious of anything you may see in the email, regardless of its origin. However, despite the fact that no policing really exists for the Internet, there are government agencies who are attempting to find scam groups like this and put a halt to their operations. If you inform them of an impending scam, this process can go faster. About the Author: To find out more about telephone look ups that help prevent frauds, visit ip-tracks.com/48/index.html Kindly provided by MoneyHunter.org You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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