| Across The Border Fraud Don't Be A Victim LINCOLN - Clever scam artists take advantage of our lack of knowledge of other countries' laws. More and more the Attorney General's office is hearing of crafty schemes perpetrated by "across the border" scam artists. The method of operation of the scam artist is always the same, no matter how shrewd the scam. He wants you to send your money to him with the promise of receiving something of value in return. Once the scam artist has your money, the exchange is over. Several Nebraskans have reported to the Attorney General's office that they have responded to ads in their local newspaper offering low interest loans, regardless of past credit history. When they called the 800 number from the advertisement, they were sent authentic looking loan application papers from a Canadian address. In each of the incidents reported, the caller was asked to send an up-front fee to secure the loan. Even though it is illegal for a loan broker to charge an advance fee for the procurement of a loan in Nebraska, all of these people were assured that in Canada, this was perfectly legal. In every case where the Nebraskan sent the fee, no loan check was received. Another very clever scheme involved calls to Nebraskans from a Canadian "law firm", reporting that they had been awarded a large settlement by a Canadian court of law as compensation for money they had supposedly lost to a Canadian sweepstakes scam. All the person needed to do was to send a check to the Canadian "law firm" to pay the taxes due to the Canadian government. Yet another "across the border" scam involved a Nebraskan who received a check out of the blue for $10,000 from a Canadian "law firm". A phone call from someone representing himself as a Canadian attorney followed the check's arrival. He assured the woman the check was a "sweepstakes award". As soon as she had deposited the check, the original caller called again, demanding "attorney fees". Wisely, she declined to send the $1,200 that had been demanded. A week later, the woman's bank called to say that the $10,000 check she had deposited had been declared a forgery, and the bank was forced to return the funds. Luckily, the "attorney fees" had not been sent, or that would have been lost, too. The sale of foreign lottery tickets is another "across the border" scam. It is illegal for anyone to solicit foreign lottery sales in Nebraska. Do not take the word of a foreign "business" that tells you something that is clearly illegal in Nebraska is within the law in his country. Check out statements of that type thoroughly. Never send money for taxes, duty charges, or attorney fees to someone in a foreign country that promises you a large sum of money in return for sending an up-from payment. Do not give your credit card number to a caller who wants to sell you a ticket in a foreign lottery. For more information about this or any other consumer issue, contact:Attorney
General's Office |