Cyberspace is the Wild, Wild West of the 21st Century 
And There Is No Marshal On Duty

 
  A stranger is not going to send you a check for more than you are owed for whatever service or product you are providing
  and then trust you to cash the check and send back the difference.   Nor are they going to send you a check to run through
  your checking account and then tell you to keep a percentage of the funds for your trouble.

 This is a scam that started years ago on a small scale and has exploded internationally via the Internet.  The checks are
 counterfeit and the thief is hoping that neither you nor your bank will notice until you have wired the thief's share to an
 anonymous location in (usually) a foreign country. 

 If you deposit one of these counterfeit checks into your checking account, it is you who could be charged criminally for
 receiving a forged  financial instrument.   It is happening right now throughout the U.S.  If you withdrew money from your
 account that was backed by a counterfeit check, your bank will require you to pay it back just as they would for a bounced
 check.

 This scam has recently taken on a new disguise - romance.  Victims are now being lured with love instead of a business
 proposition and this ploy is working so well that it seems to have eclipsed all Nigerians cons.  If you are the victim of a
 Nigerian romance scam that involved money sent by you to the scammer or funds received from the scammer as counterfeit
 cashier's checks or money orders or funds wired to you or transferred to your bank account, you will want to join the Yahoo
 Message Board, "Romance Scams" where victims share specific information about scammers and discuss reform measures.
 You can also view some of the databases published on the Internet that show the phony photos, e-mail addresses and phone 
 numbers of known scammers. 

 For information about Nigerian fraud as well as advice for reporting the fraud, read the information below.

   If you are charged criminally after depositing an unknown counterfeit check into your checking account, you are not alone.  More and more victims across the U.S. are being charged criminally for their gullibility in receiving checks sent by strangers they met on the Internet.  If this happens to you, you will need an attorney who understands the full operation behind a Nigerian Scam.  Do not think the charges will be dropped if you just explain yourself to the judge.  Do not think you are not being viewed as a criminal by the police, the D.A. and even your attorney if the person is not familiar with this kind of scam.  You must take this seriously, get an attorney and contact fraudaid.com for guidance on the steps to follow to justice.

     If you are not sure where the thief lives and you want to research it in order to provide law enforcement with the information, CUFF will research it for you for $59.00.  To order a search, complete the Fraud Report form.  This research will benefit you and the community - if law enforcement chooses to investigate it.  Unfortunately, the current U.S. criminal justice system is overloaded with drug-related and violent crimes and minimal resources are being allocated to fraud that does not meet a minimum financial threshold.  If this situation is unacceptable to you, contact your legislators and tell them that you expect all crimes to be investigated and are willing for your tax dollars to be redirected from other less important programs. 

   You should still file a police report and report the crime to the federal agencies noted above, even if your case is not investigated.  Fraud is the most under-reported of all crimes because the victims feel embarrassment for their "willing" participation.  This is one of the reasons that it is not investigated with the kind of vigor that would eventually make a difference.  You should report your crime even if it is only added to the crime statistics.  Eventually, legislators and law enforcement will recognize that it is has reached an epidemic level and will begin to take it seriously. 

   One way to simplify the investigation process is for the federal government to have a single Internet fraud reporting form rather than the multiple Web sites and forms that now exist.  Send the CUFF database letter to your legislators urging them to make it easier to collect and coordinate information submitted by victims of fraud, including counterfeit checks and Nigerian scams.  The easier the collection process is the easier it will be to identify the criminals for prosecution

       When you lose money through an Internet scam, the chances of getting your money back are akin to getting your television back after an unknown burglar steals it from your home while you are away on vacation.  It happens only in the rarest of circumstances and what happened to this victim is typical: Good Samaritan Loses $18,000 in Nigerian Scam.  However, you do have some options if any of the people involved in a crime ring that defrauded you lives in the U.S.

       First, you can pursue criminal charges through the proper agency, and if this happens and the thief is convicted, you can ask for restitution as part of the sentencing.  Depending on the state and county, the thief may remain on probation until the money is repaid.

      Second, you can sue the person in court in order to obtain a civil judgment.  This judgment will allow you to have the thief's personal property seized, his bank account levied and his paycheck garnisheed.  This is a very good option if the thief is employed and has assets.  Unfortunately, the majority of the people who scam do not have stable employment or assets.

      However, it you obtain a judgment against someone, you can hand it over to a judgment recovery specialist, which is a collector who goes after judgment debtors.  This person will have a financial motivation to find your money, and the fee you pay, which is generally 30% to 50% of the money collected, may be worth it.  50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.  AND you will have obtained justice because the thief will have had to give back the stolen money.

     An additional disadvantage of suing civilly is that a judgment is only valid in the county and/or state where it was issued.  In order for it to be recognized in another county and/or state, it must be filed as a foreign judgment.  Often this means the case must be heard by a judge in the county where it is being filed as a foreign judgment.  If it was a default judgment, the chances are even better that the count will not rubber stamp it without hearing the case.  

     You should also be aware of some fraudulent private investigation firms advertising on the Internet to help victims recover losses from these scams.  If you believe an agency is legitimate, send CUFF an e-mail with the company's name, location and Web site and we will research the company and advise you of our findings.  One of these companies that has already taken multiple victims is Burst Securities, Inc. in Nigeria.  The name provided for the owner is James Okechukwu Okafor.  The address provided is 23b Isiaku Street; Emene, Enugu State, Nigeria.  

     To see an overview of what is available to a plaintiff in a small claims court suit, go to CUFF's Get Even Legally Page.

      If you don't believe the criminal justice system is equipped to handle the growing epidemic of fraud, join CUFF, America's fastest growing grassroots anti-fraud movement that is working to change the laws and social attitude which have contributed to the laxity in prosecution.  

     Review the links and information above and if you feel you still need additional help or have questions, contact CUFF in the Contact form.  Do not e-mail us as we may not open an e-mail if we do not recognize the sender.