Daneel
12 December 2005, 03:50
The Wash-Wash Scam
Aliases
Black money scam
Black dollar scam
Defaced currency scam
Marked currency scam
A "wash-wash" is how I usually see it referred to by the scammers themselves, that is why I have chosen that name for the article.
Definition
A large amount of currency has become defaced in some manner, and needs cleaning with a rare and usually very expensive chemical. The victim is shown how the money is cleaned and then told he needs to pay for more of the chemical so they can "clean" all the money.
How the scam works
A wash-wash is often the culmination of a 419 scam (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248). Usually there has been some initial email and phone communication, sometimes the victim has already paid a number of imaginary fees and taxes to the fraudsters. The victim is told that the money he is after is defaced in some way and is asked to travel to wherever the scammers are located so the wash-wash con can take place.
There are scammers who specialise in this con and provide their services to other gangs, so once a scammer has a victim hooked he can contact those specialists and set up a meeting between them and the victim. They then share the profits. Gangs who know how to perform this con exist in all places where 419 scammers are located, which is practically all over the world. Amsterdam, London and Toronto are a few hotspots outside of west Africa, where the con originates.
The con often takes place in an office or warehouse the fraudsters have rented for the occasion, so if the victim or the police comes back looking for them there, they will not be found.
As with all other ways to perpetrate advance fee fraud (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248), the scammers are quite imaginative and there are a few different variations. Sometimes there is an actual chemical used to clean the money, whatever name they use for it, if any, varies. Sometimes it's a simple trick using sleight of hand similar to a card trick, or a combination thereof. How much "real" money there is in the bag varies, most of it will invariably be simple pieces of black paper cut to resemble dollar bills. The con artist will use various means to convince the victim that what they see is for real, such as letting him keep the bag of money but telling him not to open it, chose the bills to be cleaned himself out of the bag or spend some of the "cleaned" money in a nearby store.
Regardless of the specifics, these con artists are usually very experienced at what they do and very convincing. It is often complicated to convince a victim of this con that he's been had.
The victim may have been told to travel to the fraudsters together with the cash required to purchase more of the chemical, where he is sometimes left with a suitcase full of worthless paper in return. Sometimes he makes the payments afterwards, and the scam can go on with more lies and imaginary fees. The victim will invariably be asked to pay a large amount of money for the chemical, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The scammers know they are taking more of a risk by meeting someone they are trying to scam in real life (as opposed to simply emailing them and calling them from untraceable mobile phones) and that doesn't come cheap.
In most cases they still manage to remain anonymous enough, and the crime often goes unreported. As with all advance fee fraud, there is often nothing the police can or are willing to do.
It should be mentioned that meeting the criminals in real life is a dangerous prospect. Kidnappings, torture, disappearances and murders in connection with advance fee fraud are not unheard of.
References
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/marked_currency.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3494072.stm
http://cbi.nic.in/p14_3july05.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2710727
Aliases
Black money scam
Black dollar scam
Defaced currency scam
Marked currency scam
A "wash-wash" is how I usually see it referred to by the scammers themselves, that is why I have chosen that name for the article.
Definition
A large amount of currency has become defaced in some manner, and needs cleaning with a rare and usually very expensive chemical. The victim is shown how the money is cleaned and then told he needs to pay for more of the chemical so they can "clean" all the money.
How the scam works
A wash-wash is often the culmination of a 419 scam (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248). Usually there has been some initial email and phone communication, sometimes the victim has already paid a number of imaginary fees and taxes to the fraudsters. The victim is told that the money he is after is defaced in some way and is asked to travel to wherever the scammers are located so the wash-wash con can take place.
There are scammers who specialise in this con and provide their services to other gangs, so once a scammer has a victim hooked he can contact those specialists and set up a meeting between them and the victim. They then share the profits. Gangs who know how to perform this con exist in all places where 419 scammers are located, which is practically all over the world. Amsterdam, London and Toronto are a few hotspots outside of west Africa, where the con originates.
The con often takes place in an office or warehouse the fraudsters have rented for the occasion, so if the victim or the police comes back looking for them there, they will not be found.
As with all other ways to perpetrate advance fee fraud (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248), the scammers are quite imaginative and there are a few different variations. Sometimes there is an actual chemical used to clean the money, whatever name they use for it, if any, varies. Sometimes it's a simple trick using sleight of hand similar to a card trick, or a combination thereof. How much "real" money there is in the bag varies, most of it will invariably be simple pieces of black paper cut to resemble dollar bills. The con artist will use various means to convince the victim that what they see is for real, such as letting him keep the bag of money but telling him not to open it, chose the bills to be cleaned himself out of the bag or spend some of the "cleaned" money in a nearby store.
Regardless of the specifics, these con artists are usually very experienced at what they do and very convincing. It is often complicated to convince a victim of this con that he's been had.
The victim may have been told to travel to the fraudsters together with the cash required to purchase more of the chemical, where he is sometimes left with a suitcase full of worthless paper in return. Sometimes he makes the payments afterwards, and the scam can go on with more lies and imaginary fees. The victim will invariably be asked to pay a large amount of money for the chemical, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The scammers know they are taking more of a risk by meeting someone they are trying to scam in real life (as opposed to simply emailing them and calling them from untraceable mobile phones) and that doesn't come cheap.
In most cases they still manage to remain anonymous enough, and the crime often goes unreported. As with all advance fee fraud, there is often nothing the police can or are willing to do.
It should be mentioned that meeting the criminals in real life is a dangerous prospect. Kidnappings, torture, disappearances and murders in connection with advance fee fraud are not unheard of.
References
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/marked_currency.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3494072.stm
http://cbi.nic.in/p14_3july05.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2710727