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» Non-Registered Users |
You are seeing this module because you are showing as an unregistered user - have you forgotten to log in?
As an unregistered user, you may view and post in the general forums (where applicable); however all posts you make are "moderated" (i.e. placed into a moderation queue to be approved) before they are visible on the site. Please, therefore, refrain from posting duplicate posts as these will simply be deleted.
This also applies to those of you that have registered, but have not yet validated your email address. Please check your email inbox for an email that was sent by this site, and either click on the link provided therein, or copy and paste the link into your browser address bar. Until such time as you have verified your registration, you will have the same privileges as an unregistered user.
If you have not received your confirmation/validation email, please use our Contact Us form to request us to resend your validation details.
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| Can we donate money to you? |
| Up until recently, we have not accepted donations; however, due to rising costs of server hosting and maintenance, it has become necessary to open the site for those that wish to make a positive financial contribution to our cause. We will, of course, never ask for money from a victim. We do have costs associated with the running of this site that currently run to several hundreds of US dollars per month, and it is these costs that we are hoping to offset by way of utilizing the donations that we receive. All donations will be audited and details will be available upon request to any of our members. |
| Who are you? |
The team that has become Fraudwatchers.org is a group of vastly differing people, from a large number of places around the globe. It's not possible to define the members of this group - we come from all layers of society, all parts of the world, and a very wide age-group. What this means, is that through our network of willing bodies around the world, and with the information we recieve from a variety of sources, we can make a real difference in the fight against the perpetrators of online fraud.
But, there is another side to things. We are also here because we have seen the impact these crimes have on ordinary people's lives. We have a great desire to help those who have already become victims, for whatever reason, and to warn those we find are being targeted by the criminals behind these scams. Every day, we receive tips and hints from our sources around the world about people who might be "in the crosshairs", so to speak, and we do whatever we can to make sure none of their hard-earned money fall in the wrong hands. No matter how scarce the information is, we will follow up on it through whatever channels we have, and call in whatever help we need. |
| Where are you? |
Within our ranks there are people from the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and Ireland, amongst others, and there are people from all ages working hard to make the internet a safer place to be for everyone - from 18 and up past the 50's.
Please also read this article about The Law and Us. |
| What are your credentials? |
| We have members from the security business, IT-sector, banking, web hosting businesses and so on. We also have members who work in fields completely unrelated to the internet and scams, for all of us, Fraudwatchers.org is something we volunteer to be a part of. |
| Are you law enforcement/FBI/CIA? |
| We are not law enforcement, though some of our members may be police officers. FraudWatchers.org is not an official law enforcement group, nor are we related to any. Through our work against these crimes, we have gathered contacts within law enforcement around the world, IT professionals and internet service providers, as well as hosting providers from both large and small companies, and an army of informants that are willing and eager to help in our cause. |
| Do you have an office? |
| We do not have an office - our team of volunteers are spread out all over the world, if you click here you can see where each member is located, their timezone and any languages they may speak. It would be really difficult to locate an office in any one place. We work together over the internet. |
| Can I call and speak to you? |
| If you feel like you need to speak to someone, we may be able to help, let us know. We do not have any kind of call centre or phone facilities. We all do this work from our homes, in various locations around the world. We do have to pay for our own phone calls and internet time etc, so it is not always possible, but we will certainly try to assist if you need us to. |
| Are you paid to do this work? |
| No. We are all volunteers, doing this in our spare time. There are many reasons why people volunteer to do this work, each member of our team has their own reasons to be here. They do all have one thing in common, a commitment to helping victims currently being scammed or targeted by these criminals. |
| Why do you send warnings to scam victims? |
We hope that we can get warnings to people before they send money. Each time a scammer is paid, it encourages them to continue scamming. We want the scamming to stop. If no victims pay money, these criminals will have to find another way to make a living.
Here at Fraudwatchers.org, we make no assumptions or draw any conclusions about a victim - we have seen so many different kinds of people fall for this; doctors, engineers, politicians, and so on, that we know there is no stereotype victim. Everyone, literally, can fall for this. |
| What do you stand to gain or benefit from this? |
We want the scamming to stop. If we can warn potential victims before they pay money, these criminals will have to find another way to make a living. Each time a scammer is paid, it encourages them to continue scamming. It also encourages their friends and family to take up scamming themselves. They see their friends/family driving around in expensive cars, buying expensive houses and clothes, and they want to live that lifestyle.
Do not kid yourselves, these people *do* make a lot of money from scamming people. As many of the scammers are located in Africa, one victim paying money can provide these criminals with enough money to live in style for a year or more. If they live in a more expensive country, like the US or Europe, they have to scam more victims to provide the lifestyle they want - which involves mobile phones (most scammers have 2-3 each), laptops, Mercedes or BMW cars, expensive jewellery, clothes and shoes, girlfriends and/or wives clothing, shoes and jewellery, etc. |
| Why do you want me to accept what you are saying? |
We realise you want to believe in the money. An amount like that would change your life, and those around you. We've often seen people saying "If there's a 99% chance that I'm being lied to, the 1% left over is still good odds. I'm prepared to pay a few hundred, for the chance of millions." But the odds aren't 99%. Or even 99.9%. We ARE 100% sure. And it won't be a few hundred that you can afford to lose, that's nothing but the first hook. After you've paid that, there'll be more fees to pay, and you'll be less willing to walk away from your "investment." That's what they're counting on, and we've seen people sell their entire lives this way.
Once you are out of money and exhausted your financial resources, they may arrange a "loan" for you. It will be a cheque that seems to clear into your bank account. $10,000, $15,000, $25,000... whatever they think they can get away with. Once it's cleared you withdraw it and wire them the cash. A month down the line, you get a call from the bank. The cheque was a fake. They want the money repaid and they want it right away. Think about that. No savings - they have them all. No way to borrow - you're in as far as you can get. You're ruined. Not because you were greedy or foolish, but because you didn't know people like that existed. And because you tried to calculate the odds without realizing that the game was rigged. Please, trust us when we say that this is not a chance you want to take.
We have seen this happen to too many people. We do not want these scammers getting rich at the expense of innocent people who had hopes and dreams and wanted to believe in the fairytale these scammers try to sell. |
| Can I send you scam emails that I receive in future? |
You could do that, but the better option is to follow the instructions found on this page -
http://www.joewein.de/sw/419faq.htm#submit
This website specialises in gathering information about scammers, and any scam emails you receive could get a scammer arrested one day. They analyze spam emails and provide data to block spam/scam emails and recognize fraud. If your scammer is listed on this list, chances are his email did *not* get through to many people around the world thanks to the spamspy software created by Joe Wein, who is a contributor to this website and provides us with a great deal of information regarding current trends in the stories and common names used by the scammers. |
| Can you get my money back? |
We are sorry but this is virtually impossible. If you have lost a large amount of money (approximately over US$100,000 or equivalent in your currency), and especially if you have sent money to a "real" bank account, it may be worth contacting the police, and they should try to help you.
If you have lost any amount of money, no matter how small, we would still advise you to contact your local Law Enforcement Office, even if there isn't much they can or are willing to do. The more attention these scams get, the more likely it is that law enforcement will start doing what they can to stop them. |
| Some people contacted me about being scammed and said they could get my money back? Why can't you? |
| Be very wary of anyone who says they can recover your money. It may be the same scammer hoping to get some more funds out of you. There are companies around who claim they can get your money back but they do charge you fees and generally have little success. Your money is gone. We would love to be able to get it back for you, but there is no way to do it. We are thankful that you are still alive, as victims have lost their lives before due to these scams. Money can be replaced. |
| Who are your informants? |
Through our work against these crimes, we have gathered contacts within law enforcement around the world, IT professionals and internet service providers, as well as hosting providers from both large and small companies, and an army of informants that are willing and eager to help in our cause.
We can't give too much information about our informants, because we do not want to put their lives at risk. It is a very dangerous thing to do, and we are extremely grateful that there are people in this world who care enough for other people that they take risks to give us information that helps people - and helps us stop people from being scammed. |
| How can I become an informant? |
If you are in a situation where you have information about a scammer, or a potential victim, you can send that anonymously to us. We accept any information you may have at  . You can also contact one of our victim support team via a private message. |
| How can I become a volunteer on this site? |
| We are always looking for people to help us; whatever you do, wherever you come from; you can be useful in the fight against crime, and the victimization of innocent people. Sign up to our forum, and take a look around. If you have questions, or have been exposed to online crime, we are here to help. |
| A family member or friend is being scammed but they don't believe me, can you help? |
| Certainly. We accept any information you may have at . You can also contact one of our victim support team via a private message. The more details you can give us, the better. |
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