Taliban war sparks new twist to old scam
By D. Ian Hopper
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A very old con game has a new twist, exploiting reports of terrorists' use of drug proceeds, the Secret Service warns.
An e-mail making the rounds purports to be from an American "Special Forces Commando" in Afghanistan who found $36 million in Taliban drug money. The e-mail asks for help in moving the cash, kept in a suitcase, out of Afghanistan.
"We will thus send you the shipment waybill, so that you can help claim this luggage on behalf of me and my colleagues," the e-mail from "Bradon Curtis" reads. "Needless to say the trust (placed) in you at this junction is enormous. We are willing to offer you an agreeable percentage of (these) funds."
The Secret Service says it is the latest incarnation of a fraud scheme that targets hundreds of people each day. Earlier versions involved persuading victims to wire money overseas or even travel to an African nation to claim nonexistent money.
The con is best known as the "Nigerian e-mail scam" or "419 scam," a reference to the Nigerian penal code against fraud. Authorities now call it "advance-fee fraud."
According to an FBI report, about 2,600 Americans said they were victims of the scams in 2001. Sixteen reported losses totaling $345,000; two individuals lost more than $70,000 each.
The original scam takes the form of a plea from a government official or someone else overseas who wants help moving money — anything from an inheritance to overpayment on a government contract. The victim is promised a cut of the total, which is in the millions of dollars.
Soon, the perpetrators claim there are problems that require the victim to pay lawyers' fees, shipping costs, taxes or bribes.
"Then they'll probably tell you to wait for this package, and then it's never going to show," Secret Service Special Agent Brian Deck said.
More recent scam letters refer to deaths from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including unclaimed cash found in the rubble of the World Trade Center or the inheritance of a fallen serviceman at the Pentagon.
