-----Original Message-----
From: UNIRAS (UK Govt CERT)
Sent: 10 December 2002 15:47
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UNIRAS Brief - 440/02 -Advanced Fee Fraud (4-1-9)
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UNIRAS (UK Govt CERT) Briefing Notice - 440/02 dated 10.12.02 Time:
15:40
UNIRAS is part of NISCC(National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination
Centre)
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UNIRAS material is also available from its website at
www.uniras.gov.uk and
Information about NISCC is available from www.niscc.gov.uk
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Title
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Advanced Fee Fraud (4-1-9)(Update)
Detail
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From: UNIRAS (UK Govt CERT) [[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 08 November 2001 14:13
Subject: UNIRAS Briefing - 212/01 - Advanced Fee Fraud
UNIRAS Comment
==============
UNIRAS is receiving increasing numbers of reports concerning 'advanced
fee fraud'. The following advice has been drafted with the assistance of
the National Criminal Intelligence Service(NCIS) and NHTCU.
Detail
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The NCIS West African Organised Crime Section handles intelligence
related to West African organised criminality. Strategic intelligence
has identified that West African organised crime groups have a
significant
impact on the economy of industrialised countries all over the world.
The main activities of these groups are fraud against individuals and
companies and drug trafficking. Fraud committed by West African crime
groups
is estimated to cost the UK at least £3.5 billion a year. The most
common
type of fraud is 'advance fee'. This is known as 4-1-9 fraud after the
penal
code in Nigeria that makes it illegal. 'Black money' fraud also has a
high
profile. These groups also carry out highly organised housing, social
security and other grant frauds. The profits of these crimes are often
used to finance drug trafficking, where the same middlemen transport
drugs from source to consumer countries.
'419' Letters are distributed by post, fax and email. In a typical '419'
(advanced fee fraud) letter, the author purports to be a senior
government
or central bank official who has managed to over inflate a contract,
generating a personal profit. In return for help smuggling money out of
the
country, the recipient is offered a percentage, usually between 10% and
30%.
At first no money is requested but once a victim has been drawn in,
requests
are made for legal and administrative costs. Victims have lost hundreds
of
thousands of pounds in some cases.
DO NOT REPLY TO THESE LETTERS
NCIS has hundreds of examples of people being duped out of thousands of
pounds. Companies who have sent polite letters of refusal have their
letterheads abused.
If you do receive a 419 letter, fax, or e-mail please report it to your
local police station and ask them to forward it to the local Fraud
Squad.
For further details see www.nhtcu.org and www.ncis.co.uk/waocu.asp
The National Criminal Intelligence Service, West African Organised Crime
Section however wish to hear from any individuals who have actually lost
money as the result of these scams. All enquiries will be treated
confidentially. Please contact them directly by phone on 020 7238 8012.
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For additional information or assistance, please contact the UNIRAS HELP
Desk by telephone or Not Protectively Marked information may be sent via
EMail to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: 020 7821 1330 Ext 4511
Fax: 020 7821 1686
UNIRAS material is also available from our website at www.uniras.gov.uk
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UNIRAS wishes to acknowledge the contribution of NCIS for the
information
contained in this briefing.
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UNIRAS shall also accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions
contained within this briefing notice. In particular, UNIRAS shall not
be
liable for any loss or damage whatsoever, arising from or in connection
with
the usage of information contained within this notice.
UNIRAS is a member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams
(FIRST)
and has contacts with other international Incident Response Teams (IRTs)
in
order to foster cooperation and coordination in incident prevention, to
prompt
rapid reaction to incidents, and to promote information sharing amongst
its
members and the community at large.
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