On Alibaba.com: Preventing fraud when sourcing from overseas and 419 scams

Yesterday, I wrote about how email spam is part and parcel (pun intended) to global supplier fraud.

Alibaba.com:  Prevent 419 Scams

Today, as I was poking around the Web, I found an article (hosted on Alibaba.com) by Tekle Sebhatu. Not sure who he is, but his article brought up some interesting points. Among them are points that are at the heart of cross-border e-commerce: it knows no boundaries:

As national boundaries become more permeable to trade and investment, so increases fraudulent activities. In the old days scammers used to meet face-to-face with people upon whom they prey. Now, modern technology has allowed con artists to globalize and to become more sophisticated using e-mail, message boards and chat rooms to effectively con individuals and businesses. A con artist can be anywhere at any time and he or she is just a click away from his 'mark", a term used by scammers to identify a victim. Anonymity, ease of promotion and reach on global scale that technology offers are contributing to the rapid expansion of fraud.

 I also learned that the Nigerian Prince scams have a name:  419 scams:

419/Advance Fee Scam: Also known as a Nigerian or West African scam, this type of fraud is named after an article of the Nigerian penal code under which it is prosecuted.

This "the mother of all scams" scheme typically starts with a letter from Nigeria or another country that offers the recipient the "opportunity" to share between 20% to 40% of millions of dollars that the author, a former government official or relative of high ranking wealthy government officer, is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. If the victim is interested then he will be asked to forward documents including **** number, blank company letterhead, telephone and fax number and other documents to make it look real. The possible victim is then asked to deposit money into a **** provided by the scammer to cover expenses and complete the process. The scammer uses the funds deposited in his account to commit other crimes.

 Any online fraud is too much online fraud.  One scam is too much.

Have a read.