BBB Tip of the Week

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking for your help to further its investigation and strengthen its criminal case against six Nigerian nationals who were extradited from South Africa to Mississippi to face criminal allegations, along with 15 others. The defendants are charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identity theft, use of unauthorized account access devices, theft of U.S. government funds and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the indictment, the defendants carried out romance scams, reshipping scams, fraudulent check scams and work-at-home scams to bilk victims out of money and gain access to personal identifying information. They also took over bank and financial accounts and credits cards of victims.

The activities described in the indictment are thought to have started as early as 2001. The defendants allegedly targeted online dating and work-at-home websites, often convincing their targets to act on their behalf in a conspiracy. The defendants allegedly convinced targets to use stolen or compromised credit cards or financial accounts and counterfeit checks to purchase and reship merchandise. In other instances, the proceeds from the illegal activities were transmitted through wire transfer, U.S. mail or express delivery services.

The DOJ has shared a list of email addresses and names that defendants allegedly used at http://1.usa.gov/1LskQle. If you or someone you know may have been a victim of the defendants, you are urged to review the list and complete the questionnaire to help the DOJ bring a stronger case.

Better Business Bureau shares these reminders of how to stay safe when online dating or checking out work-at-home opportunities:

• Online profiles, images and even phone calls can be faked to lure you.

• Company websites and even phone interviews can be faked to convince you that the business is legitimate.

• Check out businesses at www.bbb.org before responding to work-from-home job postings.

• Don’t wire money to people you’ve met online and can’t verify exist, no matter how dire the “need” for funds is.

• Don’t reship merchandise within the U.S. or abroad.

• Don’t share your personal identifying information with a new employer you haven’t met.

To learn more about online scams, visit BBB Scam Stopper website at http://go.bbb.org/scam or call (509) 455-4200.

Erin T. Dodge, BBB editor