No more than two years ago, I received an email from a British telecommunications company O2, claiming that I was eligible for a prize of roughly $400,000 (CDN) because my mobility provider (Fido) was working alongside O2 in attempts to spread the brand continentally. According to the professional-looking corporate email equipped with legitimate masthead and the like, I was selected at random to receive the prize and possibly take part in an interview for a Toronto news channel sharing the story of my fortune, and hence, providing a little street-level marketing for the British telecommunications provider.
Before I continue further, for those of you who are not a friend or acquaintance of mine and know me solely from these pages, I consider myself to be a bright, self-aware individual who is not easily coerced into believing things without a physical representation or scientific explanation - essentially, my tendency towards skepticism has truly hindered my imagination.
I had heard of the Nigerian Bank scams and the increase in email related frauds, and I was aware of just how little information was required for an identity theft. Nonetheless, I couldn't fight the urge to follow through on this email from O2, at least until the point when I had to put forward precious details that could be used to take advantage of other gullible innocents. To truncate an already lengthy story, I was told that in order to receive my winnings, I had to either a) fly to England, more specifically O2's offices in London or b) send an English lawyer $800.00 (CDN) to cover the taxes and tariffs on a foreigner winning a British-based contest and other fees related to having a barrister sign for my winnings, yadi yadi yadi, followed by some dense lawyer-speak. In other words, now I had to pay, one way or another, to receive my prize.
At this moment, I knew it was a scam. After feeling rather angry that I had actually considered the proposal, even if for but a second, I decided to do a little backyard detective work if you will. I phoned one of the numbers listed as legal representation. An African man with the thickest and deepest of accents answered, claiming that he was such and such, a reputable English lawyer based in Surrey, just outside the London proper. At first, he was quite polite, but following minutes of poking and prodding on my part, he became frustrated with the endless stream of questions. I told the gentleman that I would call him right back. Before doing so, I googled the name he gave me, and found the website of an actual Surrey-based lawyer who had received dozens of local awards and commendations for his work. Digging a little deeper, I was able to locate both a photograph and a home phone number for the lawyer. He was as white and frail as a snowflake. Clearly, this was not the man I spoke to on the phone, and now, I was in a position, based solely on the fact that I had myself done a little digging, to help this man 3,000 miles away, and in turn, help others avoid being scammed as well. Despite the cost of a trans-Atlantic midday cell phone call, I rang the lawyer (who'll remain nameless) and spoke to him for about ten minutes about this elaborate scam and how his identity was being used to facilitate said scam.
The lawyer was extremely gracious, and promised to contact Scotland Yard. Three days later, I received a wonderful email from the man saying the police had begun an investigation to track-down the individuals responsible, and that as of that moment, it turns out it was one of the largest scams in Europe, speculatively run by a group of Nigerian men based in England. Last week, I received another email from the lawyer outside of London. Despite nearly forgetting about the entire ordeal, he wrote to inform me that the investigation has finally come to an end and that nearly a dozen Nigerian men with English papers had been arrested and charged with a host of fraud-related charges.
If there is a message to be had from the entire ordeal; with each passing day, crime is becoming a more digital and invisible practice, where identities and financial histories are being stolen or ruined for the benefit of others. Where years ago a criminal could walk into a bank with a mask, pillowcase and Colt 45, now security has crippled physical thefts, giving rise to a new group of young, enterprising scam artists.
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