The anonymity of the World Wide Web has resulted in the surge of many scams and frauds. Cyberactors now leverage the speed of the internet, social media, and email to execute their dubious plans.
One of the many ways of defrauding people online is the advance fee scam. This type of cyber fraud is designed to look genuine and enticing so that victims find it difficult to turn down. As reported by Vermontbiz.com, sweepstakes/lotteries, a type of advance fee fraud, were one of the top 10 online scams of 2021.
The first step to counter any cyberattack is understanding what it is and how attackers execute the scam.
Before discussing advance fee fraud cases, let’s look at this kind of cyber fraud and how it works.
What is an Advance Fee Scam and How Does it Work?
As a classic type of social engineering tactic, advance fee scammers convince their victims to make an upfront payment in exchange for an item, service, or loan. The Federal Bureau of Investigation states that an advance fee scam occurs when a victim pays money to someone in exchange for the promise of something greater in value.
These scammers design enticing offers to lure victims into their trap. The advance fee scam has been around for many decades, and in the past, it has been referred to as 419, or the Nigerian Prince email fraud.
The “Spanish Prisoner Letter” scam was used over 100 years ago. Here, scammers sent letters to businessmen claiming that a wealthy individual was in prison. In exchange for…
