NEWARK – The state Division of Consumer Affairs received more than 60 complaints from advance fee scam victims last year and residents are cautioned to be wary if a stranger asks them to assist in transferring funds from overseas bank accounts.

The advance fee scam, sometimes called the Nigerian scam, involves a con artist who typically claims to be a foreign government official or former official who needs assistance in transferring funds to the United States. The con artist asks that the person being contacted provide their bank account information and also advance their own money to help facilitate the transfer of funds. In return, the con artist promises a large payment to compensate the person for their efforts.

Victims may receive official looking documents from the scam artist to gain trust. When the victim agrees to assist, the scam artist may send an authentic-looking cashiers’ check written for more than the agreed-upon compensation. The victim is instructed to deposit the cashier’s check in their personal account and immediately withdraw the money in excess of their compensation payment. The victim then wires these excess funds to the scam artist. 

Several days or weeks later, the bank notifies the victim that the cashier’s check is fake.  The consumer is expected to cover the funds they unwittingly “returned” to the scam artist. A variation of the scheme includes a bogus job offer where the “recruiter” asks the victim to provide their social security number and provides a cashier’s check as an advance against the first paycheck. 

Ultimately, any funds provided to the con artist are lost and no transfer of funds or promised payment occurs. 

“Unfortunately, the advance fee fraud continues to be perpetrated on the public,” Attorney General Anne Milgram said. “Consumers need to be wary of such unsolicited offers.”

Consumers should never give bank account and other personal information to unknown callers or in response to an email, Acting Consumer Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo said.

“If someone receives a call or email to assist an unknown person in the transfer of funds, the person should stop and ask why they have been chosen,” DeMarzo said. “The advance fee fraud continues to claim New Jersey victims and consumers need to be skeptical of such solicitations.”

Consumers who receive advance fee fraud emails, but have not suffered a money loss, are best served by adding the sender to their email “block” list and forwarding the emails to their Internet Service Provider. Consumers who have lost money or have mistakenly given personal account information to the scammer can contact the Division of Consumer Affairs for assistance by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll-free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200 or online at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov

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