An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears.
Christophe Thierry Daniel Rocancourt, sometimes also called Christopher Rocancourt, is a French impostor and confidence man who scammed affluent people by masquerading in turn as a French nobleman, the heir to the Rockefeller family or family member of a celebrity.
Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Internet fraud is not considered a single, distinctive crime but covers a range of illegal and illicit actions that are committed in cyberspace. It is, however, differentiated from theft since, in this case, the victim voluntarily and knowingly provides the information, money or property to the perpetrator. It is also distinguished by the way it involves temporally and spatially separated offenders.
419eater.com is a scam baiting website which focuses on advance-fee fraud. The name 419 comes from "419 fraud", another name for advance fee fraud, and itself derived from the relevant section of the Nigerian criminal code. The website founder, Michael Berry, goes by the alias Shiver Metimbers. As of 2013, the 419 Eater forum had over 55,000 registered accounts. According to one member, "Every minute the scammer I'm communicating with is spending on me is a minute he is not scamming a real potential victim."
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the federal law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enforcing the laws that defend the nation's mail system from illegal or dangerous use. Its jurisdiction covers any crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system or postal employees. With roots going back to the late 18th century, the USPIS is the oldest continuously operating federal law enforcement agency.
The Zoo Gang is a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same title by Paul Gallico.
Prank Patrol is a Canadian children's television series that aired on YTV. Each episode, host André "Andy" Simoneau and a team of ninjas help kids pull off pranks on an unsuspecting victim, usually a friend or family member. With the help of experts, pranksters convince their victims that the events - such as the prankster possessing incredible super powers, alien landings, or an intelligent gorilla suddenly appearing - are real, until the process is revealed to the victims after a successful prank.
Todd Witteles is an American professional poker player.
Miami Psychic: Confessions of a Confidante is a 2006 memoir published by the Regan Books division of HarperCollins. The authors are listed as Regina Milbourne and Yvonne Carey-Lederer.
A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretenses or to commit fraud against the victim. Fraudulent acts may involve access to the victim's money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; or forcing the victims to commit financial fraud on their behalf.
A scam letter is a document, distributed electronically or otherwise, to a recipient misrepresenting the truth with the aim of gaining an advantage in a fraudulent manner.
Life After People is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of human absence on the environment and the vestiges of civilization thus left behind. The series was preceded by a two-hour special that aired on January 21, 2008, on the History Channel which served as a de facto pilot for the series that premiered April 21, 2009. The documentary and subsequent series were both narrated by James Lurie.
UFO Hunters is an American television series that premiered on January 30, 2008, on The History Channel, produced by Motion Picture Production Inc., and ran for three seasons. Jon Alon Walz was the executive producer of the show and was responsible for selling the series to History Channel after a bidding war for the rights to the show broke out between History Channel and Sci-Fi Channel.
Bully Beatdown is an American reality television series created by Mark Burnett which aired on MTV. In each episode, show host Jason "Mayhem" Miller challenged bullies to fight against a professional mixed martial artist for a chance to win $10,000. The money they would receive depended on their performance against their opponent, with any money they didn't win going to the bully's victims. If the bully managed to submit or knock out the martial artist at any time, they won a $5000 bonus.
American Greed is an American documentary television series on CNBC. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and other white collar crimes and features interviews with police investigators, fraud victims and sometimes fraudsters.
Lottery fraud is any act committed to defraud a lottery game. A perpetrator attempts to win a jackpot prize through fraudulent means. The aim is to defraud the organisation running the lottery of money, or in the case of a stolen lottery ticket, to defraud an individual of their legitimately won prize.
Mass-marketing fraud is a scheme that uses mass-communication media – including telephones, the Internet, mass mailings, television, radio, and personal contact – to contact, solicit, and obtain money, funds, or other items of value from multiple victims in one or more jurisdictions. The frauds where victims part with their money by promising cash, prizes, and services and high returns on investment are part of mass market fraud.
Bob Nygaard is an American private investigator (PI) specializing in the investigation of confidence crimes, most notably psychic fraud. He has been instrumental in the arrest and conviction of numerous psychics, helping their victims obtain justice including financial restitution amounting to millions of dollars. He has consulted for ABC News and 20/20 as a specialist in psychic fraud. Nygaard previously was a member of the New York City Transit Police and Nassau County Police Department, retiring from service in 2008.
