subject: Overview Of Spanish Prisoner Scam [print this page] Since the 16th century scam artists have employed a highly profitable swindle that has impoverished unnumbered targets. It is labeled the Spanish Prisoner because it originated in Spain. Other nations became suspicious of Spain at that time because of its continuous menace. A "mark" (the prey) is told that an aristocrat has been imprisoned in Spain and is relying on the con artist to raise bribes needed to secure his release. If the mark would supply some of the money, he was promised that he would be rewarded generously upon the release of the prisoner, and furthermore could wed the prisoner's beautiful daughter.
As with any con it required some research in order to only contact "soft" yet financially solid targets, as well as a demeanor that's hard to duplicate. This type of conman can sell anything to anyone and get away with not only the money, but with the mark not initially realizing they've been duped.
This type of confidence game continues today, but can take various forms. As always it relies on confidentiality, mystery, and a feeling that a great deal is at stake. They play on the fact that, at heart, people want to save the world and come out financially well-off in the process. As the con continues, more and more money is harvested. Eventually the mark has invested so much they can't pull out without risking losing it all, which they do in the end anyway.
A modern variety of the Spanish Prisoner is the 419 fraud, also known as the advance-fee fraud. The rise of the Internet has made this a very popular and easy scam. Names of potential victims are taken from e-mail headers, which often include the last name. The scammer then alleges to be a relation because of course he has the same last name.
An Internet contact often results in a follow-up call where an elaborate, intricate story is woven and the plan is designed. That's why it's important to use telephone look-up services such as quicknumbersearch.com/Wisconsin/Madison/608/308 in order to be able to verify if the caller is really whom he or she says they are. Most modern-day cons are modeled after this earlier version and can include any number of variations.
From the advanced fee fraud, where administrative costs are requested from the mark in order to release funds or valuable items, many variations have appeared. The romance, overpayment, employment, and reshipping scams and, in today's Internet world, lottery email scams and work from home scams also have come on the scene to cause much difficulty for those who are too trusting.
You can guard yourself from getting scammed in more ways than the telephone look-up services that were recommended before. First, just don't open emails that come from people you don't know. Once you open the email, you give the scammer access to all the addresses in your directory, which can be hazardous. All they have to do is keep sending out emails until they find the right person who will open it up.
If such an e-mail is accidentally opened, poor spelling and grammar, or an offer of free gifts or exorbitant sums of cash that can be obtained by sending a small sum of money, or opening an empty checking account, are clues that it is a scam attempt. There is no global Internet law enforcement, but several individual countries, with the aid of those who have been scammed, are attempting to locate and terminate these fraudulent groups. If we all work in concert, this plague can be wiped out.
