Some weeks after the Airway incident, I got to know another girl who is the target of an online scam as well.As I read the account she forwarded to me, I felt a sense of injustice and frustration over such cases which I realized was happening in Singapore almost everyday after filing a police report.
These cyber villians are like cancer invading the peaceful lives of innocent online netizens, claiming new victims every few hours over the internet. Just imagine it could happen to ANYONE you know.
Your child who has just got to learn how to use the internet ...
Your best friend who wants to buy you a laptop for your next birthday ...
And to make things worse, while cyberspace is limitless and ever growing, our laws are confined to the physical borders of our country while being a small red dot on the map - is one of the fastest growing nations around the world in terms of internet usage.
With restricted laws and a lack of governance, cyber crime becomes all possible with evil minded people bent on making a quick buck working from their PC from home. As I closed my eyes and was about to fall asleep suddenly an idea came to my mind ..
While the law can't help much to bring these bad folks to justice, I can certainly make a difference by seeking them out and expose their misdeeds to the rest of the world.
To do that - first of all I would need to pick out a bad egg from the basket.
I checked with the girl on the identity and the wherabouts of the scammer and began my detective work.
His name is Charles Page ... A scum operating his den on the Yuwie website.
HTTP://WW1.YUWIE.COM/PROFILE/?ID=388358
I clicked on his profile and saw the picture of a 48 year old man and since this blog is featuring scammers, I have included his picture at the start of my post.
Charles is one of the classic love frauds looking for innocent girls to part their money with sweet talks after charming his female victims to believe that he is the ONE that they are looking for their entire life ...
Thus I contacted and began a conversation with Charles pretending to be a girl who is looking for a boyfriend ...
For days I baited the scammer with what he wants to hear, slowly he believed on the online identity I created to nab him. A few days after I started taking action he sent me his 2nd photo as prove that he is a real persona.
Like any dating scammer, Charles tried to create alot of romantic illusions to make ladies chatting with him think that he is playful and a hunk in bed.Of course, never did he expect that his scam will later back fire as I made preparations for the final kill.
15-May 2008, Charles told me that he can come over from the UK to Malaysia as a contractor on work in the country and meet me for a rendezvous at the same time...
Little did he know that right from the start, his real motives are already known and he was about to be out maneuvered by me. This was the very opporunity I was hoping for.
He called me on my mobile and we chatted a little and then we made arrangements to meet in Malaysia a few days later.
This is where the story picks up, believing that his target was longing to meet him, Charles Page made his move.
On arrival at Malaysia, he claimed he was held by the Malaysian customs due to the goods he's carrying for his contract job and was unable to enter the country.
Next, he made up another story that the Malaysian customs seized the goods he had brought with him which was worth 250 000 dollars and added that these goods are not allowed into the country ... that the Malaysian customs will send it back his country to be destroyed.
He then said that to settle his case, he would need to pay the customs USD 20,000 of which he paid USD 10,000 with the other part he wasn't able to do so.
Our villian having shed enough of his crocodile tears then asked for a loan from me the remaining USD 10,000 to pay the customs so that they may release his passport and goods.
I played along with his game after he promised me that he will return the money when we meetup and asked him how he wants the amount to be transferred.
He told me that the Malaysian customs wanted the money to be sent over through Western Union and paid to a man named Solomon Asare whose address is 3 Jalan Belia Kuala Lumpur 50350. And upon payment to the Western account, Charles told me I would receive an MCTN no which I would need to inform him so that he can notify the customs that payment was made and he is free to go with his goods.
I then asked Charles to send me a copy of the document from the customs which will state that the goods will be released upon payment. He sent me the following document.
Click on image to enlarge to full view
Not bad for a customs document forgery. I emailed Malaysian customs the above scanned document and this is what they replied to me on the very next day
Dear Sir / Madam,
We refer to your e-mail dated today (21.5.2008).
The document that you have attached in your e-mail was NOT issued by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
If the item is under the custody of the Malaysian Customs Department, then a letter of acknowledgement would be sent out to the importer indicating so.
If you can provide us with the Tracking Number of your parcel, we would be able to verify the location and the status of the parcel for you. Feel free to contact us again should you have further inquiries. Thank you.
Iskandar JaafarSenior Assistant Director of CustomsThe Public Relations UnitRoyal Malaysian Customs HeadquartersPutrajaya.Tel : 012-3641907 / 03-88822277 / 03-88822414
Guess what ? My game hasn't ended yet. I gave Charles the MCTN number from the first scammer David Williams and gave him the worse ego bashing he had ever had in his entire career as a swindler.
Oh well, let's take a break now and examine the parts that characterized Charles Page's love scam
1) The scammer will request you to send money through Western Union for banking
2) The scammer is never the person which he shows himself to be.
Charles Page shows his photo as a white guy but he is in fact a Nigerian.
3) The scammer will claim that he is from the UK but he will contact you using a Malaysian
mobile number whenever he calls.
4) The scammer will send you a forged customs document to prove that he is not lying and that
he is really stuck with the customs ... yeah right ..
No comments:
Post a Comment