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A complicated scam involving people in Nigeria and Spokane, Wash., ensnared a Carthage woman who thought she had been paid for a bracelet she put on Craigslist.
Carthage Police Detective Jeff Steffen said local investigators are in the process of recovering the bracelet for the Carthage victim who was not identified.
“This was a very creative scam, one of the most creative I’ve ever seen,” Steffen said. “These people created an email, that looked like it came from PayPal, that said the Carthage victim had been paid when she had not. She went ahead and sent the bracelet to Spokane, then later found out she had not been paid.”
Steffen said the woman in Spokane, who pawned the bracelet, was also apparently a victim, losing approximately $70,000 of her own money to a scammer who said he was in Nigeria.
“People are still falling for those scams from Nigeria,” Steffen said. “I don’t know why Nigeria is the place where these are happening, but people need to stop answering emails from there unless they know the person emailing them.”
A Spokane television station’s website featured the story from July 25 of a woman from that city who said she fell victim to what she called a “Nigerian boyfriend scam,” and lost $70,000.
The woman, who was too embarrassed to share her identity with television station KXLY TV, said it was a combination of loneliness and a very generous heart that led her to have to apologize to her five children for leaving the family in debt and even helping the scammer victimize others, including a Carthage woman.
The Spokane woman told the television station she had just gone through a divorce and was flattered by the attention from a stranger.
The television station reported that the man, named “Elias,” soon claimed he had been robbed and his son was shot in the holdup and that he needed money to pay the doctors to treat his son.
The Spokane woman said she sent Elias money through Western Union and pawned her television when Elias said his son would die in the hospital without her help.
The television station said Elias had the woman pawn jewelry, sent to her by FedEx, and send that money to him to help him escape from Nigeria.
Steffen said one of the pieces of jewelry was a bracelet sent to the Spokane woman by a woman from Carthage who was trying to sell the bracelet on Craigslist.
Steffen said there are two messages to come from this story.
One is do not pay attention to random contacts from Nigeria.
Steffen said people should not rely on emails from PayPal to tell them a payment has been made. Always check your account to be sure a payment has been posted before sending an item.
A complicated scam involving people in Nigeria and Spokane, Wash., ensnared a Carthage woman who thought she had been paid for a bracelet she put on Craigslist.
Carthage Police Detective Jeff Steffen said local investigators are in the process of recovering the bracelet for the Carthage victim who was not identified.
“This was a very creative scam, one of the most creative I’ve ever seen,” Steffen said. “These people created an email, that looked like it came from PayPal, that said the Carthage victim had been paid when she had not. She went ahead and sent the bracelet to Spokane, then later found out she had not been paid.”
Steffen said the woman in Spokane, who pawned the bracelet, was also apparently a victim, losing approximately $70,000 of her own money to a scammer who said he was in Nigeria.
“People are still falling for those scams from Nigeria,” Steffen said. “I don’t know why Nigeria is the place where these are happening, but people need to stop answering emails from there unless they know the person emailing them.”
A Spokane television station’s website featured the story from July 25 of a woman from that city who said she fell victim to what she called a “Nigerian boyfriend scam,” and lost $70,000.
The woman, who was too embarrassed to share her identity with television station KXLY TV, said it was a combination of loneliness and a very generous heart that led her to have to apologize to her five children for leaving the family in debt and even helping the scammer victimize others, including a Carthage woman.
The Spokane woman told the television station she had just gone through a divorce and was flattered by the attention from a stranger.
The television station reported that the man, named “Elias,” soon claimed he had been robbed and his son was shot in the holdup and that he needed money to pay the doctors to treat his son.
The Spokane woman said she sent Elias money through Western Union and pawned her television when Elias said his son would die in the hospital without her help.
The television station said Elias had the woman pawn jewelry, sent to her by FedEx, and send that money to him to help him escape from Nigeria.
Steffen said one of the pieces of jewelry was a bracelet sent to the Spokane woman by a woman from Carthage who was trying to sell the bracelet on Craigslist.
Steffen said there are two messages to come from this story.
One is do not pay attention to random contacts from Nigeria.
Steffen said people should not rely on emails from PayPal to tell them a payment has been made. Always check your account to be sure a payment has been posted before sending an item.
