Scammer poses as Prince Harry to lure victims
An Austrian floor fitter has been conned out of thousands of Euros by a scammer on Facebook who posed at Prince Harry.
The Austrian trader was contacted by the scammer posing as the prince and was offered the chance to renovate the floors at Buckingham Palace in a one million pound contract. Well, at least that is what the scammer told him.
After accepting the “offer”, the floor fitter was then requested to send thousands of Euros through Western Union as a “security deposit”. After sending the money in 3 payments, the scammer disappeared, leaving the victim out of pocket.
It’s a well-known scam called as advanced fee fraud, or a 419 “Nigerian” scam. It involves a victim being instructed to send payments or fees (an advance fee) in order to eventually receive the larger pay out, that really doesn’t exist.
It is notorious for using the tale of a Nigerian lawyer or prince trying to get a large inheritance pay-out out of the country and into your bank account.
However in this case the scammer was posing as Prince Harry. The advance fee was an alleged “security deposit” and the pay-out bait was a one million pound contract.
Many will claim the Austrian floor fitter should have known better and the scam was somewhat obvious. Whilst 419 scams are somewhat obvious to most, it is worth noting that these scammers will often target the old or vulnerable who may not be familiar with their ploys.
Always ensure the vulnerable people in your life are familiar with these scams, and remember never to give money away across the Internet to strangers in order to receive a larger pay-out.
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