Flynrider
Phoenix,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, August 16, 2011
" Law enforcement can intercept websites, where the perps are actively having phone conversations transfered from the 877 to other locations. I hope (patrick greene) read this."
This is known as the Advance Fee Loan scam and it has been going on for years. I wouldn't count on law enforcement doing much. The way the scam is set up, it is virtually impossible to know who you sent the money to. They use public internet access to avoid leaving a trail on the Internet. They also insist on Western Union because it is an untraceable cash transaction.
As for the phones, they commonly use prepaid throwaway cell phones. After a while, they ditch the phones, buy some new ones and start again.
The most common version of this scam has you send the money out of the country (often Canada). This virtually guarantees that U.S. law enforcement will not be able to touch them.
Basically you sent untraceable cash to someone you don't know. There are no leads for law enforcement to follow. This scam has been reported on this site for many years and I haven't heard of one person getting their money back so far.
The FTC has a webpage dealing with this scam at :
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel16.shtm