The Financial Intelligence Unit of Anguilla (“FIU”) wishes to warns all members of the Anguillan public of an increase in social media frauds/scams being perpetrated through email messages, WhatsApp messages, text messages and social media platforms.  These scams are known as/categorized as Nigerian 419 scams and may present themselves in forms such as;

1. 1. 1. Requests being made by an unknown individual to provide financial assistance after contact has been made via a social media platform.

      2. A lottery scam where a person is lured by an invitation to receive lottery winnings but is required to remit funds in order to pay for the transfer/handling or logistic fees.

      3.  An illegitimate funding opportunity within Anguilla or internationally, whereby an individual can obtain funding such as a grant for small or medium sized business venture which requires the individual to send money to the fraudsters in order to receive the grant.    

      4.  Requests for donations to an orphanage through an individual.

With a Nigerian 419 scam, you are led to believe that you are assisting an individual who has certain financial constraints and will be asked to send money to them using a money Service Business such as MoneyGram or Western Union.  These are also fraudulent activities or scams which tend to prey on the good nature of individuals The location to which the money will be sent is usually an African country, however monies may be received in other regions of the world. 

The general warning signs are:

1. You are contacted by an unfamiliar person requesting financial assistance or trying to befriend you.

2. There is often an elaborate and sad story surrounding their request.

3. You are given claims to a lottery or reward for which you have not initiated or entered into any agreement for such claims.

4. The offer of large sums of money in exchange for sending a small amount of cash via a money transfer service.

5. There is a request to use only money transfer services for the transfer of funds.

6. No matter the promises made you will not receive the money that is offered. Money laundering is a criminal offense.

How to protect yourself:

• Don’t be easily willing to part with your money.

• If you are contacted and suspect/believe it to be a scam, do not respond. If you respond, you are giving the criminal a chance to work their finesse and play on your emotions.

• Never send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you don’t know.

• Avoid any arrangement with a stranger who asks up-front payments through any means, such as money remittance.

• Verify the validity of any organization and the association of the person to the organization.

• Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

How to make a report:

The FIU is appealing to members of the public to be more vigilant in their online activities especially across social media and email platforms. 

Anyone with information related to or affected by any suspected fraud/scam may undertake one or more of the following steps:

1. File a report with the FIU at 1-264-497-5696 or mlra@gov.ai, as it relates to the suspected fraud/scam.

2. File a report with the Royal Anguilla Police Force at Police Headquarters or via the online tips website https://www.research.net/r/KeepAXASafe or www.gov.ai/911.

3.  Make a report to the social media platform of the suspected fraud/scam.

advisory issued by Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) of the United States of America on the 7th July 2020.  The document provides guidance to reporting entities regarding the detection, prevention, and reporting of consumer fraud and other illicit activity related to COVID-19. 

Click here to open document.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Anguilla (“FIU”) warns members of the Anguillan public of the existence of scams that are linked to the 2019 novel coronavirus strain more commonly known as “COVID-19”. It should be noted that there are criminals seeking to take advantage of the anxiety and fear being caused by COVID-19 to defraud victims online.  Panic buying can lead to unwarranted spending and the loss of money.

The scams can take the form of telephone fraud and/or a phishing scam:

• Telephone fraud: is when a criminal call his victim pretending to be an official of a clinic or hospital, claiming that a relative of the victim has fallen sick with the virus and request payments for medical treatment.

• Phishing:  emails claiming to be from national or global health authorities, with the aim of tricking victims to provide personal credentials or payment details, or to open an attachment containing malware.

It should be noted that fraudsters will impersonate legitimate companies, using similar names, websites and email addresses in their attempt to trick unsuspecting members of the public, even reaching out proactively via emails and messages on social media platforms.

Anyone considering purchases of medical or food supplies using online stores should verify that you are in fact dealing with a legitimate and reputable company.  

General warning signs and how to protect yourself:

• Verify the validity of company/individual offering items before making any purchases;

• Be aware of bogus websites – criminals will often use a web address which looks almost identical to the legitimate one, e.g. ‘abc.org’ instead of ‘abc.com’;

• Check online reviews of a company before making a purchase – for example, have there been complaints of other customers not receiving the promised items?

• Be wary if asked to make a payment to a bank account located in a different country than where the company is located;

• Be wary of requests for payment through a Money Service Business for products purchased online.

• Be aware of bogus email addresses – criminals will use an email address which looks almost identical to a legitimate one, eg.  service@ncba.com instead of service@ncbal.com

• If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, alert your bank immediately so the payment can be stopped.

• Do not click on links or open attachments which you were not expecting to receive, or received from an unknown sender;

• Be wary of unsolicited emails offering medical equipment or requesting your personal information for medical checks – legitimate health authorities do not normally contact the general public in this manner.

How to make a report:

The FIU is appealing to members of the public to be more vigilant in their activities both online and across telecommunication devices.  Anyone with information related to or affected by any suspected fraud/scam may undertake one or more of the following steps:

1. File a report with the FIU at 1-264-497-5696 or mlra@gov.ai, as it relates to the suspected fraud/scam.

2. File a report with the Royal Anguilla Police Force at Police Headquarters or via the online tips website https://www.research.net/r/KeepAXASafe or www.gov.ai/911.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of Anguilla (“FIU”) warns the members of the public of online frauds/scams being perpetrated through email messages and social media platforms such as Facebook.  These scams or frauds may present themselves in forms such as;

1. An illegitimate funding opportunity within Anguilla or internationally, or   

2. A person in another country befriending you and then asking you to assist them financially due to some particular financial constraint, schooling or any other circumstances.

These types of online frauds/scams are similar in nature to those commonly known as Nigerian 419 Scams.

The FIU emphasises that funding opportunities offered by the Government or a private organization within Anguilla would be advertised locally.  It is therefore incumbent that you check and verify that any representation of such are true before departing with your hard-earned monies.  Additionally, anything that requires an individual to send you money for a larger financial benefit should be considered as a fraudulent activity or scam. 

With a Nigerian 419 scam, you are led to believe that you are assisting an individual in financial constraint and will be asked to send money to them.  The location to which the money will be sent is usually an African country.  These are also fraudulent activities or scams which tend to prey on the good nature of individuals. 

As such, the FIU is appealing for members of the public to be more vigilant in their online activities especially across social media and email platforms.  Anyone with information related to or affected by the suspected fraud/scam can undertake one or more of the following:

1. Make a report to the social media platform of the suspected fraud/scam.

2. Provide information about the suspected fraud/scam to the FIU.

3. Submit information about the suspected fraud/scam through the RAPF online tips website https://www.research.net/r/KeepAXASafe or www.gov.ai/911.