Something for Nothing
"the recipient is directed to open a bank account at a Suffolk England Bank and is provided a link to the bank's Web site. After clicking the link, the victim is directed to a professional-looking bank Web site which appears to be that of Suffolk England Bank; however, it is actually a replica of the true bank site. Within hours after opening the account, a balance of millions of dollars appears to have been deposited in the victim's account." (my emphasis)
Of course there are several immediate problems with this link. First, a search of the exact term "Suffolk England Bank" on Google has only (3) hits, two of them being the IC3's warning. Second, the Google search for the terms Suffolk England Bank returns in the top two places these warnings. So even a moderate amount of curiousty about the Suffolk England Bank and the ability to type should suffice.
But, despite this, this advanced advanced fee scam will probably catch more than a few people unwares. Why, if it is so easy to disprove?
A constant theme is the literature on compliance is consistency. Nothing makes a story more consistent than when it addresses or answers a question in the mind of the reader by showing the answering instead of baldly stating it. For example, we saw earlier in the analysis of the typical get-rich-quick letter how the pitch
"claims to be written by a one-time failure with no skills or qualifications who, by good fortune about to be shared with any reader able to part with $15.95, found financial salvation. The writers adopt a direct, personal, informal style, often with grammatical errors, using the second person, addressing the reader as a friend." (my emphasis).
Since the intended recipient will have the objection "but, that couldn't happen to me" forming in his or her mind - the pitch "show" that it could happen to the recipient, without stating "this could happen to you!!!" The pitch has responded to the recipients concerns - mimicing a conversation or dialogue.
Similarily in the Nigerian advance fee scam, the recepient of the e-mail will have the objection "There is no bank account" forming in his or her mind when reading the e-mail. But being "shown" the existence of a website purporting to be the Suffolk England Bank will make the email more consistent for some.
