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Who’s On the Other End of the EMail Scam?

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-puppyscam29may29,0,4756798,full.story?coll=la-home-center

From the Los Angeles Times

CONSUMER WATCH

Another doggone scam

Groups say to be wary of any ad or site that, for free or for a bargain, promises adorable puppies — the new face of the old Nigerian money scheme.

By David Colker
Times Staff Writer

And now for the latest scam from Nigeria — puppies.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. and the American Kennel Club today plan to issue a warning about fraudulent websites, MySpace postings and print ads asking people to help save puppies who are in desperate straits.

The sites and ads usually show adorable puppies that somehow have become stuck in Nigeria or other countries, and are offered free to new owners. A variation is to offer the puppies, such as purebred English bulldogs — a particularly expensive breed — at vastly discounted prices.

But free or not, people who had responded to the ads eventually were asked to send hundreds of dollars to cover such costs as shipping, customs, taxes and inoculations on an ever-escalating scale.

Some reported paying fees totaling more than $1,500.

To see the entire article go to the LA Times.

As a background checking and research service, Corra sees more than is fair share of scams and scam artists. Inf fact, we are approached, usually through email on a regular basis to supply what are nefarious business fronts with sensitive information about individuals. Most of those entreaties we ignore, and some we report to the authorities.

Still, Corra is amazed by the number of people who actually respond to these overtures from the scam artists and bunco groups who want to take your money through calumny and deception. Not all if it through an email or telephone call, either. Some of the best scam artists are the people who get to know you, who become your friend, who wish to go into business with you. And then they take you for your money and your pride.

You may find Corra cynical when she takes this line of thought, but the truth is you can do a lot worse than run background checks on your ventures, potential partners and anyone who wishes to engage in a joint venture. Individuals, Private Equity firms, Venture Capital Groups, Corra offers the comprehensive background check as well as other research to make sure the executives and the companies themselves are who they really say they are.

And it never hurts to run a criminal check, just to be sure. It’s cost effective, and the time and money you save up front can be worth heavy losses in the back end.

Check them out before you do business.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.