Advance Fee Fraud

Advance fee fraud will be familiar to many and most will have had mail delivered either electronically or through the post with the promise of vast returns for an advance fee. In legal terms, what is advance fee fraud?

The legal advance fee fraud definition is as follows:

The targeting victims to make advance or upfront payments for goods, services and/or financial gains that do not materialise.

These crimes involve a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money, in the hope of realising a significantly larger gain, such as money, products or services.

Advance fee fraud examples include:

• Ticket scams
• Work from home/business opportunity scams
• Loan scams
• Lottery prize draw scams
• Career opportunity scams
• Impersonation of officials
• Online dating scams
• Rental fraud
• Fraud recovery fraud
• Inheritance fraud
• 419 scams

For more information about the types of advance fee fraud, read our blog post which outlines the details of advance fee fraud examples.

A factor common in many confidence frauds is that the offender targets a vulnerable victim. It is, therefore, a determinant of seriousness for this type of fraud. An offender is more culpable if he or she deliberately targets a victim who is vulnerable as a result of old age, youth, or disability, and there is a more than a usual serious degree of harm where the victim is particularly vulnerable. Losses made as a result of an advance fee scam can be large, and the emotional and psychological cost can be even higher.

Our fraud lawyers are recognised experts in advance fee fraud cases. Get in touch to find out how we can help with your case.