Look Who it Was Random video

Nowhere to Run: Cross-Border Fraud

4,136 views · Published 17 January 2008 · 12:11 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: PublicResourceOrg · 2008 · News & Politics

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United States Postal Inspection Service

DeliveringJustice
Nowhere to Run: Cross-Border Fraud
A Reel Cowboys Bullet

The Internet and international phone calls make it easy for fraudsters to work from anywhere in the world. This film illustrates how U.S. Postal Inspectors created task forces with Canadian law enforcement partners to stop "long distance" scams.

Millie's a sweetheart. Always ready to help out. Help out with a bake sale, a school; outing or community park clean-up.

She even helped out the nice man who called by sending him part of her life savings.

Millie didn't realize, of course, she was talking to a scam artist from outside the country who would wipe out her retirement savings. And that's not surprising.

Today, the Internet and international phone calls make it easy for victims—many of them older Americans—to be targeted from anywhere in the world. Scam artists use false names and electronic tricks to hide who and where they really are.

U.S.-Canadian cross border fraud task forces are helping stop these crimes, but prevention still is the best medicine.

Fortunately, consumer fraud is one of the few crimes in which potential victims can say "No!" If, that is, they recognize the warning signs.

Protect yourself:

    * Be way of anything that promises large sums of money, such as sweepstakes or lottery winnings, in exchange for your advance payment, donation or investment.
    * Don't be pressured into making a decision about an offer. Check it out first!
    * Be cautious about businesses that try to conceal their mailing addresses and phone numbers and evade questions about their operations.

If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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