I applied to the Kingston Mae scam...and gave a copy of my passport! Now what?

Question

I can't believe I fell for this...they have a copy of my teaching cert., diploma, cv and passport! Help!

Answer 1

I don't think they can do anything with those! Just don't give them any money. The question is what sort of scam they are trying to pull. They may actually use your certificates illegally for something, so it is better to report this to the Greek embassy or the local police where you live, so that you don't get into trouble. But since they don't have the originals, I don't see how you can get into trouble.

By the way, in what form did you send them? This is important. Did you send email or papers to some address? And what address did you send them to? I am Greek, if you give me the address I can check it out, but another person who fell for the scam already gave me the address she had and it doesn't exist in Athens, so chances are if you used the post that you sent those papers to nowhere.

Answer 2

I'm sorry to hear that you have been tricked like that. The Kingston Mae scam is a variation of what is known as the 419 fraud, which is usually operated by Nigerian criminals i.e. it has nothing to do with Greece, even though they claimed to be operating in Greek territory. This means that the Greek authorities will not be able to help you

If you are a US citizen, your options are as follows: If you have suffered NO financial loss, you should report the scam to your government's secret service ([e-mail]). Your report will not be acknowledged, due to the large number of complaints they receive, but it will be helpful to law enforcement agencies.

If you have suffered financial loss, e.g. in the form of an advance deposit (which I suspect you did) you should contact the Secret Service by telephone (check here for the numbers of your local field office http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml ). You can also contact the Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) online here: http://www.ic3.gov/. Sadly, the chances of recovering any money are minimal.

In most cases, criminals running the 419 scam are only interested in stealing your money, rather than your identity. Perhaps getting the copy of your passport was just part of the ruse. I suspect that they also have little use for your teaching qualifications or CV. Still, you *must* alert the authority who issued your passport, in order to have it invalidated.

If the information you sent them also includes your social security number, you need to alert the following consumer reporting agencies: http://www.equifax.com , http://www.experian.com and http://www.transunion.com . This alert will ensure that no credit cards will be issued in your name in the US. Invalidating your passport as suggested in the previous paragraph should take care of the same problem abroad.

I'm afraid it's quite a hastle, it's all quite necessary in order to avoid much more serious complications later.


THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!
Be advised that on some occassions, victims of the 419 scam may be contacted by people claiming to represent the Nigerian authorities. They will ask for your cooperation and promise help in recovering your money. They will eventually solicit payment, under various pretexts (e.g. legal representation fees, taxes etc.). Under no circumstances should you give them any payment, as they are likely to be the same fraudsters.

Answer 3

Ok, I am another stupid American, who also submitted my information to this School!! What should I do, F... F... F... I am abroad currently right now, so I do not know if I can really invalidate my passport right now.
so?

Thanks
J

Answer 4

well now their is two of you running a round this world hope they use her name better than you and make your credit better never give that kind of info out online or over the phone unless you know who you are talking with never never never nothing you can do now but wait and see what they use your name for could be anything