Internet Fraud

I hve been seeing those scams in yahoo answers. Just wondering.

The FTC is currently investigating them.

they are not illegal because they are legit, even though you end up making no money.

A lot of them hide behind borders. eg..Nigerians scamming US and Canadians. So what can US law enforcement actually do? They complain to the Nigerian Government. However the reality of the matter is that the Nigerians have underpayed, undermanned, corrupt police, who have local murders and crime, which they can't even begin to manage, even if they want to. They need the bribes to make a living. So, they really don't care about rich North Americans getting scammed. In fact, they probably would like to get in on it.

its hard to determine who's jurisdiction they fall under. envn after that teh FBI's task force for computer crimes is growing, but it is just too hard to stop it all, and some of it is legal even though it is shady. and there is always the issue of the public wanting to know why an officer is spending a straight 8 on the computer when he could be on the street stopping violent crimes

The police say that it is up to the person to judge the validity of the service provided. You can sell any info you want for whatever price if people buy it there is really nothing that can be done if it does not work because most of the info it contains is real. I had one one time where a large check was sent to me and I was told to cash it and keep 200 dollars for inspecting the quality of service I received at a money gram location. The deal was I send the other money to a person in canada via moneygram. Well the check was a good check but it was on an account that the person who signed it had no right to do so. The check was stolen and if I would have cashed it I would have been in trouble. And the monet would have went to someone else to make it worse! I took it to the local police to try to get something done, mind you I obtained the address that I was supposed to moneygram the money to as well as a phone number, and they just said I would have to use my own judgement on rather or not it was valid cuz that was not their job. I told them I thought enforcing laws and preventing crime was their job. To serve and protect. Well they still did nothing so I guess they just dont care.

The vast majority come from outside the US and the police, FBI, and others have no authority to do anything outside the US, Many come from areas where there is little or no laws about the internet, or the legal system is crooked and they can just get away withit

It takes lot of resources and men power to set up sting operations, track them...etc. So, it's issue with money, men power. I think there are some non profit organizations aimed to educating people about scams which is more effective way to deal with it. You armpeople with knowledge to avoid these scams. Lot of these scamers are located in different countries too; Nigeria and others. Those other countries really don't have strong law enforcement like we do in the US. So even if you report them it is very difficult to track them down. It's not that people don't want to get these guys, but it is much more effective to prevent it by telling people about it. It is way to tidious and in many cases near impossible to find these scammers.

Probably because they are trying to catch rapists, murderers and child molesters.

In most cases (not all), these Internet scams transcends multiple jurisdictions. The federal government (i.e. FBI,CIA or some other federal law enforcement entity) would have to do the actual investigations. If you are aware of something going on in your own town, contact you local police department to get the contact person that would be able to further investigate.