Policing advance fee fraud (AFF)
| Author | Julianne Webster,Jacqueline M Drew |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355716681810 |
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Policing advance fee fraud (AFF):
Experiences of fraud detectives
using a victim-focused approach
Julianne Webster
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia
Jacqueline M Drew
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia
Abstract
Advance fee fraud (AFF) involves an offender using deceit to obtain a financial gain from the victim. The victim believes that
by forwarding a sum of money, there will be a future ‘pay-off’. The most commonly witnessed forms of AFF perpetrated
via the Internet include classic ‘Nigerian’ or ‘419’ scams, investment fraud and romance fraud. Because of the largely
transnational nature of AFF offending, where the victim and offender typically reside in different parts of the world, police
are adapting their traditional and reactive approaches to more innovative strategies to combat this crime more effectively.
This article utilises a qualitative, semi-structured interview design to explore the experiences of police detectives involved
in the implementation of an early intervention model with victims of AFF. The study highlights the challenges involved in
developing effective police strategies to proactively reduce the duration and severity of this type of financial victimisation.
Keywords
Advance fee fraud (AFF), policing, victims, intervention
Submitted 11 Jul 2016, Revise received 25 Oct 2016, accepted 08 Nov 2016
Introduction
Advance fee fraud (AFF) involves an offender using deceit
to secure a benefit from the victim (usually financial) with
the promise of a future ‘pay-off’ for the victim (Whitty and
Buchanan, 2012). The promised pay-off can be a financial
reward, or in the case of romance fraud, a romantic rela-
tionship. The most recent method used by AFF offenders
involves the perpetration of this crime via the Internet
(Dobovsek et al., 2013). Although these types of online
scams originated in Nigeria amid a climate of economic
downturn and corrupt military dictatorship, they are now
also hosted from other countries such as Ghana and West
Africa, as well as from bases in Singapore, China and
Russia (Glickman, 2005). The Internet has provided an
ideal platform on which the perpetrators of fraud can simul-
taneously target enormous numbers of victims anywhere in
the world while effectively concealing their true identities;
making detection almost impossible (Whitty, 2002). The
Australian Crime Commission (ACC) reports that the prin-
cipal threat from cybercrime comes from offenders who
reside in other countries and who coalesce in temporary
networks; hence their activities are difficult to investigate
and prosecute (ACC, 2013). The problem of AFF offending
and victimisation is now one of the most prominent trans-
national crimes worldwide (United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2013).
To date, little empirical research has been undertaken to
better understand the experiences of AFF victims and the
methodologies used by offenders (Buchanan and Whitty,
2014). Arguably, even less is known about the strategies
Corresponding author:
Julianne Webster, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Griffith
Criminology Institute, Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Rd, Nathan,
Qld 4111, Australia.
Email: j.webster@griffith.edu.au
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2017, Vol. 19(1) 39–53
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355716681810
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