Quatloos! > General Fraud > Advance Fee Fraud > Offshore Unsecured Credit Cards

Offshore Unsecured Credit Cards

We're still amazed people fall for this. Yes, they are a scam to get your initial membership or sign-up fee, whatever you want to call it. Salesman telling you this is ridiculous? O.K., make him put up in escrow in a US bank an amount equal to your initial membership or sign-up fee, which he will be repaid back double when you receive your card and see that it works (you don't care about doubling the saleman's money-- after all you've just gotten $5,000 for free). But, if the card never shows up (and they never show up) you haven't lost your money.

Worse, what some artists do is take your application information, and apply for cards in the U.S. in your name, so now you have to prove to the credit card companies that you didn't defraud them -- as well as spend years clearing your credit.

Now, there are some very good offshore secured credit and debit cards from some very reputable offshore financial institutions, such as Barclays. But anybody who markets the unsecured offshore version is more than likely a scam artist.