Internet Identity Theft - Beware of These
Emails Scams
Internet identity theft sometimes originates with an email.
Below are a couple of examples of the type of email scam
often referred to as the 'Nigerian scam' as well as West
African' or '419' advance fee fraud. They've been running
in one form or another for over twenty years. The 419 relates
to a one time section of the Nigerian Criminal
Code.
This type of scam - usually claiming to be from Nigeria or
another African state - requires the recipient of the email to
assist in the transfer of large sums of money in return for a
hefty commission, and then requires an advance payment to
be made to clear fees, transfer taxes and other handling
charges. The sums of money for transfer are large, and the
commissions offered, just for processing them through your
bank account, are unrealistically high. There is, of
course, no money to be transferred by them. They just want
access to your bank details so they can empty your account.
There must be thousands of versions of this fraud. The
golden rule is to ignore anything that offers you something for
nothing. They are characterised by poor english and typo
errors.
|
Our interested partner,
I write to solicit your assistance in
working with me as my payment Agent who can
help me establish a medium of getting to my
customers in Canada, America/Europe as
well as making payments through you to me.
You will be paid 10% of every payment made
through you to me. Subject to Your satisfaction
you will be given the opportunity to negotiate
your mode of which I will pay for your
services as my representative.I Export
furnitures into Canada, America/Europe.
Please if interested fill the form below so
that i can advise you with Further
details. All reply to be sent to :
Your full name:
Company Name:
Age:
Sex:
Phone number:
Fax number:
Bank Name :
And your full contact address:
Email:
Yours faithfully,
Director
|
|
Good day,
I represent a top mining company executive
in South Africa. I have a very sensitive and
private brief from this top executive to ask
for your partnership to re-profile funds
totally Forty Two Million United States
Dollars. ( $42,000,000.00) I will give the
details of how we intend to proceed,this is a
legitimate transaction. You will be paid 15%
for your "management fees", if I am able to
reach terms with you.
If you are interested, please write me back by
email and provide me with your full
names,telephone numbers and address and I
will provide further details. Please keep this
close to your chest as much as possible; we are
still in acting service.
I wait in anticipation of your fullest
co-operation. I am available to entertain any
questions concerning the clarity of this
transaction.
Regards,
|
These are both short examples of actual scam email
(we have the originals, and many more of them on file) but they
often arrive long and cumbersome.
If you do receive a similar email don't respond to it. If
you do, at best you will be identified as someone who opens
emails from senders they don't know, which will make you liable
to receive a flood of similar emails or spam. At worst you
could be sent emails with malware embedded in them to steal
personal information from your computer, and, if you actually
emailed some of your personal information in reply, you will
receive a barrage of unwanted telephone calls.
If you are targeted with these emails then expect to
get more than one. Internet identity theft fraudsters can be
very persistent.
|