Red alert issued over email scam (From Daily Echo)
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Red alert issued over email scam in Hampshire
10:19am Saturday 7th July 2012 in News
By Julian Robinson, Eastleigh Chief Reporter
Red alert issued over email scam
COMPUTER users in the New Forest have been put on red alert over a series of email scams.
Fraudsters have contacted vulnerable email users under the guise of lottery winners, a bank and a telecoms company in a bid to gain access to the recipient’s personal details.
One man was told he was being "gifted" a £3m share of a Euromillions payout by a couple who had decided to dish out part of their fortune to randomly selected individuals.
Another email scam purported to come from NatWest Internet banking customer support and is entitled "Issue with your online banking".
It claims the recipient’s online access to their bank account has been suspended and gives a website link "to restore access".
The third scam appeared to be from British Telecom and claimed that the recipient’s broadband was faulty, supplying a bogus form to fill in with a new password.
Jill Cleary, New Forest District Council portfolio holder for housing and communities, said: “The number of online scams appears to be escalating and I would urge all computer users to be very wary of any dubious emails, even if they appear to come from a company you use.
“Please check it out by phoning the appropriate company and never give your bank details, password or other personal details online unless you are using a secure site that you know is genuine.
“You could lose money and become a victim of identity fraud.”
The warning was issued by the Safer New Forest Partnership after the scams were brought to the attention of Hythe and Dibden Parish Council.
If you believe you have been targeted in an email, you should report the matter to your bank or card issuer as soon as possible.
You can also contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at actionfraud.police.uk.
Comments(15)
Linesman
says...
10:48am Sat 7 Jul 12
Have they never heard of the old expression, 'There's no such thing as a free dinner'?
Sir Ad E Noid
says...
11:16am Sat 7 Jul 12
ju_ju68
says...
11:38am Sat 7 Jul 12
OSPREYSAINT
says...
12:51pm Sat 7 Jul 12
The Salv wrote:..and the one that takes you for a sucker will be a good old fashioned English crook?
These crimes are mostly commited by foreign criminals.
IronLady2010
says...
2:36pm Sat 7 Jul 12
They can easily block us downloading pirate software etc when it suits.
Sir Ad E Noid
says...
2:38pm Sat 7 Jul 12
The Salv wrote:Complete rubbish. Who is responsible for the vast majority of the "Land Bank" scams? Nigerian? Spanish? No, they are all home grown. Yes some scams are overseas parasites having a go, but look to home soil for the majority of scams. A request, please call me a troll, I love it when you call me that.
These crimes are mostly commited by foreign criminals.
The Mad Dog
says...
3:12pm Sat 7 Jul 12
Sir Ad E Noid wrote:Where are 'land bank' scams mentioned?
The Salv wrote:Complete rubbish. Who is responsible for the vast majority of the "Land Bank" scams? Nigerian? Spanish? No, they are all home grown. Yes some scams are overseas parasites having a go, but look to home soil for the majority of scams. A request, please call me a troll, I love it when you call me that.
These crimes are mostly commited by foreign criminals.
The Slav is quite correct, the majority, if not all, email scams (which is what the report refers to) come from abroad. That puts them outside UK law and virtually untraceable/untoucha
ble.
Stillness
says...
3:46pm Sat 7 Jul 12
The Salv wrote:Snore........Snore..
These crimes are mostly commited by foreign criminals.
.....Snore......
Georgem
says...
7:36pm Sat 7 Jul 12
IronLady2010 wrote:No they can't.
These scammers are sending millions of emails, why can't ISP's pick up on this and block these emails before they are sent?
They can easily block us downloading pirate software etc when it suits.
Georgem
says...
7:38pm Sat 7 Jul 12
IronLady2010 wrote:There will be a lot of people scoffing at this, and saying "I'd never be caught out like that!" before taking part in the latest Facebook "work out your pr0n star name!" survey, or something. You know, where you take 2 seemingly innocent pieces of personal information, and combine them to come up with some novelty?
These scammers are sending millions of emails, why can't ISP's pick up on this and block these emails before they are sent?
They can easily block us downloading pirate software etc when it suits.
Yep. They're used to farm personal info, too. Check how they usually correlate to the sort of security questions online banks might ask.
Still feel clever?
Sir Ad E Noid
says...
9:27pm Sat 7 Jul 12
Stillness wrote:Well said Stillness...........
The Salv wrote:Snore........Snore..
These crimes are mostly commited by foreign criminals.
.....Snore......
..snore. The majority of email and phone scams (amended from previous post) are from within the UK. Yes, many many scams are from overseas, but look no further than these shores for the majority of scams and fiddles. I was targeted in a scam saying I had won money blah blah Etc. Phoned Police and hey presto one month later after many others complained, two oiks from overseas living in this Country were arrested. This was only one instance, they got caught because they hung around too long. Most scammers are fleet of foot and move on after a very short while.
Georgem
says...
10:45pm Sat 7 Jul 12
Sir Ad E Noid wrote:
The majority of email and phone scams (amended from previous post) are from within the UK.
Not true. The majority of them come from Nigeria. That's not me saying "most Nigerians are criminals", far from it. It's just a simple fact.
IronLady2010
says...
12:07am Mon 9 Jul 12
From The Desk Of Dr Uche Williams Ego
Chartered Accountant,
United Bank For Africa
International Trade Fair Branch,
Lagos Nigeria(Badagry Expressway)
Hello,
I am a Banker with the UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA). My name is Dr Uche Williams Ego; I discovered an abandoned sum of 34.5
Million US dollars (Thirty four Million, five hundred thousand United State Dollars) in an account that belongs to one of
our foreign customers who used to work with an Oil Development company in Nigeria NNPC (NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLUEM COMPANY).
Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On August 20th,2002, my client, his wife, and their three children were
involved in a car accident along Sagamu High way Nigeria. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since
then, I have made several enquiries to his embassy to locate any of my clients extended Relatives, this also proved
unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his last name over the Internet to locate any
member of his family but all in vain.
I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund and property left behind by my client before they get confiscated or
declared unserviceable by the bank where these huge deposits were lodged, particularly the UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA) PLC.
Where the deceased had an account Valued at about (34.5 Million US Dollars) has issued me a notice to provide the next of
kin or have the account confiscated within the next ten official working days.
Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2 years now, I decided to seek your consent to present you
as the next of kin of the deceased since I can confide in you so that the proceeds of this account valud at (34.5 Million US
dollars) can be transfer into your nominated Bank account then you and me can share the cash, 60% to me and 40% to you. A
legal representative will be contacted to help authenticate and regulate all the essential legal documentation that can be
used to back up any claim we may make.
All I need from you is your total trust and honest cooperation to enable us seeing this deal through. I promise that this
will be executed under Justifiable understanding that will protect you from any infringement of the law. Do get back to me
on my private email address.(druchew@yah
oo.com)
Yours sincerely,
Dr Uche Williams Ego
Icklelady
says...
2:20pm Mon 9 Jul 12
(Sorry, still can't quote people)
But, that seems legit ;)
OSPREYSAINT says...
10:39am Sat 7 Jul 12