Northampton Woman Victim of Nigerian Scam

A fraud through electronic mail reportedly duped a Northampton (USA) based woman, aged 60, into remitting money when she got a message from her buddy, asking for some urgent financial help as she was stuck penniless in Africa. Northampton Chronicle reported this.

Actually Angie Landsberg had received a fake e-mail from the e-mail address of her friend who pleaded for $1,500, claiming that someone stole her purse leaving her stranding in Nigeria. Unaware of the fact that the e-mail was actually from hackers, Landsberg wired 156.90 pounds through Western Union to the scammers' account.

She narrated that she fell for the scam when she got an e-mail in which her friend said that she was in need of help. But when Mrs. Landsberg found that the e-mail had the address of her friend's child, she decided to lend help and replied back stating that she could send 150 pounds. Northampton Chronicle reported this on October 29, 2009.

Evidently, the scam that's commonly recognized as "Nigerian scam," is known to many who own an e-mail account.

Meanwhile, cabinet member for housing in Northampton Borough Council stated that 'Benefit scam' is stealing cash meant for helping the vulnerable residents of the town. According to him, the fraud was dishonest and intolerable and the Council would keep on penalizing anyone who attempted at cheating the arrangement for attaining benefits they weren't eligible for.

Moreover, a Northamptonshire Police spokesman said that they were authorized to probe into merely those crimes that occurred in Northamptonshire, therefore for the current incident, which had happened in a foreign country, they could not implement their normal investigations.

Meanwhile, security specialists stated that such a phishing incident is nothing new. Lately, Sweet Home Oregon (USA) based woman, who lost $400,000 after falling victim to an Internet scam, narrated that she just felt inquisitive when an e-mail came to her telling that she would get $20.5 Million if she aided in identifying a missing family member.

Hence, according to security experts, people must treat e-mails with suspicion that solicited money or personal information as spammers are defrauding women and aging people at large.

» SPAMfighter News - 11/12/2009