AG Cautions Mississippi Residents about Scam E-mail

The Office of Attorney General in the State of Mississippi is cautioning consumer and business residents to watch out for a scam e-mail doing the rounds while it poses as a communication from Ford Foundation. WTVA.com published this on February 21, 2012.

Seeking confidential information, the e-mail purporting to be from Ford Foundation, promises funds for the recipient. It states that the reader has been selected as the "final receiver" in a scheme for dollar donation/grant by the Foundation to help him with his education or business development. Thus for claiming this cash award, the reader must send his entire information and contacts to Ford Foundation at a given e-mail id.

But according to Jim Hood, State Attorney General, the e-mail clearly isn't from Ford Foundation; therefore anybody getting it must simply delete it. He notes that the Foundation doesn't grant unsolicited or random money, nor does it seek membership fees or donations. Hattiesburgamerican.com published this on February 20, 2012.

Hood stated that scammers would utilize respected organizations' names like Ford Foundation, towards enticing people into believing that the party they were communicating with was trustworthy. Consequently, his office persistently advised end-users towards exercising caution prior to responding to unsolicited e-mails that asked for fees and/or personal information. Hood added that an important action the AG Office undertook for combating scams was to educate the general public. Hattiesburgamerican.com published this.

However, Jan Schaefer an investigator working for the AG Office's Consumer Protection Division confirmed that the current electronic mail was a scam. According to him, Ford Foundation didn't send it as also that the organization didn't distribute unsolicited funds. 16WAPT.com published this on February 20, 2012.

Importantly, Hood suggests certain fundamental tips towards assisting Internet-users from getting victimized with the current or likewise e-mail frauds. Accordingly, he advises them never to answer any e-mail, which directs to provide one's financial or other personal details. For, genuine organizations won't ever make such requests. Besides, Internet-users must ensure that their anti-viruses are always maintained up-to-date. Additionally, they must deploy a firewall for preventing any incoming e-mail whose origin maybe an unauthorized source.

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» SPAMfighter News - 2/23/2012