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Scam E-mails Feign to Raise Donations for Earthquake Victims

The US FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) on May 20, 2008 cautioned computer users against unsolicited e-mails attempting to raise funds to help people affected in the massive earthquake in China's Sichuan province on May 12, 2008.

The agency said that the fraudulent e-mails talk about free vacation tours to the person(s) who would make the largest donation. Also, the e-mails imitate the logos of the actual online payment companies in attempts to dupe potential victims. Scams of this kind also followed catastrophes such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Virginia Tech shootings and Hurricane Katrina in the US.

These scams are referred to as e-mail spoofing or e-mail phishing. Their messages originate from sources that are not real and the senders often employ spoofing to get the recipients to read their solicitations and possibly also respond to them.

Further, in the current phishing incident, the scammers are distributing e-mails, some very long with plenty of personal anecdotes. The messages use titles like "Help me please," "Help me," "Last hope. Help me please" and "Read through the letter," according to he Director of Threat Management Sam Masiello with MX Logic, the provider of computer security. PCAdvisor published this in news on May 22, 2008.

Moreover, the scam e-mail senders, who try to begin a communication with the potential victim, subsequently have been found to organize a funds transfer, typically resembling the 419-type scam, say security researchers.

Meanwhile, the officials at FBI said that MX Logic was intercepting thousands of scam e-mails every hour while also observing some messages to contain malicious Word attachments used to load unauthorized code onto a victim's system. Criminals have even hijacked the Red Cross' China relief site and set up fake bank accounts in order to divert relief funds.

Richard Kolko, Special Agent in Washington DC, said that criminals and scammers appear after such tragic events, so people should be careful with unsolicited messages requesting for donations. He said that there is no bar on making donations but one must be sure about the quarters where the funds would be going. FBI published Kolko's statement on May 20, 2008.

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