Most Fake E-mails Coming in India Originate Within the Country

As per the Mumbai Police, most of the fake mails which offer huge amount of money from Nigeria by selling ancestral property etc. come from India.

Initial investigation disclosed that a police officer informed that a man from Pune got a mail from Nigeria claiming that his ancestral property had been found and he had to pay the legal amount of Rs 6 Lakh. Consequently, the recipient sold his house to pay the money, but unfortunately, it was discovered that the mail came from a cyber café in Mumbai.

Lately, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) held 5 people, including two Nigerians, for cheating 2 residents in Delhi. Tony Johnson, main accused, sent mails to the victims to inform that their ancestral property had been found in Nigeria and they had to pay the legal amount to acquire it.

It is also revealed that Tony Johnson made use of the bank accounts of Indians in return for a 10% commission. Tony also sent a large number of mails to thousands of web users and claimed to be a director of a Nigeria firm which had found millions of dollars of the ancestors of victims. He also sent letters on fake letterheads of CBI and customs informing that the amount has reached airport. The victims had to deposit around $2,000 to $4,000 to clear all the formalities.

Security experts commented that this is a Nigerian e-mail fraud scam which has developed and become more sophisticated with growth of Internet. It is also known as phishing scam. Security experts explained that phishing takes place when a user gets a mail which appears to have come from a known institution or company.

The news that most of the fake mails come from India is not a surprise as security vendor Symantec reported in December 2008 that India has an emerging underground economy. The security company made this claim after finding of almost 1,000 phishing attacks between July 2007 and June 2008 from recognized Indian banks. In addition, Symantec disclosed that India holds the 10th position on the list of countries producing maximum number of spam, apart from China and the US.

Related article: Most malware Use File Packing To Escape Detection

» SPAMfighter News - 1/9/2009