Mississippi Netizens to be Wary of E-Mail Scam, Warns AG

The office of Mississippi's Attorney General is cautioning the consumers to be cautious of scam e-mails.

As said by Mississippi's Attorney General Hood, this one is not an innovative scam, but certainly the con men incessantly refining their methods to fox even the shrewdest consumers, according to the statement published by wlox.com on April 27, 2010.

Hood further said that in various recent reports, these swindlers have manipulated the e-mails IDs of some of the elected officers of Mississippi, who reported the issue to the office. Though the office is probing into these particular cases, their instant best response is to inform and caution the consumers of the prevalence of the scam and recommend them to be vigilant.

As per the latest reports, this scam e-mail claims that the official is abroad and needs money as he has lost his money due to some unfortunate accident. The unwary recipient is then asked to wire money to the London's Western Union.

Hood said that if a user feels that unsolicited e-mails are trying to abuse their sentiments and asking for money, then he must exercise extreme caution, as per the statement published by wtok.com on April 27, 2010.

Notably, experts described the scam in its conventional form as "emergency scam" as the scammer or cybercriminal always seeks using the factor of urgency to scare and compel the recipient to react immediately.

Well, there are some tips which must be followed to prevent being victimized by cybercriminals. First, never respond to such unsolicited e-mails, and also never click on the attachments that come along as they may be malicious, containing some malware or virus.

Furthermore, it is better if the user is informed and educates his family and friends regarding the working of this scam, and considers creating a password or a code for his family for use in emergency situations as identity verification, which should be confined to the family members only and should not be revealed to the outsiders.

Besides, the security experts also advised the Internet users to protect their Personal Identification Information (PII). If this number is leaked, it could result in identity theft fraud apart from the bank account of that victim being laundered by scammers or online fraudsters.

Related article: McAfee Alerts Windows about Accessibility Hole in Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 5/11/2010