ICO Cautions About New E-mail Scam

The UK Information Commissioner Office, an independent body that advocates information rights for the benefit of people and society, has advised everyone in the country to watch out for an e-mail scam presently circulating online.

An ICO Spokesperson said through a formal press release that the Office knew about the e-mail. The e-mail sender was apparently the Information Commissioner of the Law Enforcement Agency of Europe - "Christopher Graham". But Graham actually had never been associated with the Agency and didn't dispatch any correspondences calling on organizations or individuals to deposit money, the Spokesperson added, as reported by Ico on May 27, 2010.

The Spokesperson further added that in case the above kind of scam e-mail came to any organization/individual, they should properly check its authenticity after which they should delete if it is fake.

According to ICO, the latest scam message has poor content. The e-mail appears to be relied on the reply of sender to a request for a certificate of fund origin.

The e-mail states that the European Law Enforcement Agency will eventually deposit the recipient's fund into his (recipient) bank account as soon as he presents his fund origin certificate. The certificate is necessary to endorse the fund as non-terrorism money and non-criminal sourced, as reported by V3 on May 27, 2010.

Moreover, the e-mail states that if the recipient is unable to present the certificate, the Agency can release one for him, but he must pay for it.

Considering the fund the recipient is moving into his bank account in Hungary, the fund origin document will cost €18,700 or £15,867, the e-mail continues.

According to ICO, an address mentioned inside the fraudulent e-mail - "50 Queen Anne's Gate, London" - is neither of the ICO nor the Law Enforcement Agency.

The ICO observed that although one recipient had been recorded who got the scam e-mail, there could be several more.

Finally, for users who want to make queries related to the media, the ICO asks them to contact the Information Commissioner's press office. If the query is general, users can call the helpdesk number of the customer service of ICO.

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» SPAMfighter News - 6/8/2010