Madison Residents Warned of E-mail Scam

As per the reports, Madison Police Department (City of Madison, Wisconsin, US) is warning the public of a fresh e-mail scam that is currently circulating on the Internet looking to defraud people of their hard-earned money.

The Police Department said in its report that the culprit will hijack a PC and then use the e-mail address of the hacked user to send fake e-mails, pretending to the person himself and urging people on his contact list for help, according to the statement published by madison.patch.com on June 23, 2010.

The fraudulent e-mail says that the hacked person is abroad on a trip where he has been robbed off his credit cards, cash and cell phones. It further says that the person is still having his passport with him and has got some injuries, but is fine. The police in that foreign country are not helpful and he requires settling his hotel bill, said the e-mail.

The e-mail recipients are then asked to send a quick loan through Western Union and promised that the hacked person will pay the sender/friend back as soon as possible on returning home.

The e-mail then thanks the recipient, feigning as the hacked person, through his correct name and e-mail address.

Any person who has got such an e-mail or has become victim of this kind of e-mail is asked to contact Detective Lt. Jerry Mantone.

It is noteworthy that in order to avoid such type of e-mail scams, an Internet user needs to follow only a few security tips. Firstly, users should be cautious of any e-mail that pleads them to wire money, even if the request appears to have come from a known person.

Secondly, netizens may own multiple webmail accounts, while some of them are not being in regular use. So, it is a good practice to check all accounts regularly in order to make sure that they have not been hacked. In case a user's account gets hacked, he must inform all those on his contact list that they should not consider any fake e-mail originating from his account.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/5/2010