Better Business Bureau Warns Against BP Oil Spill E-mail Scams

As per the warning released by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), cyber criminals have been launching multiple scams to exploit the recent incident of BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One of them is a job e-mail scam.

The BBB authorities have said that criminals are attempting to deceive those people hoping to get employment again. In the fake e-mail, cyber criminals are looking for people interested to work on cleanup.

The Columbus (Ohio, US) Bureau explains that the scam e-mails look as if they have been sent by an employer. However, they all come from the criminals. The e-mails contain questions that are often asked by the potential employers, such as the candidate's personal address and social security number.

Leonard Crain, President of the Columbus BBB, has stated that the criminals also put in questions regarding the banking details (a part of their online scam), as reported by wrbl on June 29, 2010.

Moreover, these bogus online scams are not only received by netizens in Columbus, but people in Kentucky also receive the fake job offering scam e-mails. These e-mails specifically designed to deceive people into giving away their hard earned money and login details of webmails and bank accounts.

The security researchers have explained that the prime reason behind the emergence of these fake job offering scam e-mails is the rising unemployment in Kentucky, forcing people to look for jobs on the web. The Better Business Bureau has revealed that although the online job offers seem very enticing and attractive, they could be a big scam.

Apart from the abovementioned scam, the BBB has released a warning that netizens should be careful of another advanced fee scam, which might enter their inboxes. The advance fee scam involves compensation from the BP. The e-mails give an advice to people that they should ask for a fee in exchange of expediting the process.

Finally, the typical charity scams, which arise after the most natural calamities, have also been detected. These scams encourage people to donate money for relief work. The BBB has described that this is a different sort of natural disaster and therefore netizens better give their volunteering services in the form of transportation and monitoring of shoreline. Besides, the BBB has prepared a list of verified charities indulged in the oil spill clean-up.

Related article: Better Business Bureau Warns Users against Twitter Money Making Scams

» SPAMfighter News - 7/8/2010