Exmouth Businesswoman Targeted by E-mail Scam

An e-mail scam lately, conned above £1,000 from the family of an Exmouth (UK) businesswoman, Janet Caudrelier, as reported by Exmouth Journal on June 16, 2011.

Several of e-mail contacts of Janet's, were attacked by the cybercrooks on June 13, 2011 with a bogus emotional story asking for financial help.

It seemed Janet had dispatched an e-mail asking for help, having been robbed of her credit card, cell phone as well as money while in Madrid (Spain) - and not being able to clear her hotel bill.

Worried about Janet, her aunt, in Somerset (situated in South West England), not recognizing the e-mail was a scam, instantly paid the cybercrooks' demand for £1,200 to be deposited in a Western Union bank account.

Janet's aunt understood that she had been scammed once a return e-mail was received, thanking her for the money and instantly demanding more - notifying that Janet had fainted at the airport and so she missed her flight and required more money to pay for a new flight.

Commenting on the matter, Janet angrily stated that, it just shows anyone can be victimized by it. She further added that, they have misused people's helping nature and it is definitely immorality, as reported by Exmouth Journal on June 16, 2011.

Besides, the security experts highlighted that, remarkably, the scam that attacked Janet is known as the stranded traveler's scam and is a type of the notorious 419 scam or advance fee fraud.

Security experts commented that, the "stranded abroad" type of e-mail fraud attempts at playing on one's empathy by pretending to be from some poor person who is away from home with no money at all in hand. This technique is same to that of a pan-handler one might meet in any prominent city.

Experts stated that, those who receive such kind of e-mails should ask themselves some questions to check out the authenticity of the message: first and foremost, is my friend really traveling abroad? If so why didn't he notify me personally and writing e-mails to me.

Further, majority of the hotels need a credit card for a reservation or room deposit up front, and will charge that card, if they don't get the payment. Experts further added that a request for cash to pay hotel bills is possibly a bit doubtful.

» SPAMfighter News - 25-06-2011

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