Trading Standards of East Renfrewshire Warns Internauts of Scam Emails

The EXTRA reported on 5th September, 2013 quoting a warning by Trading Standards of East Renfrewshire about a scam brought to their attention by a council member. The council member received an email supposedly from a friend stating that he was on a holiday with his wife in Manila and they have been robbed.

Notably, East Renfrewshire's Trading Standards protects and advises consumers and businesses of particular East Renfrewshire, Scotland and UK.

According to the email, the friend was stranded in Philippines with no cash, credit cards or mobile phone and the hotel would not allow them to leave without settlement of the bill. The message appealed for a loan from the council worker.

But the recipient got suspicious and contacted his friend and found him at home. The friend was unaware of any such mail.

The EXTRA published a report on 5th September, 2013 quoting Steve Fox, Principal Officer of Trading Standards, as saying "If you were in trouble at abroad you would first obviously contact your family members. The British embassy or consulate provides emergency services abroad and the holiday provider would assist in contacting your bank for transferring funds."

Officials of Trading Standards comment that the council member was struck by the scam email which has been possible because the email has been hacked and the address book has been accessed by scammers. Officials add that in this case, the email account of the council member's friend has been hacked by the scammers.

In this scam, the recipient (council member) receives an email from a known person (his friend) who says that he was away on a vacation overseas (like Manila, Philippines in this case) when his wallet, passport, credit cards, identification documents all got embezzled. Hence, the authorities aren't allowing him to leave the country. He thus requires money for getting a fresh passport and plane tickets. Officials explain that a quick phone call to the pal (as made by the council worker in this case) will confirm the whereabout of the friend who is desperately appealing for financial help.

Officials conclude that if you receive such emails, simply delete them.

» SPAMfighter News - 9/12/2013