Spam Mail Attract UK Residents with Offer for Fake Refund

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned the general public on June 6, 2008 about spam e-mails containing different versions of fake refund notifications purportedly from the IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) and the central government of UK

As per the FBI Officials, the e-mails falsely claim that reimbursements are being offered to make up for the losses recipient suffered in Internet fraud. Further, the scam e-mail contains the full name of individuals not associated with the IC3 but assign them titles to make the messages look legitimate.

According to Richard Kolko, Special Agent at Washington D.C., the e-mail perpetrators are seeking all opportunities to grab users' personal information and money. And for that, they are trying more and more to falsely claim as sent by various government authorities, as reported by FBI June 6, 2008.

Perpetrators of the spam mail make use of the IC3 logo and its former name, the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, and mention the Metropolitan Police (UK) and the Bank of England in their messages.

The spam e-mails promise several thousand dollars in refunds, supposedly to reach the recipient from the Bank of England via wire transfer, once the Internet fraud's victim signs on an order for fund release. Surprisingly, the e-mail also warns that those who fail to sign the order would have their funds suspended and a penalty would be imposed.

The FBI officials further say that like in most spam, the current spam contains clues of fraud, including poor grammar, spelling mistakes, names of government agencies, signatures and titles of officials to appear genuine as well as warnings to recipients for not complying. Incidentally, in few of the messages, the officials' name does not properly match the corresponding signature.

Hence, security specialists in UK are recommending that users should avoid the malicious e-mails and do not reply them. They also warn against opening any attachment, revealing personal information or sending money. The experts further asked consumers to be careful with e-mails talking about pictures in attachments as they might contain viruses.

Related article: Spam Scam Bags a Scottish Connection

» SPAMfighter News - 6/21/2008