Fake E-mail Scam Using FBI’s Name Scares Internet Users

Tennessee Police Department of Bristol, USA, has issued a warning to local residents to watch out for an e-mail scam that tries to steal personal information, as reported by tricities on July 8, 2009.

Employing fraudulent means, the scammers send a message apparently signed off from the Director of the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), which tells the recipient that he has a huge sum of money in some account that is probably drug or terrorism money.

Security professionals state that many recipients getting scared of the e-mail might give away their details without realizing that it represents some sort of scam. The e-mail states that the recipient could have his name taken out from the FBI list of wrong doers if he submits personal information such as name, username, password, Social Security number and other financial details.

Alerting e-mail recipients, security professionals stated that one should always be careful while answering to e-mails that they did not solicit. However, in case anyone answers to an e-mail such as in the above mentioned 'bribery e-mail,' then he should change his password and other financial information post making the reply so that he doesn't become a victim of identity theft.

Meanwhile, netizens must understand that legitimate organizations do not dispatch e-mails that seek users' private information; thus, anyone getting such an e-mail should immediately delete it.

The professionals have further explained that the current scam is of a different type in comparison of other scams of the past. A scam among those was an "assassination scam" that involved an e-mail in which the sender claimed that he had been paid to kill the recipient. However, the e-mail stated, if the recipient wired a sum of $70,000 to the sender, then the assassin would spare his life, according to Debby Richmond-McCauley, Lieutenant at the TN Police Department, as reported by tricities on July 8, 2009.

Lastly, the security professionals suggested that netizens should inform them about the kind of e-mails discussed so that they may catch the scammers and deal with them to prevent any future malicious activity over the Net.

Related article: Fake Spam Mail Announces Australian PM’s Heart Attack

» SPAMfighter News - 7/23/2009