Lancashire Police Warn Local Residents against E-mail Scams

Lancashire Police have warned the local residents against bogus e-mail scams that could cause them loss of thousands of pounds.

One of the scams called 'criminal cash back' involves sending e-mails that tell recipients - they can earn easy money by just cashing cheques via their personal bank accounts.

The scam e-mails ask people ready to work for scammers that they can keep 10% of the amount and transfer the remaining amount to another account. Moreover, the scam becomes even more authentic when people get a hard copy of an agreement from legitimate companies. However, when people send 90% of the amount assigned in cheques to another account, these cheques return without payment.

In another scam called 'advanced fee fraud scam,' scammers persuade e-mail recipients to make advance payment for a 'business deal' or they can provide their bank account information so that payment could be directly transferred to their accounts but in reality, it doesn't happen.

DC Mark Turner from the Economic Crime Unit of Lancashire Constabulary said that they had reported a large number of cases in Lancashire that involved people sent a large sum of money to scammers thinking that they would receive a huge windfall, as reported by The Citizen on August 25, 2009.

Unfortunately, most of the people realized their mistake when it was too late, and by that time it was almost impossible to retrieve the money, he said.

These two scams are mere examples of different types of bogus e-mails currently circulating in the county. Many of them have been there for sometime and they will continue to dupe people.

Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards Team have claimed that Internet scams are rising in number in the county. National statistics exemplify that internet scams cost £60 Million to Lancashire residents every year.

Besides, in a survey, 23% of Britons using Internet accepted that they, along with their family members and friends, had become target of phishing attacks in the last 12 months against mere 8% a year ago.

Officials have advised people that they should avoid giving their personal information including credit card details and bank accounts in e-mails. If anyone receives such e-mails, then he should immediately delete them.

Related article: Lancaster Residents Report Scareware/Ransomware Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 9/5/2009