Money-Laundering Scam E-Mail Targets Kiwis

Police in Waikato (New Zealand) have issued an alert that one uninvited e-mail is targeting citizens' inboxes, containing a web-link that leads onto an authentic US charity that's proactively wiping out poverty from Mexico, through the establishment of an account with a bank where the donations are to be deposited. Tvnz.co.nz reported this on March 31, 2011.

Says Dave Grace Detective Sergeant of Waikato Police Fraud that the bogus electronic mail carries one web-link connecting with a page where users are directed for registering their particulars. Thereafter, victims are directed to open a bank account (the bank has to be an authentic trading bank) where they would deposit their donations whatever be the denomination. Voxy.co.nz published this on March 31, 2011.

Furthermore Grace states that the e-mail tells recipients for retaining 10% of the charitable fund to meet administration costs after which they should wire the rest through one money-wiring firm. Voxy.co.nz reported this on March 31, 2011.

The Detective Sergeant comments that people executing the above kind of transactions really get trapped within a complex money-laundering operation in a foreign country. According to him, these people believe that an authentic organization is contacting them and when they do the funds transfer, they actually execute a money-laundering crime within the purview of the Crimes Act, Section 24B. Voxy.co.nz published this on March 31, 2011.

Meanwhile, ever since the earthquake in New Zealand and the natural calamity in Japan, online fraudsters have been distributing scam e-mails that posed as communications from genuine charitable organizations, particularly the Red Cross, requesting for donations from people through certain phony website asking for credit card information from the victims so that the scammers could steal money from those victims via manipulating those information.

Furthermore, the Waikato Police, lately, also issued alerts regarding one fake job offer in an online marketing company. Voxy.co.nz reported this on March 31, 2011.

Meanwhile, Grace stated that the main lesson from such situations was for exercising extreme caution before revealing one's bank details, PIN (Personal Identification Number) as well as other private information. Tvnz.co.nz published this on March 31, 2011.

Related article: Man Sues and Wins against ISP for Spamming Mail

» SPAMfighter News - 4/9/2011