Beware the Latest Spam

– By Warren Ross –

We all know better than to send money to someone who says we’ve won the lottery in a third-world country.

But here is a new wrinkle – at least new to me.

I almost fell for it except I know enough never to send money to someone I don’t know, but let me explain why I almost got fooled.

I received an e-mail message from a friend that said in the subject line “I need your urgent help.” It turned out someone had stolen not only her identity but also her address book, so all her friends received this message.
Here is what it said:

I am sorry I didn’t inform you about my traveling to China for a program called “How to fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, and Poverty.” The program is taking place in Singapore, Taiwan, and China.

That sounded believable, because she is Chinese-American, and those are her causes, and she has frequently traveled to those places to promote them. But then came the scam. “I am really stranded in China because, and after paying the driver, I left my purse in the taxi, with all my money, my credit cards, my passport, and I’m really stranded.” So how are you managing to send this e-mail? But the scam artist anticipated that question, because the next sentence was, “I am sending this e-mail from the City library.”

Then comes the part that aroused my suspicions: the request to send money to the hotel to bail her out, and she would pay me back as soon as she got home. I clicked on “Reply” and asked, “Is this really you?” The reply: “Yes, it’s me; no one broke into my e-mail.” How do the identity thieves do that?

Presumably they stole her e-mail address and her address book. I was still suspicious, so I called her. She answered the phone, proving she was not in China. She also said mine was the fourth call seeking verification. How many of her other friends fell for the scam we will never know. She also said that her son was computer literate, but could not suggest what to do about it – except to write everyone in her address book that, indeed, she was not in China.

All of which gives rise to the next question: How will people know that this warning is from the real “me”?
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