Here & There Column 8-31-10

Dangerous Scam E-Mails On Our Computers

Those e-mails arriving almost daily on our computers promising millions of dollars are dangerous and should be deleted immediately.
An example of one we received last week from a woman in Abidjan Ivory Coast (where ever that is??) says she is a widow and a mother with a son and her husband was killed by the gunman due to his political ambitions. She noted that she had $18.3 million US dollars and she needs a bank account where these funds can be transferred to and invested into profited ventures such as real estate, hotel business, gas station. If you cooperate she promises to compensate us with part of this fund.
Wow.....what a come on to get into your banking account.
Other e-mails arriving in our computers read like this......"I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise. I am the bill and exchange manage in Bank of Africa. I hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to expose on you for the mutual benefit of our both families."
Others read like this, "I am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to both of us. In my bank in London, United Kingdom there is an abandoned sum of money in the vault that was deposited by one of our foreign customers who unfortunately lose his life in the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash which took place on January 31, 2000 including his wife and only daughter," and "it is therefore upon this discovery that I decided to make this proposal to you so that the bank can release the money to you as the beneficiary (I want to present you as his business associate) for safety and subsequent disbursement since the immediate beneficiaries are dead and I will not like this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed."
The e-mail from Madrid Spain and a lottery international said I had been approved for a lump sum of $1,000,000.00 and "all participants were selected from Worldwide websites especially Yahoo mail through our Microsoft Computer Ballot System."
All of these e-mails say that they require "your honest cooperation to enable us to see this dealt through," and Internet security providers indicate all of these are fraud.
The scam attempts we face on the Internet are something all of us should pay close attention to.
Beware of these quick get rich schemes. It just isn't going to happen.