The Times

January 06, 2005

Beware the e-mail scammers
By Philippe Naughton

IF YOU receive an unsolicited e-mail in the next few months asking you to help a Sri Lankan tsunami survivor or get involved in a lucrative rebuilding project in India or Indonesia, delete it. It is unlikely to have come from Asia.

Anti-fraud campaigners gave warning yesterday that the Indian Ocean disaster would provide fertile ground for internet scammers.

“The devastation is bringing fraudsters out in droves,” Annie McGuire, of www.fraud-aid.com, said. “Scam letters will soon be flooding your mailboxes, both e-mail and snail mail.”

She said the scammers would be offering business opportunities, hawking tales of homeless survivors needing support, and inventing phony lotteries.

One man has already been arrested after sending fake e-mails to friends or relatives of the missing, and there have also been reports of websites soliciting aid contributions without a clear connection to any known aid agency.

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Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.