New E-mail Scam Says Croc Hunter’s Widow Dying in U.S. Hospital
EmailA new "Nigerian e-mail scam" claims that Terri Irwin, the widow of late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, is dying in a hospital in the U.S. and desperately needs money so "that she can live more." The crudely-written e-mail, from Mrs. Irwin’s "barrister," who calls himself "Antony Edward," actually misspells her name as "Terri Irvin." According to the e-mail , Mrs. Irvin’s "doctors have said…that she has but a limited time to live" and that "all we should think of at the moment is how to raise money for the upkeep of this lovely woman medically."
The e-mail is a follow-up to an earlier message that offered respondents a chance to claim a portion of the Irwin’s "11 million pounds Sterling" fortune. "Edward" now says he cannot deal with these funds because his "utmost concern at this time is to save this woman and make her live for more years." The message says help is needed to pay the hospital’s fees of $45 thousand, and "if you have anything from your heart to contribute, please do so urgently." The e-mail asks for contributions to be sent to a designated bank account in Florida or "through western union payment system which is even more reliable and faster."
Authorities say these types of scams typically originate from con artists in Nigeria and that they defraud people worldwide out of billions of dollars each year. Click here to read the previous blotter item on this story.
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Nigera, North Korea…..bomb them both back to the stone age. That’ll FIX the problems.
Posted by: David | October 9, 2006, 4:25 pm 4:25 pm
Does the Bush crime family run Nigeria?
Posted by: JimB | October 9, 2006, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Brian Ross is not well-informed about the so-called Nigerian e-mail scam. It is everywhere from Canada to Afghanistan. Indeed, most of the scams these days emanate from Canada.
However, the Irwin scam is just another charity scam, and that is as American as apple pie. Or did you really think that Katrina victims got even half of what was allegedly collected for them?
Posted by: Ade | October 9, 2006, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm
Does anybody even fall for that crap anymore? Misspelling alone would turn 99% of the suckers who get it off anyway.
Posted by: J | October 10, 2006, 10:21 am 10:21 am
On the Foley matter and Sen. Kolbe:
Brian, I hope you read this and get this out to other journalists. It has been contended by Kolbe that “based on what he knew,” Kolbe believes that he did the right thing by referring the matter to Foley’s Office and the House Clerk. So far, I have not heard ANY journalist focus on the “based on what I knew” part of Koble’s excuse. The focus on that component should be on why did he simply stick his head in the sand — he didn’t read the IMs, he doesn’t appear to have asked the former page about the content of the IMs, he didn’t appear to ask Foley about the content. In other words, he didn’t have “more” knowledge because he CHOSE NOT TO OBTAIN more knowledge. That’s called “plausible deniability,” and that tactic should not be permitted to gain national credence for Kolbe’s actions. Why aren’t the media honing their questions for Kolbe and asking why did nothing to obtain more information. For goodness sake, the former page was concerned enough about the contact that he brought it up after being out of the program. THAT ALONE would cause anyone who takes his job on the page board seriously to dig further and obtain the underlying facts. GOP — Great Ostrich Party.
Posted by: Bob | October 10, 2006, 5:43 pm 5:43 pm
Bob,
Been watching to much late night TV, ” plausible deniability ”
gee, get real.
Steve
Posted by: Stephen Turner | October 14, 2006, 1:41 am 1:41 am
Steve,
What do you mean by what you wrote?
c
Posted by: C Bornman | October 20, 2006, 5:27 pm 5:27 pm
The latest version of the Nigerian scam, is the Romance Scam. The scammers take their time to “get to know you”. They build a relationsip, using stolen model pictures to entice their victims. When they feel they have gained your trust and empathy, they ask for a little “help”. Whether it be in the form of cash, via Western Union, or helping them by cashing checks and forwarding the money to them, via Western Union, or in the form of merchandise shipped to them, or re-shipped to them, it is a scam.
The Romancescams group on Yahoo Groups has had over 15,000 members, since it was started in June of 2005. The average reported loss to this type of scam is around $8,000.00
They profess their love and tell compelling stories of tragedy.
All a ruse to separate us from our money.
Posted by: Mark | December 21, 2006, 8:05 am 8:05 am