Consumers Beware of E-Mail Scams
Scam artists often appeal to people's emotions in e-mails pleading for cash.
Oct. 16, 2007 — -- Hidden among the hundreds and thousands of e-mails that many of us receive, it's almost a given that at least a few of the e-mails are sent by con artists requesting cash, bank account numbers or passwords.
In the latest e-mail scam that ABCNEWS.com has learned about, someone claiming to be a soldier serving in Iraq said they needed the recipient's help in "safe keeping" $10 million supposedly found near Saddam Hussein's old palace. In return, the good Samaritan would get 20 percent of the money upon the soldier's return to the United States.
Also included in the e-mail were links to news articles and military Web sites listing war casualties, as well as the story of Sgt. Richard Burnette, an actual soldier who was injured in Iraq in 2005 and consequently spent time at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
In addition to the soldier scam e-mails, ABC News' investigative unit has uncovered thousands of other scams, many of which originate in Nigeria, whose authors claim to be the widow of the late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin or the widow of Yasser Arafat, among others.
Appealing to recipients' emotions is just one of the many techniques used by scammers to reel in victims, Internet security experts told ABCNEWS.com.
"This is basically the classic Nigerian scam with a twist to it," said Robert Siciliano, the CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com. "It's all about gaining the trust of the potential victim and it involves someone essentially sitting behind a computer and sending off multiple e-mails to victims. In those e-mails they try to pull at the heartstrings and appeal to people's desire for easy money."
"We generally do business with those whom we like and those we know and trust. It's fundamental business 101," said Siciliano, who added that the most naive people are the ones who fall for these scams. "The scammer tries to build this relationship so the victim gets to know the perpetrator. Over time, the victim trusts him because they haven't yet done anything to deceive them."
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