SCAMS
Well, here we go again! Here are excerpts from a letter to Annie's Mailbox, in our local newspaper--April 16, 2008.
In the past month, I have received 3 e-mails from different folk asking me to send a deposit and they will forward a winning lottery ticket to me. In exchange for cashing it for them, I will get a portion of the money. One letter said I had won a contest from Chevron, but the address was from Nigeria.
Are people still falling for this scam?
Annie's answer: Report them to the Federal Trade Commission. Most of these scams involve people claiming to be Nigerian officials or surviving spouses of former government officials, who very politely offer to give you money if you will help them transfer funds out of the country. You are then asked to provide your bank account number and some money to cover legal and transaction fees. You may even be encouraged to travel to Nigeria or a border country to complete the transaction. Sometimes, the con artists will produce fake money to verify their claims.
According to the State Department, people who have responded have been beaten, subjected to threats and extortion, and in some cases, murdered. And, of course, there is a stream of excuses why there was never any transfer of funds to your account.
If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to need your help getting money out of another country, do NOT respond. Forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov. If you have lost money to one of these scams call your local Secret Service field office (listed in the Blue Pages of youir telephone directory). To file a complaint or get information, visit ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
Suzanne
