Holiday Trip to Nigeria
By Bob McDonnellLast month a Virginia woman started getting e-mails from friends concerned about her safety in Nigeria.
Every contact in her e-mail accounts had received an e-mail directly from her – or at least from her e-mail address. The e-mail told her friends that while visiting Nigeria she had lost her wallet, passport and phone numbers, and needed $2,000 wired to her hotel immediately.
Of course this was all news to her; she had never traveled outside of America!
Fortunately, she contacted our office and we were able to help her and her friends before the situation worsened.
In the old familiar scam, you get an unsolicited e-mail from a stranger claiming to need your bank account number so he can deposit millions he inherited from a former dictator. By now, most of us know just to hit “delete” in response to such a proposition. However, in this new twist springing up in Virginia, the thief exploits your computer and writes your contacts, claiming to be you. This new take on an old scam is catching citizens off guard.
The Virginia victim was a prime target for spam and scam artists. When our office was working to get her out of the bind, she stated that she opens every e-mail that arrives in her mailbox, whether she knows the sender or not. Hacker technology makes it possible to launch malicious software simply through opening an e-mail. Her friends, however, were smart to contact her over the phone to check whether in fact she was in dire straits in Nigeria, rather than believing the e-mail.
Our office was also able to help update her computer’s anti-virus software.
If you fear this latest Nigerian e-mail scam may have happened to you, contact your e-mail provider immediately. Then, contact your local law enforcement or our office. Consumer protection is an important statutory duty of the Office of the Attorney General, and our staff can help. In an age of increased consumer scams, we all must continue to be educated and vigilant.