Email Scammers Threaten to Have Me Charged with Money Laundering

I’m use to receiving scam emails (up to 10 a day), which attempt to entice me into divulging personal information with all sorts of promises of quick money – if only I complete a particular task. A task which always involves me having to spend money.

Generally, these types of emails , while they may be designed to cheat the unwary, are helpful in the extreme; paving the way to illusive riches with a detailed list of easy to follow instructions. The type of email I like to call – “the wolf in sheep’s clothing” email.

But, in a spam scam email I received this morning, the scammers have abandoned this helpful attitude and instead, have resorted to intimidation and threats.

Here are the highlights of this threatening email:

We, office of the international police association (IPA) hereby write to inform you that we caught a diplomatic lady by the name Mrs. Vernon Wallace at (John F Kennedy International Airport ) here in New York with a consignment box filled with United States Dollars.

She said that the consignment box belongs to you and that she was sent by one Edward Luis to deliver the consignment box to your doorstep not knowing that the content of the box is money.

In this regards you are to reassure and prove to us that the money you are about to receive is legal by sending us the Award Ownership Certificate showing that the money is not illegal.

The Award Ownership Certificate must to be secured from the office of the Nigerian Senate President … this is because the fund originated from Nigeria.

Furthermore, we are giving you only but 3 working business days to forward the requested Award Ownership Certificate … if you didn’t come up with the certificate we shall confiscate the funds into World Bank account then charge you for money laundering.

I think these scammers have watched one too many movies.

I know that you won’t be deceived by this type of clumsy attempt to defraud, but you would be surprised how often reasonably intelligent people are. Believe it or not, there are some people, somewhere, who will believe this nonsense.

Be kind to your friends, relatives, and associates, particularly those who are new Internet users, and let them know that there is an epidemic of this types of scam on the Internet. In doing so, you help raise the level of protection for all of us.

As well, ask your friends, relatives, and associates to keep the following tips in mind while on the Internet:

Don’t click links in emails or social networking sites. If they come from a known source, type them on the browser’s address bar. If they come from an untrusted source, simply ignore them.

Don’t open emails that come from untrusted sources.

Don’t run files that you receive via email without making sure of their origin.Keep your computer protected.

Install a security solution and keep it up-to-date.

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