Subject: "Stranded Friend" Scam
From: Jim Thomas (jthomas@math.niu.edu)
Date: Mon May 10 2010 - 22:59:03 CDT
One of our Vanguard residents has been the victim of what's called
"The Stranded Friend" scam, in which people receive an e-mail from the
person claiming to be stranded in a foreign country. Surprisingly, the
scam is more successful than the Nigerian 411 scam ("hey, I have $150
million, and I'll give you a chunk if you send me your bank name,
routing number, and..." -- well, you get the idea).
Although none of you will fall for this, just to be clear: The request
was not initiated by our neighbor, he/she is the victim of theft in
which email addresses were included, and he/she is NOT asking for money!
Appropriate law enforcement agencies and the originating server have
been contacted and are investigating, although it's not likely that
the offenders (based in Madrid) will be caught before moving on every
few days.
Just an info point for those who might have received the email.
Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Thomas
NIU Distinguished Teaching Professor (emeritus)
Department of Sociology, Northern Illinois University
Visiting Professor, Criminal Justice, University of Illinois/Chicago
jthomas@math.niu.edu / http://jthomasniu.org
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