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E-Mail Scam
"The Nigerian Advance
Fee Scam" Victimizes Internet Users
Although the "Nigerian
Advance Fee Scam" has circulated across North America for many
years, it continues to be one the highest median dollar loss
Internet scams around. According to the FBI's 2004 Internet Fraud
Crime Report, the average dollar loss for Internet users who
reported being victimized by the Nigerian Advance Fee Scam was
$3,000. Only Internet check fraud scams had a higher average loss
($3,600).
Also known as the "Nigerian 419 Scam," referring to
the Nigerian law for fraud, the scam has propagated for years
through regular mail, fax transmissions, telephone solicitations,
and, in recent years, most prolifically via e-mail.
There are
hundreds of variations of the Nigerian Advance Fee Scam; however,
the storyline is similar in each instance. The scam goes something
like this: A person from a third world country, usually claiming to
be either a very important business person or from royal lineage,
sends you an e-mail saying he/she has access to huge amounts of
money which is sitting idle from a recent inheritance, government
action, or business deal. For some strange, fateful reason this
person has selected you to assist him/her in getting the funds out
of his/her country. Once you've grabbed the "bait," the scammer asks
you to either provide him/her with a "transaction advance" (which
you'll never see again) or personal bank account information for the
purpose of sending millions of dollars to your account for a
temporary holding period. The individual promises to share the
proceeds with you (usually anywhere from 10%-25%) after the transfer
of funds occurs. The e-mail message normally utilizes incorrect
grammar and spelling to further the notion that the sender is indeed
from an impoverished, far-off country.
Below is the exact
text of an actual Nigerian Advance Fee Scam that has been recently
circulating the
Internet:
_________________________________________________________________________
|"Subject:
PARTNERSHIP
|
|FROM: Michael Shaw
|E-MAIL:
michaelshaw99@myway.com
|
|Good day,
|
|With warm heart
I offer my friendship and greetings. I hope this mail meets
|you
in good time. However strange or surprising this contact might seem
to
|you as we have not met personally or had any dealings in the
past, I humbly
|ask that you take due consideration of its
importance and immense benefits.
|I duly apologize for infringing
on your privacy if this proposal is not
|acceptable to
you.
|
|First and foremost, I wish to introduce myself
properly to you. I am Mr.
|Michael Shaw, the son of the former
Liberia finance minister (Mr. Emmanuel
|Shaw) under the past
government of Charles Taylor. I presume you are aware
|of the
political crisis in my country which affected my father's health.
At
|the end of Charles Taylor's regime, he was exiled to Nigeria
where he
|currently resides. Majority of his officers including
ministers like my
|father, are having their accounts frozen by
the present government because
|they were uncomfortable with the
past regime. We then jointly decided
|within the family to
relocate the family funds outside Liberia
for
|investment.
|
|I am contacting you because of a good
friend of my father (Dr. Thomas
|Clark) who visited your country
sometime ago made recommendations about
|your country to my
family. Following the above reason, I have been
|subsequently
advised to seek and invest this money abroad. So, I
am
|soliciting for your co-operation and confidential assistance
to take
|custody of twenty six million united states dollars
(US$26.000.000). And
|also front for me in areas of business
which you desire profitable. Left
|alone, this would prove
extremely difficult if not impossible due to the
|bureaucratic
nature of the western world.
|
|In preparedness and
appreciation to conduct this business with you, I shall
|give you
15% of the total funds and 5% commission on any profit that
we
|might realise in the process of investing the funds. 5% shall
be set aside
|for any eventual cost that may occur in the process
of this transaction.
|Please, I need your entire support and
co-operation for the success of this
|business venture, and also
your utmost confidentiality. Be rest assured
|that, this is
absolutely safe with no risk involved. I do hope my proposal
|is
acceptable to you.
|
|Thanking you in anticipation, while
looking forward to hearing from you
|soon.
|
|Best
Regards,
|
|Michael
Shaw.
|E-MAIL:-michaelshaw99@myway.com"
|_________________________________________________________________________
The
above message is an Illegal Scam! If you believe that you have been
victimized by the Nigerian Advance Fee Scam or any other type of
Internet fraudulent scheme, contact your local law enforcement
officials and file an online report with the FBI's Internet Fraud
Complaint Center located at: http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp.
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Spread
The Word
Help A Friend Get Connected
Do you know someone that
isn't yet connected to the Internet? Why not tell them about Cannon
Communications Internet service so you can exchange e-mail messages
with them?
We offer quality Internet connections at
competitive prices. Plus, our local customer service and Internet
Help Desk are always ready to answer questions and help you enjoy
your Internet experience.
Tell your friends to call our
office today to learn more about our Internet service! Telephone:
651-385-0877
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Ask The Help Desk
What Is A "Read
Receipt" Message?
Question: I
recently opened an e-mail message from a friend and got a strange
pop-up message that said something like, "The Message sender has
requested a response to indicate that you have read the message.
Would you like to send a receipt?" What does this mean? (I use
Outlook Express on a Windows machine.)
Answer: The message you described
means that the person who sent you the e-mail is requesting an
acknowledgement that you opened and read it. It's called a "Read
Receipt" message. Most e-mail programs allow you to ask for Read
Receipts when sending e-mail messages. Many also allow you to
acknowledge Read Receipts when receiving these messages. E-mail
software programs do not automatically send Read Receipt requests to
e-mail recipients unless the sender first changes the settings on
his/her e-mail software program. (See the tutorial section below.)
The recipient can then authorize a reply message (receipt) to go
back to the sender by clicking "OK" on the pop-up message or he/she
can click "Cancel" which does not allow a receipt message to be sent
back to its origin.
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Great Sites To Check Out This
Month
Understanding Internet Buzzwords
http://buzzwhack.com - The world of
Internet "geek-talk" is filled with buzzwords and acronyms. How can
you help but look bewildered when someone is referring to "link
farms," "beggarware," "stickiness," and "crittercams?" Well,
bewilder no more! Buzzwack.com is dedicated to de-mystifying
important words or phrases used primarily to impress people. The
site includes definitions of hundreds of alphabetized buzzwords used
in the realm of technology and business. Oh, and don't forget to
"munge" next time you make a posting on an online
newsgroup!
Having Fun With Minerals And
Gemstones
http://minerals.net - In case you've
always wondered, the chemical composition of Crocoite is lead
chromate. The color purple is caused by iron or manganese
impurities. If this is the kind of information that gives you an
adrenaline boost, then you'll really enjoy this educational guide to
color, streak, hardness, crystal group, elemental classification,
and, of course, the ever-popular "Dana classification." Actually,
"Dana classification" may be a good submission candidate to the
buzzwhack.com site listed above.
The National Arbor
Day Observance Is In April
http://arborday.org - Although each
state celebrates Arbor Day at different times of the year, the
official national observance date for this holiday is on the last
Friday in April. Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton in
Nebraska on April 10, 1872. He coordinated the planting of 1 million
trees in the state in one day. This nationally-celebrated observance
reminds everyone of the importance of planting and caring for trees.
For further information, check out the National Arbor Day
Foundation's official site.
Play Rock Paper Scissors
Online
http://playrps.com - How do you decide
whose turn it is to take out the garbage or clean the kitty litter
box? By playing Rock Paper Scissors, of course! You've played it
with your friends and with your spouse. Now you can play the game
online against the likes of "eTerminator," "eVentura," "eGladiator,"
and "eZorro." Win the best of seven series and you move on to
compete against the next character.
Test Your Major
League Baseball Trivia Skills
http://baseball-almanac.com/
- Who holds the record for the most grand slam home runs in a
career? Who has pitched the most complete games during his career?
Who is the career leader in successfully stealing home? Who was the
first player to earn $100,000 in salary for a single season? The
major league baseball season has finally arrived and there's no
better time to brush up on your baseball trivia. This site is filled
with over 110,000 pages of baseball facts. That should keep you busy
between innings! Answers to the above questions: Lou Gehrig (23), Cy
Young (749), Ty Cobb (54), Hank Greenberg (Pittsburgh in 1947).
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Short Tutorial
Sending "Read Receipt"
Requests When Sending E-mail Messages
Most e-mail programs
allow you to ask for Read Receipts when sending e-mail messages.
However, two popular Macintosh programs, Mail.app by Apple and
Microsoft's Entourage, make no provision for sending or responding
to Read Receipt requests. For information on popular e-mail software
programs that do have Read Receipt capabilities, see the details
below.
Outlook Express for
Windows
Outlook Express for Windows can both request
Read Receipts and respond to them. To set-up Outlook Express to
request Read Receipts, follow the steps below.
1. Open
Outlook Express. Place your cursor arrow over the word "Tools" on
your Outlook Express menu bar and select "Options" from the
resulting drop-down menu by clicking on it.
2. When the
"Options" window opens, click on the "Receipts" tab.
3. The
first option list is "Requesting Read Receipts." Click on the check
box next to "Request a read receipt for all sent messages" and then
click "OK" to close the window.
Eudora 6.2 For
Windows and Macintosh
Eudora 6.2 does not have a setting
which allows you to request a Read Receipt every time a message is
sent. The user must request these on a per e-mail basis. Eudora 6.2
does allow you to respond to receipt requests. To request Read
Receipts in Eudora 6.2, follow the steps below.
1. Open
Eudora 6.2 and then create a new e-mail message.
2. The
message will have its own small tool bar with icons across the
top.
In the Windows version, if you pause over the buttons, they
will tell you their functions. When you find the one labeled "Read
Receipt," click on it. On the Macintosh version, the button is
plainly labeled "RR."
3. Send the
message.
Mozilla's Thunderbird For Windows and
Macintosh
Mozilla's Thunderbird is a close cousin to the
popular Firefox Web browser. Thunderbird allows you to request Read
Receipts; however, a known bug prevents anyone from responding to
one. To request Read Receipts for an e-mail account when using
Thunderbird, follow the steps below.
1. Open Thunderbird.
Place your cursor arrow over the word "Tools" on your Thunderbird
menu bar and select "Account Settings" from the resulting drop-down
menu by clicking on it.
2. When the "Account Settings" window
opens, look in the pane on the left for the name of the account from
which you want to request receipts. Click on the plus sign next to
the name to expand its settings list if necessary.
3. Click
on "Return Receipts" and then click on the "Customize return
receipts for this account" radio button.
4. Click on the
check box next to "When sending messages, always request a return
receipt" and then click "OK" to close the
window.
Netscape 7.2 For Windows and
Macintosh
Netscape 7.2's mail feature for both Windows
and Macintosh is another Mozilla-based browser/e-mail client which
supports Read Receipts. Its interface is similar to Thunderbird's
but it allows you to also acknowledge a Return Receipt request. To
set-up Netscape 7.2 to request Read Receipts, follow the steps
below.
1. Open Netscape 7.2. Click on the word "Window" in
the Netscape menu and select "Mail Newsgroups" from the drop-down
list.
2. Place your cursor arrow over the word "Edit" on your
Netscape mail menu bar and select "Account Settings" from the
resulting drop-down menu by clicking on it.
3. When the "Mail
Newsgroups Account Settings" window opens, look in the pane on the
left for the name of the account from which you want to request
receipts. Double click on the name to expand its settings list if
necessary.
4. Click on "Return Receipts" and then click on
the "Customize return receipts for this account" radio
button.
5. Click on the check box next to "When sending
messages, always request a return receipt" and then click "OK" to
close the window.
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