I get these everyday. What I do is to go up to "messages" and hit block sender. It at the very least blocks them one by one not to receive the same over and over. I am not sure that everyone has this service. cheryl BALOG wenberg ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janet Headley" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2003 12:02 PM Subject: [INLAKE] Genealogy Related Spam Email > In the past couple of weeks I have received some spam messages that are > disturbing. The messages are quite personal, greeting me by name and then > claiming to be sent by an attorney representing a deceased (and wealthy) > previously-unknown relative. Below is an article from Eastman's Genealogy > Newsletter re same. > > jh > > Dear Eastman, > > > I am Barrister James Ibe, a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney to > Mr. Patrick Eastman a national of your country, who used to work with Shell > Development Company in Nigeria. Here in after shall be referred to as my > client. On the 21st of April 2000, my client, his wife and their only > daughter were involved in a car accident along Sagamu express road. > > > I admit that the greeting of "Dear Eastman" is a bit suspicious. Whatever > happened to the word "Mister?" Surely an attorney, even one who speaks > English only as a second language, would know better. The e-mail message > goes on at some length, telling a story of how the attorney is seeking > relatives of the deceased client so that a distribution of the estate may be > made. The e-mail message claims that the estate is worth millions. > > > Those of us who have been on the Internet for some time will quickly > recognize the message as a "4-1-9 Scam." It is known internationally as > "4-1-9" fraud, after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses > fraud schemes. In fact, 99.9% of the people who receive these messages will > know that it is bogus and will quickly delete it. > > > The sad part of this tale lies with the other 0.1% of the people who receive > these messages. They get suckered. The perpetrators of this scam need only a > few gullible people to respond in order to steal tens of thousands of > dollars. > > > In the last few weeks, I have had three different people tell me that a > friend or co-worker of theirs has responded to Nigerian solicitations with > expectations of receiving large amounts of money. These people have supplied > their names, personal mailing addresses and, in some cases, personal > financial information. The sad part is that most people who fall for these > stories will lose money, and a few will even lose their lives. > > > The United States Secret Service Web site offers this warning: > > > a.. In almost every case there is a sense of urgency; > b.. The victim is enticed to travel to Nigeria or a border country; > c.. There are many forged, official-looking documents; > d.. Most of the correspondence is handled by fax or through the mail; > e.. Blank letterheads and invoices are requested from the victim along > with the banking particulars; > f.. Any number of Nigerian fees are requested for processing the > transaction, with each fee purported to be the last required; > g.. The confidential nature of the transaction is emphasized; > h.. There are usually claims of strong ties to Nigerian officials; > i.. A Nigerian residing in the U.S., London, or other foreign venue may > claim to be a clearing house bank for the Central Bank of Nigeria; > j.. Offices in legitimate government buildings appear to have been used by > impostors posing as the real occupants or officials. > > While not mentioned on the United States Secret Service Web site, some news > stories claim that people from a number of countries have been duped by this > scam and have traveled to Nigeria or to nearby countries. They usually carry > a lot of money that supposedly is to be used to bribe officials in an effort > to obtain the funds in question. Instead, the foreigners are murdered by the > Nigerian perpetrators of this scam, and the money disappears. > > > Here is my advice: never, ever pay any attention to any spam mail, other > than to read it for amusement. Never, ever purchase anything from an > unsolicited e-mail advertisement from a person or company that you do not > recognize. Any offer received in "spam mail" is most likely a scam. > > > Finally, never, ever enter into any "business arrangements" without a lot of > investigation. Do a search on the Web. Ask your friends. If there are > significant sums of money involved, ask your lawyer. > > > You can read a lot more about this at > http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/alert419.shtml as well as at > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=nigerian+scam > > Janet > > > > > ==== INLAKE Mailing List ==== > Did you know you can search the Lake County Public Library online? Know what they have to offer before heading here for a research trip. > http://www.lakeco.lib.in.us/ > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >