Cybercrime stories

[Al-khiyal]

September 1, 2007 -- Algeria’s security services have warned against e-mails that contain information about rich heirs looking for someone who can deal with huge sums of money in return for commission.

For instance, a woman called Meriem Hassan said in e-mail that she was a widow of a rich businessman and inherited $1.2 million. She wanted to spend her money in charity acts and was looking for a “middleman” to concretise that “wish”.

The lady said in the e-mail she promised to give 5 percent of the money.

A security official working on this issue said this kind of people follow a set of steps before getting their victims’ money by cheating them.

According to some witnesses, e-mails senders ask for about $100 in return for delivering their money. That’s why people think that they would not lose a lot in comparison to the money that they will obtain.

Investigations showed that the main suspects in this fraud are “African fraud networks”.

Investigators admit that it is difficult to determine the sources of these e-mails. What is dangerous in this issue is that the e-mails' senders get personal information about their victims such as their banking account details.

African networks send e-mails to cheat Algerians

[Cheba_Mami]

guys you are warned!

[Al-khiyal]

BOISE, Idaho, October 19, 2007: Supervalu, one of the largest U.S. grocers, has fallen prey to an e-mail scam, losing about $10 million (€7 million) after wiring money to fraudulent bank accounts, according to federal court filings.

The scam is detailed in a pair of forfeiture cases filed under seal earlier this year in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.

The fraud began after the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based supermarket received two e-mails — one from someone purporting to be an American Greetings Corp. employee and another claiming to be with Frito-Lay, according to court documents. Both e-mails claimed the companies wanted payments sent to new bank account numbers.

Supervalu sent more than $6.5 million (€4.55 million) to the phony American Greetings account and nearly $3.6 million (€2.52 million) to the phony Frito-Lay account before realizing it was all a scam. The FBI was able to capture the money before it was whisked away by the scammers, but now American Greetings, Frito-Lay and Supervalu have all laid claim to the money and U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill will decide where it should go.

"Supervalu was the target of attempted financial fraud," company spokeswoman Haley Meyer wrote in a prepared statement. "We were able to quickly discover and report this to the FBI. As a result of the quick work of the Boise FBI Office and the U.S. Attorney, any funds lost are minimal."

Supervalu, which bought most of the Boise-headquartered Albertsons grocery store chain last year, declined any immediate further comment.

Megan Ferington, a spokeswoman for American Greetings, based in Cleveland, could not comment on the case because it is currently under litigation. Officials with the FBI did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press.

Aurora Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Frito-Lay, said the company was "working closely with our customer, Supervalu, and our attorneys on this matter." Gonzalez said she could not comment further at this time.

American Greetings produces some gift wrap, greeting cards and other party goods sold in Supervalu stores. Frito-Lay, a unit of Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo Inc., makes several foods sold by the grocery chain.

According to documents filed in the two forfeiture cases, Supervalu first began wiring payments due to American Greetings into the wrong account on February 28, making a total of nine payments before catching the error on March 6. During that time, more than $6.5 million (€4.55 million) was wired to HSBC Bank in Miami Beach, Florida, to accounts opened under the names Society Nights Productions, doing business as Perini.

Meanwhile, another $500,000 (€350,000) was wired into the same account by another victim listed only as "ROHM" in the court documents, as well as money from some foreign bank accounts.

After apparently receiving another e-mail purporting to be from Frito-Lay, the grocer sent nearly $3.6 million (€2.5 million) in payments that were supposed to go to Frito-Lay to a phony account in Arkansas, according to the court documents.

In an affidavit, Supervalu's vice president for legal services, Stephen Kilgriff, said the company received that e-mail on February 28, saying that future wire transfers to the company should be sent to a First Security Bank account in Rogers, Arkansas. That fraud was also discovered on March 6, when the company called police, Kilgriff said.

Criminal charges have not yet been filed in the case.

Grocer falls prey to $10M wire fraud scam

[Al-khiyal]

November 1, 2007 -- An Irish victim of an alleged email scam is recovering today after he was dramatically rescued from a failed ransom attempt in Ghana.

James Lafferty (49), from Ennis, Co Clare, was pulled to safety when police raided a hotel in the capital, Accra, where he was held captive.

The victim had been held hostage for around five days while kidnappers demanded money for his safety.

However, following an international police operation involving Interpol, gardai and Ghanaian police, local officers moved in after a tip-off and freed the kidnapped man. One man was arrested.

Mr Lafferty travelled to the west African state last week, after he apparently became embroiled in an email fraud scam and was taken hostage.

He was attempting to recover money he had paid into the investment trap but was taken hostage in the hotel room, as kidnappers contacted family and business associates back in Ireland demanding more money.

He was freed yesterday morning. Mr Lafferty is now being assisted by officials from the Honorary Consul in Accra. One man is being questioned by Ghanaian police and it is understood the kidnap gang were unarmed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed consular assistance is being provided to Mr Lafferty.

"He is currently safe and well in the Honorary Consulate in Accra, after being freed by local police," a spokesman said.

"He is due to meet with local police to provide them with additional information regarding his detention.

Scam

It is believed he may have become caught up in an email investment trap similar to the Nigerian 419 scam.

Fraudsters target people through unsolicited emails and claim to have hundreds of thousands of pounds, dollars or euro which needs to be stashed in bank accounts outside the country.

Unsuspecting victims hand over their bank details only to find money has been stolen.

A Garda spokesman said detectives in Ireland were notified of Mr Lafferty's disappearance last Friday.

"One man was arrested by Ghanaian police in connection with the incident," the spokesman said.

Consular officials are also arranging for his return to Ireland.

Dramatic rescue for hostage in Internet cash con

[Bent_Bladi]

dude... he fell for that one.... 7amdilla he wasn't killed for his stupid mistake

[Al-khiyal]

Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, November 17, 2007 (AP) - Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.

Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.

The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's.

Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking Web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.

The girl's mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself.

"But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile,'' she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case.

Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case did not fit into any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges.

Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on October 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy'' girl who loved spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.

Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat before her death, her mother said, after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death.

Josh told her he was born in Florida and had recently moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon. He said he was homeschooled, and didn't yet have a phone number in the area to give her.

Megan's parents said she received a message from him on October 15 of last year, essentially saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.

The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, she knew Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. Users on MySpace must be at least 14, though Megan was not when she opened her account. A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat.''

Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it.

Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day.

Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.

Another parent, who learned of the MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to the Josh profile, told Megan's parents about the hoax in a counselor's office about six weeks after Megan died. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said.

The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh's profile because she wanted to gain Megan's confidence to know what Megan was saying about her own child online.

The mother from down the street told police that she, her daughter and another person all typed and monitored the communication between the fictitious boy and Megan.

A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday afternoon that they had been advised not to comment.

Megan's parents had been storing a foosball table for the family that created the MySpace character. Six weeks after Megan's death, they learned the other family had created the profile and responded by destroying the foosball table, dumping it on the neighbors' driveway and encouraging them to move away.

Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.

Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday.

"Is this enough?'' Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere.''

Mom: Web hoax led girl to kill herself

[Bent_Bladi]

what a cruel and sick joke.... i hope they all rot in jail and then in hell .... how can a whole FAMILY gang up some little girl and do that to her??