Woman lost £1.7k in net fraud
A woman lost £1,700 after she fell victim to an internet con originating in Nigeria, and sent off the money in six separate payments to a bogus charity. A woman lost £1,700 after she fell victim to an internet con originating in Nigeria, and sent off the money in six separate payments to a bogus charity. The Kidderminster woman, who thought she was helping sick children, is one of several Wyre Forest residents who have parted with substantial amounts of money in the last couple of months. P olice are warning the public to exercise caution when opening emails from strangers or when buying and selling goods over the internet. Pc Tim Macrae, said: "There are literally hundreds of different scams and we are appealing for people to be on their guard if they are sent any emails by someone they do not know and to particularly be wary if the emails originate from Nigeria." Read the full story in the Express & Star.
A woman lost £1,700 after she fell victim to an internet con originating in Nigeria, and sent off the money in six separate payments to a bogus charity.
The Kidderminster woman, who thought she was helping sick children, is one of several Wyre Forest residents who have parted with substantial amounts of money in the last couple of months. P
olice are warning the public to exercise caution when opening emails from strangers or when buying and selling goods over the internet.
Pc Tim Macrae, said: "There are literally hundreds of different scams and we are appealing for people to be on their guard if they are sent any emails by someone they do not know and to particularly be wary if the emails originate from Nigeria.
He said there had also been examples of people being duped by e-mailed notification of foreign lottery wins - provisional on a administration fee.
"If someone is told they have won the Spanish lottery when they haven't bought a ticket or that someone they don't even know has died and left them some money it's fairly obvious it's a scam.
"As always, they should remember that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is.
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"People should also bear in mind basic security and use their common sense.
"However, legitimate an email looks, if it asks for passwords, for bank account details or PIN numbers, or for money, delete it immediately.
"If buying or selling an item on websites such as Ebay, people should deal via Paypal only and never accept or send cheques or pay with instant money transfers such as Western Union.
"One scam we are aware of involves the buyer sending the seller an overpayment by cheque. The seller then writes out their own cheque to refund the overpayment and sends it back but later discovers the cheque they received was fraudulent and nothing has gone into their account.
"The Ebay website has some good security advice which people should always read before parting with money or goods."
For more information or to report a suspicious email call Pc Macrae on 08457 444888
