It happened after the Indian ocean tsunami and after Hurricane Katrina. It’s happening again with the earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands and left hundreds of thousands injured, homeless, hungry or without medical treatment: Scammers in Nigeria and elsewhere are stealing money meant for victims of the disaster. <\/p>\n
If you think there is a line that such scammers won’t cross, think again. <\/p>\n
Here is an email soliciting donations on behalf of “HAITI CITIZENS LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM” with relatives living in Haiti, but really originating from an IP address in Nigeria, West Africa:<\/p>\n
PASTOR JOHN BROMA
\nHAITI CITIZENS IN UNITED KINGDOM
\n23 BEN AVENUE S\/W,LONDON
\nUNITED KINGDOM<\/p>\nDEAR SIR\/MADAM<\/p>\n
WE ARE HAITI CITIZENS LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WHOM THEIR FAMILIES
\nARE AFFECTED BY THE RECENT EARTQUAKE,WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO RAISE MONEY
\nTO HELP THE HAITI CITIZENS WHO ARE WITHOUT FOODS,DRUG AND SHELTER,SO WE
\nPLEAD THAT YOU SUPPORT US WITH WHAT EVER YOU CAN.<\/p>\nALL DONATIONS SHOULD BE SEND THROUGH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
\nBECAUSE OF THE URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED.DO SEND IT TO THE INFORMATIONS BELOW.<\/p>\nPASTOR JOHN BROMA<\/p>\n
HAITI CITIZENS IN UNITED KINGDOM
\n23 BEN AVENUE S\/W,LONDON
\nUNITED KINGDOM<\/p>\nPLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU FORWARD THE WESTERN UNION INFORMATIONS SUCH AS
\nSENDERS NAME,AMOUNT SEND AND THE MTCN.WE PRAY THAT ALMIGHTY GOD WILL
\nBLESS AS YOU HELP THE SUFFERING HAITI CITIZEN.<\/p>\nTHANKS FOR YOUR HELP<\/p>\n
PASTOR JOHN BROMA(SECRETARY)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Looking at the message headers we see:<\/p>\n
Received: from User ([82.128.33.35] RDNS failed) by mail.westnet.com
\nwith Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.3959); Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:13:32 +0900
\nReply-To: <pastorjohnbroma@yahoo.com>
\nFrom: HIATI CITIZENS IN UNITED KINGDOM<pastorjohnbroma@yahoo.com>
\nSubject: HELP FOR HAITI
\nDate: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:21:10 -0800\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nIP address 82.128.33.35 belongs to a cell phone provider in Nigeria:<\/p>\n
inetnum: 82.128.32.0 – 82.128.63.255
\nnetname: INET-MLTL
\ndescr: CDMA 1x\/EVDO Dial up pool
\ncountry: NG
\nadmin-c: RIA27
\ntech-c: RIA27
\nstatus: ASSIGNED PA
\nmnt-by: MLTL-INT-MNT
\nmnt-lower: MLTL-INT-MNT
\nsource: AFRINIC # Filtered
\nparent: 82.128.0.0 – 82.128.127.255<\/p>\nperson: IP Admin-RIPE
\naddress: Multilinks Telecommunications Limited
\naddress: 231 Adeola Odeku Str.
\naddress: Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe criminal who sent this mail must be one of their customers.<\/p>\n
If you want to make a donation to help those affected by the disaster, send it to the Red Cross or another well established relief organization. Beware of any stranger who asks you to wire money by Western Union or MoneyGram, because these instant wire transfer services are essentially anonymous and untraceable and there are no safeguards whatsoever against abuse by criminal recipients, who can not be traced. That is precisely why scammers prefer you to send money that way.<\/p>\n
If hell exists there must be a special place there waiting for these scammers, who even make money out of the orphans and dying in Haiti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It happened after the Indian ocean tsunami and after Hurricane Katrina. It’s happening again with the earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands and left hundreds of thousands injured, homeless, hungry or without medical treatment: Scammers in Nigeria … Continue reading