by Playfuls Staff |
13th January 2006
It’s a well known fact that during the past few years, most tragic events that unfolded all over the world have been used by hackers or other types of crooks for sending all kinds of fake emails, most of them containing viruses or trying to lead the users into phishing scams.[more]
And the latest example of such a scam is an e-mail allegedly seeking financial aid for Randy McCloy Jr., the sole survivor of the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 12, according to CNN, who is citing FBI sources.
"The e-mail falsely claims to be authored by a physician at the hospital where the survivor is currently receiving medical attention. It describes the condition of the survivor and the financial assistance that is needed for a full recovery," the FBI said in a written statement.
McCloy, 26, is in critical condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The e-mail purports to be written by a doctor at the hospital where the miner is being treated and describes the condition of the survivor and the financial assistance that is needed for a full recovery.
Rescue attempts were heavily covered by U.S. media and the story stayed in the news spotlight for several days partly because initial reports of survivors turned out to be incorrect.
"As was learned after the tragic events of 9/11/01, the tsunami disaster, and more recently with Hurricane Katrina, unscrupulous cybercriminals have shown the desire and means to exploit human emotion by attempting to defraud the public when they are perceived to be most vulnerable," the FBI warned.
People can report fraudulent e-mails asking for donations to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at
www.ic3.gov.
