Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Christmas Underwear Bomb Plot Entices New Batches of 419 Scammers

by Terrence O'Brien on January 15, 2010 at 12:42 PM

419 Scammers Exploiting Christmas Bomb Plot
As always, scam artists are just waiting to take advantage of the latest scare and tragedy. Swine flu, the economic crisis, rising gas prices, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and most recently, the Haitian earthquake, have all been exploited by con men for financial gain. So no one should be surprised that 419 scammers are twisting fear and anger over the failed bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day to lure in victims.

An e-mail is making the rounds claiming to be from Hassan Ali Abdul Mutallab, the brother of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the accused in the Christmas Day bombing plot. The message, with the subject "Take my Salaam and respect," claims to be looking for a "Muslim brother/sister" to assist in recovering money belonging to Umar. Like any 419 scam, the e-mail tells the victim that there are various charges and fees they must collect in order to pay for the release of transfer of the non-existent funds. According to Symantec, the e-mail also includes a PDF attachment, but it does not appear to be malicious and merely repeats the content of the message.

Thankfully (as always) avoiding being taken in by such fraud is simple if you understand these basic truths:
  • Any e-mail offering you money from a prince/terrorist/mogul is a scam.
  • Anyone who asks you to pay them in exchange for more money is scammer.
  • If you don't recognize the e-mail address, it's probably a scam.
See, it's that easy. [From: Symantec]

Tags: 419, 419Scam, e-mail, email, safety, scam, security, top, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, UmarFaroukAbdulmutallab, underwear bomber, UnderwearBomber

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular