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Gulf Oil Spill Victims in Florida Hit With Phishing Scam
As if folks on the Gulf Coast don't have enough worries already, phishing (and, sadly, not fishing) is now plaguing Florida. According to a Reuters report, many Floridians have received an e-mail from scam artists posing as BP CEO Tony Hayward. In the e-mail, the fake Hayward claims the recipient is eligible for a $500,000 grant from BP in exchange for personal information. To spread the word, Attorney General Bill McCollum has issued a statewide consumer advisory warning about the scam, which has been tracked back to Nigeria. You can do your part by keeping an eye out for any suspicious e-mails, and reporting them to McCollum's office. Remember, never give out personal information via an e-mail. A legitimate entity would never ask for it that way.
And that's not to mention that Hayward hasn't exactly been eager to help many victims since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April. The possibility of victims getting a personal e-mail from the CEO is laughable, no matter what PR steps the beleaguered company may be taking. Tragedy begets sad opportunists, and the only phishing news we want to hear from the coast should have to do with a boat, clean water and a pole. [From: Reuters]
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Comments
17
Subscribe to commentsBob BookerJul 25th 2010 2:45PM
You mean this could not be real ? Disppointed that the Nigerians would be up to such stuff.
yenprestJul 25th 2010 3:28PM
Can't you guys get a grip of yourself? why try to blame Nigeria for all your woes? any scams is always "traced" to Nigeria. just too stereotype for my liking. Americans should get a life for God's sake.
the whole world knows that America is the no 1 scam country, so deal with your problem and stop blaming others for it.
jbwJul 25th 2010 5:05PM
You can trace the e-mails from your pc security. About 75% Of the scams that I checked are from Nigeria.
sorry but true
JB
tracerJul 25th 2010 5:02PM
First-The scammer has a return email account setup not in Nigeria.
Second-If you respond the scammer assumes he has a live fishy
Third-If you play the scammer with delays and excuses you will see how desperate they get. Just keep letting the person think that they re in control.
--------------------------------------------------
yenprest you must not be from the USA or you are a reincarnated gerbil that has been hit in the head by a coconut
DonJul 25th 2010 3:22PM
It is amazing that for every crisis there are lowlifes who try to take advantage. Maybe the punishmnet for scams isn't very tough, life imprisonment for scammers sounds just about right for the scum lowlifes that do this to people who are having a tough enough time coping as it is.
Jack McGawJul 25th 2010 4:17PM
There are alway these low lives who will try to take advantage of any one in stress. It happens everytime there is something like this.
But it is not get the low lives our Vice President want to eat at the troph too, he is charging BP $75000 for a trip to the Gulf, where he did what they always do on these trips, nothing. One would wonder just how many other things like this the Obama adminstration is charging to BP, a big pot of money so lets get our share. Does not matter that maybe the money will run our and those who need it will not get any.
tracerJul 25th 2010 5:12PM
Dear future Teapot-In your zest to spew false information note:
The President/Vice President are not charging BP for anything for their personal gain.
They are charging BP and those responsible for compensating the victims of this disaster and for cleaning up the mess and for the damages to the eco system.
It is fine to dislike/bash someone you do not like/agree with but at least have the decency to stick to the facts or is that just the norm for Rep/Dem/Ind/Tea Party members in order to further the so called party agenda.
Maybe we will have a few more new partys like The Party of the Left/Righ/Middle/Top/Bottom the names are as limitless as the brains of the party members are limited.
realamericanJul 25th 2010 4:20PM
Was it necessary to post Tony Hayward's picture here and associate it with the scam? Sleazy journalism at its best.
tracerJul 25th 2010 4:53PM
Poor Tony-He only wanted his life back screw you poor little folks-I am glad his picture was posted.
dudeJul 25th 2010 5:23PM
SCREW BP AND ILLEGAL TONY HAYWARD, HES THE TRASH AND THOSE LOW LIFE JIGGS AND BUMS SHOOT THE SCAMERS AND BP GET THE HELL OUT OF USA AND TAKE YA LOW LIFE SCUM PERSONAL WITH YOU
PhillipJul 25th 2010 5:26PM
This scam sounds like something Rick Scott, Canidate for Governor might be doing. He has alrady milked the gov't for 300 million in Medicare fraud and another 60 million in stimilus money!
Maureen BigosJul 25th 2010 5:41PM
I keep spamming all the scammer emails, Nigerians, western union and etc. and they keep coming back. Why are they keep going through the emails no matter what. It seems like there is no control of the scammers.
DanJul 28th 2010 2:04PM
And why are people dumb enough to actually fall for this? Isnt THAT the question we should really be asking ourselves as a nation? If the majority of our population didn't feel entitled to something for nothing and actually had an education, these phishers would just go away because they wouldnt be making any money but everyone is looking for that get rich quick idea or for someone else to pull their weight for them rather than actually using their mind and maybe even break a sweat to EARN a better life for themselves. This nation needs to start doing for themselves again and stop sitting around waiting for their government check to come in.
Michael giffordJul 25th 2010 8:18PM
how stupid does a person have to be to think Tony Heyward himself would send them an email???
it's no wonder scammers continue...they prey on the stupid and apparently there are plenty of them...
RobertJul 25th 2010 7:18PM
I say we Americans get a group of us to go to Nigeria and personally take care of the scammers there and put an end to their ungodly actions. They are all lazy, worthless, ignorant, ugly bunch of low lifes. The world doesn't need them and would be far better off without them breathing good air. I volunteer for any physical altercation against them.
JEHOVAH GOD ALMIGHTYJul 25th 2010 8:16PM
"Tragedy begets sad opportunists?" OPPORTUNISTS are NOT SAD! They are incapable of sadness or anything else except selfish greed. "Sad" happens when they fail to part a fool from her or his money. THAT'S sad.
davidJul 25th 2010 11:55PM
I used to work in the state department and i can assure you that the vast majority of email scams originate outside of the U.S. And yes, Nigeria accounts for a huge percentage. Its very difficult to execute a web based scam domestically without detection. However, that doesnt absolve us from blame. The "victims" bring it on themselves through greed and ignorance. So many are so dazzled by the easy dollar, they fail to engage common sense.