Victims of worldwide Internet scams tell their sorry tales CAIRO: Have you ever been the victim of a cyber-scam? Sayyed Masry has. One day the self-proclaimed netizen won $ 500,000 - at least according to a message in his yahoo inbox. "At last my luck struck, he recalls his feeling at the time. The message was written in prefect English, and addressed all the questions that could possibly come to mind. "We are an international organization promoting the increase in email users. We are based in Holland, our contact details are . we chose you by lottery among millions of international mails to win $ 500,000, he read. "The way the message is presented is so professional that you must believe they are a real company. Besides people in Holland have it all, so why should they scam me? Sayyed said. "I thought it was worth a try, I've got nothing to lose, he added At the end of the message, Sayyed was required to keep this information strictly confidential for security measures because someone else could claim the prize. "This is how they set the trap, he said, "by making sure I don't get advice from others who may know all about these scams. He was required to fill in the attached application form and send it back via email or fax. "So I sent it on both, making doubly sure it went through by ringing them. The accent of the man who answered the phone was African. "With his bizarre accent, he first congratulated me for winning the prize and said the application was successfully submitted, Sayyed remembers. Daydreaming about his god-sent fortune, Sayyed rushed to open an account in the National Bank of Egypt, which, the man told him, was the fastest way he could have the money transferred from Holland. "I will get out of the country to invest my money in the UK, I will help all my extended family set up projects, my mother will be proud of me, he thought to himself, not sharing his dreams with anyone else. After a 30-minute international call which cost LE 120, the 'organization manager' asked Sayyed to send a transference fee of 300 euros, which he negotiated down to 150 on the promise to pay the difference as soon as he received the jackpot $500,000. And it was divine providence that saved Sayyed from the final blow minutes before he was about to transfer the fee. When he checked his email to find two messages sent from other African individuals congratulating him for winning the lottery, he felt the "venom of the swindlers. "But I thanked God for exposing them before losing the 150 euros but cried for being so gullible that I spend around LE 200 on this rip-off, Sayyed said. Victims like Sayyed all over the world let out a sigh of relief when Radio Netherlands reported this month that five alleged West African internet swindlers had been arrested, charged with stealing millions of euros from victims all over the world, the broadcaster said. They were also suspected of money laundering. The main suspect was thought to have substantial financial assets in Nigeria. The authorities are now investigating whether these assets can be seized, the report said. However, internet con artists are developing their techniques, finding new ways to take Netizens for a ride. From online shopping scams designed to collect the recipient s credit card number to Nigerian money letters that try to obtain the victim s bank account details by offering to transfer large sums of money for safekeeping, the list of online frauds is endless. Fraudulent firms have joined the scam game with innovative ruses cloaking their activities, making their deceptiveness difficult to uncover. Adam Mohamed was another victim of such scams. I received a letter from a gentleman who claimed to be a Dubai-based banker and offered me a huge amount of money if I would pretend to be the next of kin of a deceased account holder of their bank, he said. Curious to know more, he continued, he contacted him and in the process of enquiry he wanted my bank account number, to which he would be able to transfer the money directly. "Imagine my surprise the next week, when I discovered that nearly half my money had been transferred out of the bank. I contacted a couple of lawyers but they said that they were unable to help me because the conman had already fled, he lamented. Posing as recruitment companies other scammers exploit jobless youth to demand money from applicants in return for securing lucrative jobs in Gulf countries, mainly the UAE. Hassan Abdullah paid a website nearly 200 dirhams to register for a job placement in Dubai. But with five months already passing by and no word from the company, he felt he he's been conned. I received a junk e-mail stating that I had been offered a job in Dubai and I had to pay the amount to show my interest in the offer. The people I was liaising with told me that I would be placed in a Dubai-based company within four months of my payment and that telephone interviews would also be arranged pending payment. But five months have passed and I still haven t heard a word from them, he said. The concerned website does not list a Dubai address, nor does it mention a local agent who could be contacted. Computer security experts also warn that people should be more cautious while giving their personal details such as credit card numbers over the web. You have to know who, what, when, where, how before you deal with any business that can disappear without a trace. I would only do business with a well-known website which has a credible history, said Shadi Omar, a web designer. The solution, say experts, lies in conducting business with only those sites that provide adequate protection to their customers.
