This content was published: February 10, 2011. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Blog: A.G. warns of new e-mail scam
Photos and story by Dana Haynes
Oregon Attorney General John Kroger is warning folks of a new e-mail scam, coming soon to a computer terminal near you.
“The e-mail describes a travel nightmare,” Kroger wrote today. “‘Help! I’ve been robbed at gunpoint while visiting London and desperately need your assistance!’
“No money, no credit cards, no passport or cell phone – your friend is scared and stranded,” the attorney general continued. “What they need you to do is wire them some money quickly. Your instinct is to help your friend. But don’t because it’s probably a scam.”
Fake emergency e-mails are being sent by scammers posing as a friend or family member, Kroger said. The messages come from thieves who gather contact information by either hijacking someone’s e-mail or social networking account, or by collecting the names of people who are cc’d on mass e-mails.
The scam message, he warns, may come from an e-mail address that looks a lot like a friend’s real one.
The attorney general’s office offers online “scam alerts”.
About Dana Haynes
Dana Haynes, joined PCC in 2007 as the manager of the Office of Public Affairs, directing the college's media and government relations. Haynes spent the previous 20 years as a reporter, columnist and editor for Oregon newspapers, including ... more »