Latest Internet scam tracked by Interpol

Local internet users have been advised to be alert following an Internet scam inviting them to a global world conference for Human Rights billed for March 10-12 in Washington DC, in the US.

The mail which is circulating amongst various undisclosed recipients is authored by someone claiming to be working for Global Organization for Human Rights inviting them for the conference.

In the scam recipients are asked to contact the conference secretariat for all visa arrangements and travel assistance.

The Botswana Police Public Relations Officer Senior Superintedent, Dipheko Motube said it had been realised that despite warnings in the past about Inernet scams people have fallen for the trap as they continue to send money to enable them to attend the conference without first establishing the authenticity of such an e-mail and in the process being swindled of their money.

Mr Motube said what had been oobserved is that there are no official letter heads with all the addresses as well as the full particulars of the contact persons.

The organizations and the public are therefore urged to be cautious when dealing with matters of this nature especially where invitations are not done in a transparent manner.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintedent Motube said Interpol has also discovered yet another type of scam whereby criminals unlawfully take control of individuals e-mail (e-mail hijacking) and start sending messages to the contact list in the address book. During the e-mail take over, the subscriber would be denied access to his/her e-mail.

He said the message which appears may indicate that the e-mail is experiencing technical problems and that it will be addressed.

The affected e-mail websites are yahoo and hotmail.

The messages are written as if they are from the owners of the e-mail addresses purporting to ask for urgent financial help.

Some of the reasons advanced are that he/she had lost the entire luggage and other important documents hence they are asking for money to cover traveling expenses and that the money would be reimbursed upon arrival at home.

He noted that these impostors usually claim to be stranded far from home.