Editorial board
September 19, 2021 6:00 pm
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An e-mail with a request for help: it is the one that has arrived in the past at the address of some Arezzo. The sender is a fairly common name, which might make some acquaintance think. But in reality, behind this name there is a scammer or perhaps more than one. Because that message is anything but an sos. It is an undue request for money.
The letter, with a friendly, almost confidential tone, reaches individuals, companies and institutions. In many cases it ends up directly in the “Spam” folder. In others it remains in plain sight. Those who opened it were first faced with this request: “I can speak to you via e-mail, I have some problems”. Just a short reply from the recipient and here the scammers go wild and begin to tell the adventure of “do-it-yourself tourists” who for a carelessness find themselves in serious trouble.
“Thank you for your answer – the message reads in fact – and I’m sorry to bother you. I’m on vacation in Mali and I forgot my things (my mobile phone, credit card and cash) in a taxi, at the moment I don’t have to nothing available. It is embarrassing for me to ask you this, but I wish you could unlock me with € 750, upon my return I will refund you as soon as possible. Please keep this email only for yourself so as not to upset my parents. willing to help me, I’ll tell you how to do it. I await your reply and thank you so much “.
In short, a message that could appear truthful, but that was probably copied and pasted to a long address book, in the hope that maybe someone would take the bait. The next step? It is enough for the victim to declare himself willing to help him and within a few minutes a third email arrives: the one with the payment methods.
“Thanks for helping me, it has to be done by mail order to an RIA, MoneyGram or Western Union agency.
I leave you my details “. He writes the fake unfortunate, adding address, postcode and the last request: “You can go to one of these closest agencies.”
At this point the scam is about to materialize. It is enough for a naive recipient to go to a bank or post office and make the payment in good faith.
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