Vultures circle Christchurch - an email scam warning
UPDATED: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has reported more email scams involving the Christchurch earthquake relief effort.
UPDATE: Another email scam has been reported by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and this attempt is more sophisticated.
The scam also involves an email, supposedly from the Red Cross, that directs people to a fake phishing website where it then asks for credit card details. What is worrying is that the fake website has what the Ministry calls the same "look and feel" as Red Cross' actual site.
Indications that the website is a scam include the highly suspicious mispelling of 'Christchurch', the long web address and its not being hosted on the Red Cross site, and the payment page not being secure.
The Ministry is looking into these websites but warns that more are likely to appear.
NBR advises that emails which ask for credit card details and have cretinous spelling are generally a bad plan. NBR takes no responsibility for scammees.
----------
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has reported an email scam involving the Christchurch earthquake relief effort.
Cyber safety organizations Netsafe and Scamwatch have received reports of scammers trying to extract bank account information from well-meaning New Zealanders, the Ministry said.
The scam asks people to take funds for the earthquake relief into their bank account, for a 10% cut. The emails, sent from "James McCoy" and claiming to be from "Donate4Charity NZ" are all the more disturbing for their use of the name of a legitimate charity in the United Kingdom.
To add insult to injury, the Ministry’s call centre was in the Christchurch earthquake and has been evacuated, but the Ministry’s advice on scam emails is that if it is from a generic address like hotmail.com, poorly spelt or offers money, it is most likely a scam.
Alex Walls
Wed, 23 Feb 2011
Wed, 23 Feb 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Vultures circle Christchurch - an email scam warning
12582