WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-10-31 Time: 02:00:11 Posted By: Jan
By Peter Griffiths
Internet fraudsters will try to exploit the global financial crisis by sending fraudulent e-mails purporting to offer cash-strapped consumers new mortgages, loans or money from failed banks, according to a Microsoft executive.
Tim Cranton, an Internet safety expert at Microsoft, this week said criminals had already begun trying to cash in on the economic turmoil.
“It’s especially troubling right now with the financial crisis. There are more and more people who are in a more desperate or vulnerable situation,” he said.
“We have seen an increase in some mortgage refinance type of scams.
“We anticipate that they’ll become more sophisticated.”
Fraudsters may send spam e-mails to consumers asking them to pay a fee related to the collapse of a bank or financial institution, he said.
“They will allege it is associated with the refinancing – so because of this bailout you’ll get a much better deal on your mortgage and all you have to do is pay this fee.”
Online criminals have long used promises of easy money to try to defraud people.
Common scams include requests to help move money out of a developing country. People are offered a cut of the fortune if they first pay a release fee. Or they are told they have won a lottery in a foreign country and will receive a huge jackpot once they pay an administration fee.
A poll for Microsoft this week found that more than 25 percent of computer users thought it was likely that they would fall victim to an online scam and lose money.
Half said the scams made them more wary of shopping online, while more than a third said it led to them being more reluctant to use the Internet at all.
However, the poll suggested that the actual chances of becoming a victim are far lower than the perceived risk.
Of 5 000 people polled across Europe, only 113 had lost money to an Internet fraudster in the past year. That equates to one in 44 of those questioned. – Reuters