Javed Anwer, TNN, Oct 31, 2010, 02.08am IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/When-scammers-use-FBI-to-cheat/articleshow/6844186.cms

People get all kinds of junk mails everyday. Some are innocuous, selling performance-enhancing drugs, while others promise monetary gain. However a "warning from FBI" is not something users expect in their mailboxes. Naturally, when Delhi-based Sumesh Gupta, an IT executive, received such a mail a few days ago, he was astonished.

"I opened the mail, wondering why the FBI would write to me. But when I read it, I realized it was a bait by scammers who want to lure me with the promise of millions of dollars so they can cheat me of a few thousand rupees," says Gupta.

The mail said $10 million would be transferred into Gupta's bank account in the US. "We investigated and found that this could be a money laundering ploy. These transfers did not follow due process in line with international fund transfer rules and regulations. Consequently, we suspect this to be a terrorism funding," the mail informed Gupta. "There is every indication", it said, that Gupta was involved in this shady deal, adding that his money had been seized and would only be released if he cleared his name by paying a small fee. He was told to contact the agency people in Nigeria and warned that if he failed to do so, the "FBI will not hesitate to visit the full weight of the law upon" him.

Vinoo Thomas, technical product manager at McAfee Labs, a software security firm which keeps an eye on spam and fake mails, says this email was a classic example of Nigerian email scam. "But now, it's a method used by scammers across the world. They lure web users promising millions and then ask for a small fee to process the transaction," says Thomas.

Gupta says that earlier too he had received such mails but this was the first time FBI's name was being used by scammers. What's more, he was surprised they used the name of Robert S Mueller III, the current FBI director, to sign off the mail. To give it an added touch of authenticity, even his official address and link to the official FBI website was given.

Though some of these mails are highly suspect, Thomas says that given the volume and number of internet users, there would be people who would fall for the bait and get cheated. "New users sometimes fail to heed common sense. The fact that this scam is growing, shows that scammers are making money," says Thomas.

Nigerian email scam, also known as 419 mail scam, originated in the 1980s. Initially, scammers were using normal post but once email arrived, they switched to it; after all, it's cheaper and faster. The scam has even become part of internet culture. A website called 419eater.com was started in 2007 with the aim to counter-scam the Nigerian fraud.

Currently, the website has a burgeoning community, with thousands of users posting the text of scam mails they get and actively pursuing the scammers in a bid to expose them or beat them at their own game.