By Alan Mauldin
May 07, 2008 09:27 pm
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THOMASVILLE — Friends of the Rev. Dr. William Bradley were surprised to receive e-mails from him stating he was stranded in Africa and needed money. And so was Bradley.
After hacking into his computer, someone got access to Bradley’s e-mail account, sent messages with the hard-luck tale of being stranded while on a humanitarian mission and asked for financial assistance. Bradley does not know when the breach occurred, but learned about it Sunday.
“I became aware of it after church when I was informed by a member of the church,” Bradley said. “He said, ‘How can you be here and I just received an e-mail from you in Africa?’”
Bradley said he immediately began e-mailing everyone in his address book to warn them of the scam. He became concerned that whoever had hacked it was in control of the e-mail system, which he later learned was the case, so he sent the messages on his daughter’s account.
There were 103 names in his address book, but Bradley said he does not know how many of his acquaintances received messages from the scam artists.
The e-mail, which contained a number of spelling and grammatical errors, said that Bradley had lost his money and passport and needed $2,500 to settle his hotel bill and get a flight home. It asked that the money be sent to a Western Union transfer location in Nigeria.
Bradley said his ministry has sponsored a family in Africa.
That’s been going on for over two years,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve ever been hacked.
“It was really kind of frightening when I first saw it. I didn’t really know how to handle it. It’s one of those things you think will never happen to you. Here I am sitting all fat and happy in Thomasville, Georgia, and it happens to me.”
Bradley said his e-mail provider helped him change his password, and for extra protection he switched providers. He also discussed it with a Thomasville Police Department investigator.
The e-mails would have been more effective if not for the matter of spelling and other errors throughout, Bradley said.
“If it had been grammatically correct, it would have been a perfect scheme,” he said.
The minister’s experience is by no means a random event, said police Sgt. Melven Johnson.
Many e-mail scams originate out of Ghana or Nigeria, and there is pretty much nothing law enforcement agencies can do about it, Johnson said. The various attempts to fleece unsuspecting Internet users include requests for money or personal banking information.
Another common scheme involves telling the e-mail recipient he won a prize and sending forged checks or money orders that are to be used to pay taxes on the prize. The recipient is instructed to cash the forged document and return some of the money to Africa, but doing so leaves him on the hook to make good for the money, Johnson said.
“That’s the one we see the most, counterfeit checks and money orders. That’s different,” Johnson said of what happened to Bradley. “This is the first time we’ve seen this particular scam.”
Bradley said he has not heard of anyone contacted through his e-mail falling for the scam.
Another new e-mail scam that began showing up Tuesday targets people who are waiting for economic stimulus package checks, said Mark Green, an Internal Revenue Service spokesman in the agency’s Atlanta office. Since first appearing it has shown up in inboxes in Alabama, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles and Nashville, and will spread quickly over the nation.
The e-mail tells the recipient that to expedite the stimulus check he should click on a link contained in the e-mail and enter banking information.
Recipients should not open the link, Green said, because even if personal information is not entered the program can either establish a connection to steal personal information from the recipient’s computer or it can transfer a virus that can destroy the hard drive.
“These charlatans, whoever is doing it, it’s just unbelievable is all I can say,” he said.
“They’re making a big push to get as much money as possible, to get as much money as they can before people start getting checks in the regular way.”
Reporter Alan Mauldin can be reached by calling (229) 226-2400, ext. 226.
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