Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

District Attorney Vance Warns of E-mail Scam Targeting New Yorkers

By DNAinfo Staff on July 23, 2010 6:14pm

A sample of an e-mail scam the district attorney issued a warning about Friday.
A sample of an e-mail scam the district attorney issued a warning about Friday.
View Full Caption
Manhattan District Attorney's Office

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MUNICIPAL DISTRICT — An overseas-based e-mail scam is gaining momentum in New York by tricking users into believing someone they know is in trouble, the Manhattan district attorney warned on Friday.

Although District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. cannot prosecute the perpetrators, his office has been fielding complaints from New Yorkers reporting the common scam, he said.

The scam works when certain software accesses a person's e-mail account and sends a generic "S.O.S." message to everyone in the user's address book, Vance said.

The sender's address appears as someone familiar — a friend, relative or colleague — because that person's account has been hacked and is sending the same e-mail to everyone in the address book.

Once the perpetrator is conversing with a victim's friend or relative, the hackers can more easily convince the recipient that they are who they purport to be.

The scammer has "access to all saved e-mails in the compromised e-mail accounts" and can learn a great deal of personal information about the victim, the prosecutor warned.

Recipients of a similar e-mail are encouraged to report the incident to the federal government's Internet Crime Complaint Center.