Friday, 31 October 2008

Internet Biggies Join Forces Against Hoax Lottery E-mail

Microsoft, Yahoo, Western Union and the African Development Bank have joined forces and formed a coalition to raise global awareness among consumers of the threat posed by lottery hoax e-mails.

Through this collaborative effort, the coalition members aim to educate Internet users to better protect themselves against fraudulent activities online.

Internet lottery scams are a common form of advance fee fraud, a crime in which the victim is deceived into paying money upfront to receive a fictitious gift or cash prize. Law enforcement officials have expressed concern that scammers will step up their activity to take advantage of people concerned with or affected by the global economic downturn.

“This online threat differs from those that try to exploit software code or attack computers. Lottery scammers prey not on software, but on the hope of their victims — and with scams that can be so creative and plausible, Internet users simply don’t know whom they can believe. Microsoft is announcing this coalition with the African Development Bank, Western Union and Yahoo today with the goal of helping to better ensure end-to-end trust in the Internet for everyone,” said Tim Cranton, associate general counsel for Worldwide Internet Safety Programs at Microsoft.

Victims of lottery scams that involve any of the coalition companies’ brands or services can report their experience to their local police authority. Interpol will communicate with national law enforcement agencies to inform them of the initiative and provide guidance on critical information to collect.