by Nick Taylor

Now I can save the world!  Or so the phony email says. It arrived in my inbox overnight: “I have decided to will my estate to you for the work of humanity, for more info contact Attorney Newton Blackwell on email…” Who doesn’t want to do the work of humanity? The scammer.

And this is clearly a scam. The sender, using a hijacked address, wanted me to respond to another email address where someone would ask me for my personal financial information so that I could collect the money.

Email phishing scam

Email scammers know that if they cast a wide enough net, some people will respond and be persuaded to share their banking and other vital information in hopes of receiving money.

This is just another reminder that you should never give personal or financial information via email or the Internet to anyone who says they’re going to make you rich, for whatever reason.

Report to investigators

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC ) investigates and tries to track scammers. You can report your experience with an email to spam@uce.gov The Anti-Phishing Working Group, a group of ISPs, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies also tries to combat phishing and it’s a good idea to contact them: reportphishing@antiphishing.org.

Then delete the email. Tell us about your experience with phishing scams. Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter