Gaddafi email scam offers you millions, and to set up an orphanage!

Graham Cluley
Graham Cluley
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@gcluley

It’s not just malware authors who are taking advantage of the death of Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi.

Scammers and fraudsters are exploiting what they see as a money-making opportunity too.

Take the following “top secret” email, for instance.

It claims to come from one of Gaddafi’s cohorts, who says he is currently hiding in a small European country. Andorra? Liechtenstein? Vatican City? He’s not clear about that.

But what he is clear about is that he has millions of euros tucked away in a Spanish bank account – some of which he’d like to share with you, and some which he would like to use to set up an orphanage.

Ahh.. what a nice fellow!

I wouldn’t recommend that you pursue this business opportunity, however. The email has all the tell-tale signs of a 419 scam or advance fee fraud…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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