Online scam claims more victims
11th November 2002 (Computimes)
By A. Shukor Rahman

THE Internet scam, which promises huge returns for a little help in enabling transfer of some hidden assets in certain African countries, has claimed yet another victim here.

It was reported in local newspapers that the latest victim - the sixth to have "reported" their cases so far - is a lawyer and she lost RM38,000 to the scheme. Collectively, it is believed over RM1 million have been lost by these victims. I am sure there are others who however prefer not to say a word about their follies.

Certainly, we should feel sorry for the victims but at the same time, I find it amazing how well-educated individuals such as the lawyer could fall victim to such a scam, which is obviously too good to be true.

Even if the "assets" do exist, the "business proposal" is quite clearly an invitation to commit an unethical act, if not, an outright fraud!

Furthermore, such online scams have already been highlighted by the mass media some time ago and warnings have been issued by the authorities for Net users to just ignore those seemingly tempting offers. And yet, we still see new cases being reported. From this point of view, one can even say that the victims are actually victims of their own doings.

Not a technology issue. Technology is certainly not to be blamed here. The Internet may be a convenient tool for the schemers to reach potential victims around the globe, but it is the individuals who must be able to evaluate all things that go through their mailboxes; separate truth from lies and gain from what the Net has to offer instead of losing to the tempting "offers" that come with it.

The scary part here is that this is just a simple, straightforward scam that could have been avoided had the victims used their common sense.

Imagine what would have happened if more sophisticated schemes emerged. It is indeed an endless story! As new technologies emerge, there are individuals who will try to make a quick buck, albeit in a wrong way. Hopefully, our community will be more prepared.

Effective protection. In this respect, I would think that the strongest defence is to arm ourselves with knowledge so that we would be able to see what is right and wrong, and what is possible and not. This will not only protect against fraud attempts but also harmful Internet content in general. Of course, some may say that it would be better if such fraudulent (and harmful) items do not get to our mailbox at all. This is true but not possible to do unless you stay off the Internet all together. Again, this is not the right solution.

Filtering technologies are fine but they only work to a certain extent. It is not possible to block out all harmful content on the Net. Harmful content may come in various forms and from a multitude of sources.

Even the definition "harmful" is not universal. An item may be regarded as harmful in Malaysia but not elsewhere. It involves various factors such as laws of the country as well as cultural values of the community. It may also change with time.

In view of this, some may prefer to use the term "objectionable" instead of "harmful". In fact, I think the former is more accurate in describing unwanted Internet content whether at individual, societal or national levels.

Junk mails. Perhaps, the biggest group of such objectionable content is the junk mails.

Although some junk mails may actually contain useful information, most people do not like the idea of receiving unsolicited electronic mail, especially when there are so many of them cluttering up one's mailbox.

Mind you, junk mails do not always come from spammers. Individual Net users contribute to the distribution of junk mails through the wonderful "forward" feature that is available on most e-mail programs.

I am certain most of us consistently get forwarded e-mail that may contain jokes, graphics or pictures. Certainly, some of them are really funny and interesting but most are just junk! At the same time, many of us are also guilty of forwarding such e-mail to a few friends. In turn, those friends also forward the same e-mail to few of their friends, and so on.

We live in a small world after all and if we go far enough, many of us actually have common friends. As such, it is quite possible after a while, to receive the same e-mail that we have received (and forwarded) before.

Next time, before you hit the "forward" button, you may want to pause and wonder if that is really a good idea. Perhaps you can do your friends a favour by being more selective on the kind of e-mail that you are forwarding. I am sure your friends will appreciate your consideration.