New low for scammers

Editorial

Most people with e-mail, by now, have probably encountered the amusing spam scam involving alleged millions needing transferring from Nigeria. The gist of the e-mail is that just a small sum, say $500, is needed to get the ball rolling to have millions of dollars transferred into your bank account.

It's not funny, of course. Preying on a mix of people's greed and willingness to help, the scams are deplorable and often do manage to find a victim. But they can't help but elicit a giggle, too, for their proficiency of language.

In one, we are offered the residue of the estate of a "great late diamond and oil magnet" [sic]. In another, a son conveys his need to fulfil his father's last wishes – and we can profit from it: "I must confess my agitation is real, and my words is my bond, in this proposal. My late father ever before his death to the blessed memory (R.I.P) has foretold me about a certain fund deposit of (12.5 m$)." American dollars, we hope.

Another e-mail invitation came out of divine provenance: "I prayed over it and selected your name among other names due to its esteeming nature and the recommendation given to me."

This month, though, the e-mails took a turn. This time, it is not some diabolical effort to shuffle money out of an autocratic regime, but the invocation of the Holocaust to exploit our greed and sympathy. Pretending to be a facilitator for the settling of material claims against Swiss banks who profited from the estates of Holocaust victims, the latest e-mail fraud reflects the moral vacuity of these scam artists.

Inventing fake institutions, such as the "Claims Resolution Tribunal" and the "Holocaust Claims Processing Office," as well as fake victims' names, the sender of the e-mail pretends to have found more than 50,000 new accounts in Swiss banks.

"These accounts had been dormant since the end of World War II (May 9, 1945)," reads the e-mail. "Most belonged to Holocaust victims." And they can be yours if you send in your bank account number and a few personal details. Surely the only way to reach a morally lower plane than the scammers who created this fraud would be to take them up on the offer. Inevitably, someone will rise to the occasion.

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