May, 2005

The "Nigerian e-mail" scam is over ten years old and has possibly cost the victims hundreds of millions of dollars. There's no way to tell, really, because many people are too embarrased to call the authorities once they realize they've been had. Read a typical e-mail and see if you'd fall for their tactics. I received one of these emails last week, so it's clear this scam is still going on.

Anyway...

It looks like part of this ring of scam artists and drug dealers have been caught in South Africa by local police and detectives from the UK's Scotland Yard. Hopefully they can lock these boys up and keep them away from computers and fax machines for a few years.

We've tried to help you be smart about what you carry in your wallet, but here's another reminder. If you're wallet were lost, what would you do? Who would you need to call? Whatever you decide, you better do it fast. Identity thieves know that they have to beat you to the punch if they're going to get any value from your lost credit card or social security card.

"You're in trouble if those documents fall into the hands of criminals," said Diane Terry, director of the fraud victim assistance department at the TransUnion credit agency in Fullerton, Calif. "They act quickly, so you have to, too." Much better to keep the good stuff (SSN, PINs, etc.) out of your wallet in the first place.