August 8, 2006
The latest 419 scam -- the email spam scams named for section 419 of the Nigerian penal code -- is designed to hook Kennedy assassination buffs. The email landing in inboxes around the world this week purports to be from a dying KGB agent, offering to pass on secrets of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The email's author, who claims to be dying, says he has a cornucopia of documents that have never been made public. He offers them to the recipient, promising they will make that person rich and famous.
"There is a conspiracy at work here, but it's not about whether someone was lurking on a grassy knoll in Dallas on 22 November 1963," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Internet security firm Sophos.
Cluley says the criminals behind the email are conspiring to steal sensitive information and raid the bank accounts of victims who fall for the scam. Once a victim has been drawn in, requests are made from the scammer for private information, which may lead to requests for money, stolen identities, and financial theft.
