JEDDAH, Aug 17 (Arab News): While Ramadan is seen as a time for worship and earning extra spiritual rewards through charity giving, there are others who see the holy month as a golden opportunity to swindle the kindhearted.
One of the latest scams involves people impersonating employees of charitable foundations throughout the world, seeking help for Muslims and orphans following devastating disasters that recently hit Pakistan and China.
“I am Ms. Chiara, the director of an organization for poor women and orphan children in Pakistan,” says one such e-mail.
“Due to the recent floods we are seeking to help as many as 493 people currently sheltered without organization and in need of food and supplies, including clothing and blankets for the unfortunate during the holy month of Ramadan.”
The e-mail then gives an account number for the reader to deposit money into.
“We are a poor family suffering from the floods and desperately need your help. Please send whatever amount you can to my account information listed below to help us during the holy month of Ramadan,” another e-mail reads.
According to Internet security firms such as Security Advisor and TrendsMicro, these types of e-mails should never be taken seriously.
“If anyone would like to truly send a donation to help the victims of the floods, we advise that they contact the organization themselves such as the United Nations and the Islamic Relief Organization, which have legitimate links on their websites to accept donations for needy people,” a source at TrendsMicro told Arab News.
Other Ramadan scams also include e-mails stating that the recipient has won a large cash prize in a random secret draw.
“Congratulations, you have been chosen as the winner of $300,000 in the Ramadan Online Global Lottery. You were picked randomly using our credit ballot system,” said an e-mail claiming to be from London.
The catch is that in order to receive the winnings, the recipient must send personal information and a check for a certain amount to an account in London to cover shipping fees, insurance and taxes.
TrendsMicro has also said some fraudsters have been tracking the news to tailor their e-mails and persuade people to visit sites containing hidden malware, viruses and Trojan spyware.
Most recently, hackers have been offering links to supposed Ramadan websites, such as those purporting to offer free downloads of the Holy Qur’an, Hadiths and others. When Internet surfers visit these links, they are then subjected to various cyber-attacks.
“Once visitors access a fraudulent website address, it is possible for fraudsters to harvest personal data and financial information and even take control of their computers,” a spokesman for the security firm told Arab News in a previous interview.
For this reason, many Internet security firms have warned people not to send money to any organization or source using private inboxes as a means of contact and to always have the latest antivirus software.