Graham Cluley’s blog
A ghastly story reaches me of a man who committed suicide, after losing $50,000 to West African romance scammers.
67-year-old Al Circelli, shot himself in the living room of his home in Yonkers, New York, after – his family say – he became embroiled in an international romance scam that caused him to lose thousands of dollars and even steal from his relatives.
Circelli’s son Peter says he stumbled across evidence that his late father had wired considerable amounts of money to Ghana, and discovered email messages and photos on his father’s laptop supposedly from a woman called Aisha, who wanted to come to the USA to begin a new life and promised to bring a small fortune with her
http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2010/08/19/romance-email-scam-drives-father-suicide/
Many victims have been devastated monetarily by such scams over the years. One can only imagine the emotional pain.
FTC: The “Nigerian” Scam, Costly Compassion
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt117.shtm
Spamhaus
Leaving a wake of over 12-years of criminal spamming and trillions of sent junk emails behind him, long time ROKSO listed spammer Alan Ralsky is finally behind the walls of a US Federal Prison. After pleading guilty to multiple federal criminal charges, and after time extensions to “get his affairs in order”, Ralsky reported to FCI Morgantown in north-central West Virginia on March 1st to start serving his 4-year, 3-month sentence.
Spamhaus, on behalf of the world’s internet email users, gives thanks to all involved. Big thank-you’s to FBI Special Agent Tom Winterhalter, U.S. Attorney Terry Berg, AUSA Julie Beck, USPIS Postal Inspector Karl Hansen and IRS Special Agent Marta Jacks. Over the course of a three-year investigation and prosecution, the investigation & prosecution teams were able to identify and convict 9 domestic and international members of this spam & fraud conspiracy, including Ralsky and his associates.
http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=658
by certifiedbug on February 10, 2010
in Microsoft
Arstechnica
A lawsuit that accused Microsoft of misleading consumers to download and install an update for Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) under the guise that it was critical security update has been tossed out. Last month, a federal judge refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action, which would have meant anyone who owned a Windows XP PC in mid-2006 could join the case without having to hire an attorney, and on Friday the same judge dismissed the case completely.
