IT security company Kaspersky Lab data has identified that the continued conflict and political struggle in Syria has created ideal conditions for ‘Nigerian’ scams to take place
The global security group has identified a rise in the number of Nigerian letters that have made reference to Syria, it said.
According to Kaspersky Lab, spammers sent messages in the names of representatives from banks and humanitarian organisations.
Analysts at the lab revealed that some of the emails they found at Kaspersky Lab were sent using the names of Syrian civilians.
“We came across very brief messages in which the author merely wanted to get to know the recipient better. The texts of the messages made frequent use of words such as ‘turmoil’, ‘crisis’ or ‘revolution’,” said Tatyana Shcherbakova, senior spam analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
"Having got the recipient’s attention, the scammers play on people’s natural desire for easy money and to help people in distress. Users shouldn’t respond to these types of emails because once you are in communication with a ‘Nigerian’ scammer, you risk being cheated,” Shcherbakova added.
