By Carmen Thielemann?letters to the editor
I received an e-mail from my friend”s e-mail address in Santa Rosa stating that she was in Nigeria. She had been robbed, her ID and passport were stolen.
It stated that she had contacted the U.S. Embassy and that it would take two weeks for them to process her. I was asked for $2,500 to send in her name to a five-star hotel in Nigeria.
My friend was really on a business trip. But, I had enough sense to ask security questions like “What is the name of your husband?” and “What is your friend”s last name?”
Both questions were answered correctly. However, they used one word that was not proper English. Instead of saying “I”m waiting to hear from you.”, it said “I”m waiting to read from you.” I then asked a personal question, plus the telephone number where I could reach her to send her the funds. No reply came. It was a scam. A believable one, though, because the initial security questions were answered correctly. The embassy had already been allegedly contacted. I called a mutual friend in Petaluma who received the same e-mail.
She was headed out the door to wire the money. I stopped her just in time. My friend had taken her computer in for repair. Her password was breached and her information taken. She returned from her business trip this morning to find multiple promises to send money from concerned friends.
When I looked up Nigerian scams, this one did not show up on the list. Please pass alerts to your friends and family that this is going on in our area.
Carmen Thielemann
Clearlake
