E-Mailers Pose as Homeland Security Dept.
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WASHINGTON — Federal authorities are investigating two e-mail scams, including one targeting families of troops killed in Iraq, that claim affiliation with the Homeland Security Department.
The scams “are among the worst we have ever encountered,” Michael J. Garcia, director of the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, said Friday.
In one scheme, an e-mail sent to families of U.S. troops killed in Iraq includes a link to the bureau’s website. The e-mail says it seeks to recover money from a friend of the slain soldier.
In the other, an e-mail identifies the sender as a federal agent trying to track down funds looted from the Iraqi Central Bank by a son of ousted President Saddam Hussein. The e-mail also has a link to the bureau website and asks for confirmation of the recipient’s address by urging, “There is a very important and confidential matter which I want us both to discuss.”
Garcia urged people to ignore and delete the e-mails.
“Most troubling is the fact that some are targeting the relatives of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq,” he said in a statement.
“We are also concerned ... that these criminals are impersonating” customs agents “to steal money from Americans who have lost loved ones.”
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