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 Claims of Christianity Used for Phishing - Part 1
By Robin Laudanski
December 7, 2004
There are a multitude of Christian denominations around the world. With Christmas growing closer each day, I've noticed a trend in phishing scams to draw on the beliefs of Christians. Presumably it is to lull the victims into a false sense of making a positive contribution to humanity, during the season of giving. In my last Phishing article I briefly touched on religion being used to exploit people, because of this passage:
WE HOPE YOUR WINNINGS WILL BE USED FOR THE
BETTERMENT OF MANKIND, AND WILL CHANGE THE LIVES OF SO
MANY PEOPLE FOR GOOD. NEVER THINK OF WHAT PEOPLE CAN
DO FOR YOU BUT THINK OF WHAT YOU CAN DO TO UPLIFT THE
LIVES OF PEOPLE, THAT WAY THERE WILL BE MORE OPEN
DOORS AND BLESSING FROM GOD FOR YOU Today we will take a closer look at an email which is much more explicit in it's use of Christian beliefs and terms, and hopefully prevent someone from falling victim to the misuse of the "spirit of giving".
This comes from an email I received early this morning. The subject of the email is a familiar one to anyone following phishing scam trends. Late husband, large sums of money, Nigeria, a well known company, and needing assistance to get the money. What is significantly more prominant is the use of Christianity in the email. Please note the definitions at the bottom of this article for Ameliorating and Ecumenically. The inclusion of those two particular words implies they may also be trying to capitalize on those people who would give to certain Christian Charities, like Christian Children's Fund. It should be noted that any email which you receive from a stranger requesting help to procure funds has approximately a 99.9% chance of being fraudulent in nature.
Please be fully aware the assistance and money being requested and/or referenced in emails of this nature are not being used to end suffering, hunger, poverty or illness in children or anyone else in any country in the world.
Dear Beloved in Christ,
It is by the grace of God that I received Christ,knowing the truth and the truth have set me free.Having known the truth, I had no choice than to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of God´s mercy and glory upon my life.
I am Mrs Caroline Solange Haafkens from Netherlands.I am married to Dr.Franklyn Haafkens who worked with Chevron/Texaco in Nigeria for twenty years before he died in the year 2001.We were married for twenty-seven years without a child.
He died during one of the riots in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.He was held hostage and slain to death by protesting youths of the region. Before his death we were both born again christians.
My late husband acquired a considerable sum of money through his resourcefulness and effectiveness through the duration of his stay in Nigeria These monies are currently lodged in a finance institution in Europe. I am desperately in need of your assistance and guidance in the dispatch of these monies for the sole purpose of ameliorating the suffering of thousands of sick, poor and down trodden individuals ecumenically.
I was recently diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and the doctors have made it absolutely lucid that this disease is terminal. The doctors were not exact about how long I have to live but I am in the know that the disease has ravaged my body and left me at the mercy of endless cocktail of drugs been administered to me. The drugs have gone a long way in alleviating the pains, but I still feel my life gradually ebbing away.
I do not have any existing family member to my knowledge to assist me in procuring these monies before the stipulated time. I established this contact with you solely out of need and desperation, communication with you was completely fortuitous and serendipitous.
I will ask that you inform me of your decision to assist or decline, please ensure that you make your decision based on nobility and humanity. Your assistance will remain forever invaluable and beneficial to thousands of children across the world.
Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein.
I await your urgent reply.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs Caroline Solange Haafkens
This email is clearly preying on the vulnerabilities that a lot of people hold when it comes to children suffering, not to mention certain Christian beliefs: do unto others... as you've done it unto the least of these, one of my little ones, you've done it unto me... etc. Please do not be taken in! This is a scam. There is no other way to look at it. Even though this is a pretty standard phishing scam email, let's take a little look at the parts of it starting with the headers ** Note: Most of the xheaders have been removed as has the original email address this was sent to. We'll get back to main email.
Return-Path: < nobody @server14.integrityserver.net>
Received: from server14.integrityserver.net (server14.integrityserver.net [67.18.58.226])
by bugsbunny.castlecops.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id iB78sGMl005319
for <******@computercops.biz>; Tue, 7 Dec 2004 03:54:16 -0500
Received: from nobody by server14.integrityserver.net with local (Exim 4.43)
id 1Cbb3e-00006P-U8; Tue, 07 Dec 2004 02:50:54 -0600
To:
Subject: Dear Beloved.
From: carol
X-Priority: 1 (Highest)
CC:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: RLSP Mailer
Message-Id:
Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 02:50:54 -0600
The To: field is blank, the subject is a generic Dear Beloved, the priority is set to high, and the email address goes back to Netscape account when it was sent through integrityservers. To put the email address and server name into perspective, it is no different then someone pretending to have a CastleCops email account, but the email is being sent through Comcast, Telus, or Adelphia servers. These are all clues to the scam.
Going back to the email itself, look for the grammar and spelling errors. There are numerous occasions where uncommon words or phrases are used it creates a poor flow to the email. It indicates the use of a Thesaurus, or translator of some kind. There is an excessive reference to various common Christian terms, which in some cases could be considered a testimony or witness, however, in this case it is there specifically to target and manipulate Christians more specifically born again Christians.
These kind of tactics are becoming more and more common, it isn't reserved to the Christian faith. As the holidays approach more and more Phishing scams will be generated which are targetting specific groups of people, intent on preying upon their belief system.
For us who don't use these terms in day to day life, some definitions from Webster's Online Dictionary, and Dictionary.com
Ameliorating
Ecumenically
The next article in this series is inspired by and thanks to one of the members of this site, who sent in information on a Phishing scam targetting Christians through another medium entirely. If you have been a victim of a Phishing scam and would like to share with the community please send Feedback to Robin with some details and a way to contact you. If you would like to ask specific questions related to Phishing please visit CastleCops Phishing, Fraud and Dastardly Deeds forum.
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