The Cornerstone Report: Volume 2, Issue 2

SCAM ALERT: Internet Fraudsters Prey On Families Of U.S. Soldiers In Iraq

In earlier issues, we’ve reported on ICE’s efforts to investigate telemarketing fraud. A recent e-mail scam illustrates the lengths to which these criminals will go to defraud the American people.

In February, ICE issued a warning to the public about a pair of Iraq-related e-mail scams making their way around the Internet—one directed at the relatives of fallen U.S. soldiers in Iraq and another in which the sender claims to be an ICE agent tracking Saddam Hussein’s assets in Iraq.

The first scheme is directed at the families of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. The sender of the e-mail claims to be a volunteer working with U.S. forces who is writing on behalf of another fallen soldier who was a friend of the family’s son or daughter, and seeks the family’s assistance in recovering money that the deceased friend had kept for them. The sender promises to provide more details when the family responds, and even adds a link to the ICE Web site to make the solicitation appear authentic.

In a separate e-mail scam, the sender claims to be an ICE official in Iraq who is investigating funds that Saddam Hussein’s sons stole from the Iraqi Central Bank. The sender provides ICE’s Web site address (which includes information about ICE investigators who actually were in Iraq) to establish credibility and asks the recipient to confirm his or her e-mail address.

The perpetrators of these scams have taken pains to make their stories compelling and to make their pitches look like the real thing, but the fact is that the solicitations are not associated with ICE personnel or activities in any way.

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Cornerstone Calendar

Cornerstone is U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) comprehensive investigative initiative for fighting financial crime, trade fraud and intellectual property crime.

The Cornerstone Report is a quarterly bulletin highlighting key issues related to ICE financial and trade investigations.

The Cornerstone Report covers a broad range of topics related to financial investigations and potential vulnerabilities in the financial and trade sectors.

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