Meet Iqbal Singh, an IT specialist from Adelaide, who is well aware of the hazards of cyber crime networks, yet, even he fell prey to a well organised e-scam.
Iqbal had put up a laptop for sale on Ebay, which was instantly lapped up by a "buyer" in the USA. The man identified himself as Nicholas C Kowalski from the United States, and after "buying" Iqbals laptop, asked it to be shipped to Nigeria to someone working in an American refinery there.
An unsuspecting Iqbal shipped the $500 laptop to Nigeria after receiving emails supposedly from both eBay and Pay Pal confirming that the buyer had paid for the item. A few days later, he received another purported email from eBay informing him that his shipped item had been seized by the customs in Nigeria, and he was required to pay US $420 or the item would be destroyed.
Iqbal has shared his story to warn SBS Punjabi listeners, about the elaborate lengths that these scammers go to, in order to dupe and extort people. Do hear his story.
If you have been a victim of any cybercrime, please report it to ACORN on www.acorn.gov.au If you are in imminent danger, please contact the Police on 000
