UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw was targeted by internet fraudsters who sent emails to his contacts claiming he was in need of emergency money while on a foreign trip, according to a report Wednesday.
Straw told his local constituency’s newspaper, the Lancashire Telegraph in northern England, that the scammers had emailed ministry officials, ruling Labour Party members, and constituents asking for $3 000 because he had lost his wallet while in the Nigerian capital of Lagos.
The fake email, issued under the heading “The Right Hon Jack Straw MP”, said: “I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept.
“I would like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently to settle my hotel bills and get myself back home.”
It claimed that Straw, a former home secretary and foreign secretary, was visiting Lagos for a project called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, though he was in fact in the UK.
One constituent apparently replied to the email, but no money was offered.
The account, a hotmail email address that he used to deal with constituency matters, was suspended by Microsoft.
“The internet is wonderful in many ways, but these gangs put a lot of effort in because they make money from it,” Straw told the newspaper.
“In a lot of cases they do get people to cough up. But I think it was so obviously ridiculous that I could go off trekking in Africa and I would lose my wallet.” — AFP