Pop quiz time. Who was the first African in space? Mark Shuttleworth, right? Until a few days ago I’d have agreed with you, but that was before I received an e-mail informing me it was actually someone named Abacha Tunde.
Never heard of him? Nor had I. But according to the e-mail, Tunde, a major in the Nigerian air force, made several secret flights into space from 1979 onwards as part of a clandestine Russian space programme.
The last flight was to the secret Soviet military space station Salyut 8T. In 1990, following the fall of the Soviet Union, Tunde’s Russian crewmates left him marooned in space, using his spot on the return shuttle for excess cargo.
“There have been occasional Progrez supply flights to keep him going since that time. He is in good humour, but wants to come home,” writes the sender, who says he is Tunde’s cousin as well as the Astronautics Project Manager of the Nigerian space agency.
So where do I come in? It seems the agency requires my bank account as the temporary home for the millions of dollars required to fund Tunde’s return flight. As a reward, I’m promised a generous share of his $15 million in flight pay and interest that has accumulated over the years.
As you’ve no doubt gathered by now, this is a variation of the classic 419 scam, albeit a particularly imaginative one. So far fetched, in fact, that many believe it’s a parody.
I know my readers wouldn’t fall for something as obvious as this, but e-mail scams are growing increasingly sophisticated. Millions of people fall victim to phishing e-mails each year, most pretending to come from a legitimate company or organisation – Nigeria really does have a space agency, by the way.
Here are a few tips to avoid being hooked by a conman on a phishing expedition.
Be suspicious of unsolicited e-mails
Generally, these appear in the form of e-mails from institutions like banks, pretending to require some information from you. The good folks at Google South Africa advise you to ignore these e-mails.
“Your bank will never ask you for personal information via e-mail. Never click on links within these suspicious communications.
“If you suspect it might be legitimate, call the sender and check rather than clicking anything. Most importantly, never ever reveal any information about yourself, your family or your financial details,” Google advises.
Beware of bad grammar and spelling
Poor spelling and grammar in an e-mail supposedly from a multi-billion-rand corporation is a dead giveaway. These companies are fanatical about their corporate image and wouldn’t sign off on a poorly written, badly edited document.
Look out for dodgy URLs
In a bid to make their e-mails appear legitimate, scam artists often include web addresses, or URLs, that appear to link to legitimate companies like Microsoft, Apple or your bank.
When in doubt, hover your mouse pointer over the URL provided. By doing this, a link that’s displayed in your mail as, for example, “yourbank.com” may be revealed to actually be “yourbank.suckersclickhe.re”.
The first part of that URL may appear to be legit, but it’s the last part that’s important and is invariably the give-away.
Remember to check all the URLS in the e-mail. Scammers often pepper their mails with links to genuine websites in an attempt to lend them credibility.
Trust your instincts
Finally, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
If someone promises you millions in return for a “modest investment” of a few thousand dollars, you’ll probably spot it as a scam immediately.
Other scams are more subtle, but, if you listen to your better instincts (caution rather than greed), you’ll usually be okay.
For the full text of the Nigerian lost in space e-mail, as well as more safe web browsing tips from Google SA, visit my blog thegrid.ai/geekbeard.
Got any questions or comments? Follow me on Twitter @alanqcooper
