GARNETT — A Garnett man was recently victimized by what the Garnett Police Department calls a new type of a Nigerian scam. Gordon Blackie told the Anderson County Review he knew right away that something was wrong when he couldn’t access his G-Mail e-mail account. That’s when the phone calls started coming. He said his e-mail account had been hacked. Every person on his e-mail contact list received an e-mail saying that he was stranded in England and needed $2,600 to help him get home. Blackie said he quickly learned who his friends were; he got phone calls from friends asking if he needed the money. He said the bogus e-mail listed a cell phone number that was one digit away from being identical to his but his friends were suspicious of the broken English in the e-mail. Blackie said he was irritated because he had to wait several hours for G-Mail to deal with the problem because G-Mail doesn’t have 24-hour telephone service. Garnett police say they are receiving more reports of the Nigerian scams, which often ask for help in moving large sums of money overseas in slightly shady circumstances. Police said you should use common sense and should respond to unsolicited e-mails that ask for bank account and other personal information.
Friday, April 30, 7 a.m.
