Last Updated: Friday, 13 June, 2003, 10:38 GMT 11:38 UK
'Saddam's son' e-mail scam
Fraudulent emails are flooding inboxes
An e-mail claiming to be from a son of Saddam Hussein and asking for help in accessing $45m funds, is one of a flood of scams targeted at people in the UK.
Police said a businessman in Edinburgh received a bogus appeal by e-mail which claimed to be from Uday Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator's favoured son.
A new warning has been issued about e-mail scams after it was revealed that there has been a fivefold increase in the number of fraudulent letters and e-mails originating in West Africa.
These will cost the UK public £150m this year, according to police.
Officers from the Lothian and Borders force received 350 complaints last month from people who were targeted by the conmen.
The goal of the criminal is to delude the victim into thinking they are being drawn into a very lucrative, albeit questionable, arrangement
Det Insp Jim McCartan
The fraud usually involves a letter or e-mail from someone claiming to be a senior civil servant who wants to deposit government funds in the UK, in return for a percentage of the money.
Based on letters received over the past three years, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) estimates that the Scottish public will be conned out of £63m this year, out of a UK total of £150m.
Those who answer the e-mails are drawn into an elaborate fraud where they end up losing thousands of pounds.
The specialist fraud unit in Edinburgh has set up a dedicated e-mail address for people to forward the scam letters.
An Edinburgh business received an e-mail three days ago claiming to be from Uday Hussein asking for help in accessing $45m worth of funds.
'Saddam's son' e-mail scam
Fraudulent emails are flooding inboxes
An e-mail claiming to be from a son of Saddam Hussein and asking for help in accessing $45m funds, is one of a flood of scams targeted at people in the UK.
Police said a businessman in Edinburgh received a bogus appeal by e-mail which claimed to be from Uday Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator's favoured son.
A new warning has been issued about e-mail scams after it was revealed that there has been a fivefold increase in the number of fraudulent letters and e-mails originating in West Africa.
These will cost the UK public £150m this year, according to police.
Officers from the Lothian and Borders force received 350 complaints last month from people who were targeted by the conmen.
The goal of the criminal is to delude the victim into thinking they are being drawn into a very lucrative, albeit questionable, arrangement
Det Insp Jim McCartan
The fraud usually involves a letter or e-mail from someone claiming to be a senior civil servant who wants to deposit government funds in the UK, in return for a percentage of the money.
Based on letters received over the past three years, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) estimates that the Scottish public will be conned out of £63m this year, out of a UK total of £150m.
Those who answer the e-mails are drawn into an elaborate fraud where they end up losing thousands of pounds.
The specialist fraud unit in Edinburgh has set up a dedicated e-mail address for people to forward the scam letters.
An Edinburgh business received an e-mail three days ago claiming to be from Uday Hussein asking for help in accessing $45m worth of funds.
