August 16, 2005
Tsunami relatives sent 'sick' hoax e-mail
by Paul Platt, Times Online
Families of dead or missing tsunami victims have been sent hoax e-mails claiming that their loved ones have been found alive and recovering in Thailand.
One British family received a message titled "Your lost one in the Tsunami has been found", even though their son’s body has been recovered.
The Metropolitan Police says that similar e-mails are going to grieving families in other countries, in what could be a scam to extort money families caught up in the Boxing Day disaster that killed at least 230,000 people in 13 countries, including about 140 Britons.
The hoax claims to come from a non-governmental organisation called "Missing Tsunami Victims" and has been sent from a Yahoo e-mail address, with return addresses given at Hotmail and walla.com. It is signed "Nancy Doyles", a name used in two earlier tsunami-related e-mail scams.
Lorraine Williams, a Metropolitan police spokeswoman, said that an investigation had been launched and added: "Neither police nor the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recognise this organisation.
"We suspect the e-mailer is not British given that the grammar of the e-mail isn’t good, but our specialists will look at it and see where it came from.
"The family that received this are aware that their son is dead and it was particularly distressing for them.
"Anyone who replied would probably enter into a dialogue with the hoaxer and it could perhaps be a scam to extort credit card details by offering to buy a flight out to Thailand. We are treating it as a financial scam."
Police suspect that the e-mail details of relatives and friends were harvested from websites and news services during the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Ms Williams added: "In the early days people were desperate for information and a lot of contact details were posted. The hoaxer has likely taken them from the internet.
"We have very close contact with loved ones of the victims and we would keep them up to date on any developments. Email would not be used.
"It’s a sick crime and if we can prosecute the hoaxer we will. You have to question the motives of anyone that adds to the distress of grieving relatives."
Police are asking anyone who receives the e-mail, or any similar message, not to reply, but to forward it to police at
fraud.alert@met.police.uk
The hoaxer is the latest to prey on tsunami victims and a sympathetic public. Christopher Pierson, 40, of Ruskington, Lincolnshire, was jailed for six months in January for sending 35 messages to families and friends of people missing in the tsunami disaster saying that they were dead.
In June a hoaxer marred the Marylebone Cricket Club’s tsunami relief match at Lord's by making a false bid of £50,000 to face an over from Shane Warne and take a batting masterclass from Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.
In April British volunteers travelling to help Asian tsunami victims were robbed of cash and passports by hoaxers.
Manchester University students Kerry Dunstan and a friend answered a website appeal to join a project in Thailand. After arriving they handed over their passports and £185 to their guides, whom they never saw again.
In January an e-mail said to be a plea for help in identifying a young tsunami victim was declared a fake. The family of Swede Hannes Bergstroem called for people to ignore the message because the two-year-old was reunited with his father, Marko, three days after the Indian Ocean earthquake and the tsunami.
In the previous "Nancy Doyles" e-mails, the suspected fraudster asked for money to reach a £1m target for the so-called Tsunami Relief Organisation.
An earlier scam asked for cash to help fund a football team to be comprised of promising international talent from areas affected by the disaster. The message claimed the Dublin-based team had enlisted Premier League coaches and asked for potential players to send money to cover their air fares to a Bangkok training camp.
Full text of latest hoax:
YOUR LOST ONE IN THE TSUNAMI HAS BEEN FOUND
Dear,
I am ms Nancy doyles,co-ordinator of a non governmental organisation by name(MISSING TSUNAMI VICTIMS)This is an organisation that helps in locating missing survivors of the Tsunami and rejoining them to their families and loved ones.
We just found your lost one and he is currently in a local hospital here in phuket thailand receiving treatments,reply me and you will arrange on how to come to thailand urgently and meet him in hospital.
Awaiting your reply.
Nancy