Fraudsters target Swedish tsunami relatives
A number of people in Sweden who lost relatives in the tsunami catastrophe in Thailand last December have been targeted by fraudsters.
On Friday a man in Västerås received an e-mail saying that his father was being treated in a hospital in Phuket.
"I understood that it was a con and that the sender was just after my money," said the man to the local paper.
Both of his parents died in the disaster. In March he was told that they had been identified with the help of dental records and in April they were buried in Västerås.
The man was deeply disturbed by the e-mail and reported it to the police. He was told that several people around Sweden had been sent a similar e-mail.
The National Criminal Investigation Department is now looking into the incidents.
"It's naturally upsetting for the affected families and hardest for those who have not had their relatives identified," said police inspector Jan Svelin.
He described the e-mail as attempted fraud.
Similar messages, in which the sender wants a reply and will then request money, were sent out in the days immediately after the tsunami on December 26th
Police computer experts are now trying to trace the sender.
TT/The Local
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On Friday a man in Västerås received an e-mail saying that his father was being treated in a hospital in Phuket.
"I understood that it was a con and that the sender was just after my money," said the man to the local paper.
Both of his parents died in the disaster. In March he was told that they had been identified with the help of dental records and in April they were buried in Västerås.
The man was deeply disturbed by the e-mail and reported it to the police. He was told that several people around Sweden had been sent a similar e-mail.
The National Criminal Investigation Department is now looking into the incidents.
"It's naturally upsetting for the affected families and hardest for those who have not had their relatives identified," said police inspector Jan Svelin.
He described the e-mail as attempted fraud.
Similar messages, in which the sender wants a reply and will then request money, were sent out in the days immediately after the tsunami on December 26th
Police computer experts are now trying to trace the sender.
TT/The Local
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