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LONDON - It was an astonishing plea for help. A desperate British Justice Secretary Jack Straw, stranded in the steaming West African city of Lagos with no money and nowhere to stay. His urgent demand: Please send US$3000 to bring me home.
To alarmed members of the Blackburn Labour Party who received the email, it seemed strangely out of character for their globetrotting MP to be in sudden and urgent need of a cash bailout.
And so it was.
For Straw, who during his tenure as Home Secretary pioneered a special unit to crack down on internet fraud, had become the latest victim of an online scam.
Straw's constituency Hotmail account was hacked into by what are thought to be Nigerian criminals who bombarded hundreds of his friends, colleagues and constituents with begging messages claiming he was stranded in Nigeria after losing his wallet.
The email, marked The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, was sent to 200 contacts asking them to help the beleaguered minister. It claimed he had become separated from his wallet while attending a summit called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism.
"I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept," pleaded the message. "I would like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently to settle my hotel bills and get myself back home."
One constituent replied, but is believed not to have offered the money.
Straw, who insists he was actually hard at work in Whitehall and oblivious to the demands made in his name, confirmed the emails had been sent to a "significant number of people" in his address book. He denied any security risk.
"I started getting phone calls from various constituents asking if I was really in Nigeria needing US$3000," Straw explained yesterday. "The internet is wonderful in many ways, but these gangs put a lot of effort in because they make money from it. In a lot of cases they do get people to cough up."
- INDEPENDENT
