Ex-cop tackles online scams

2007-09-05 14:04

Ilse Arendse

Cape Town - A new website named Scamletters.com has been launched in an effort to prevent computer users from falling prey to online fraudsters.

The site, created by Rian Visser, a former member of the SA Police Service (SAPS) Commercial Branch and founder of 419Legal.org, lets users report scam letters by adding them to the site's database.

Visser told News24: "I knew that it was difficult for law enforcement agencies to deal with the large amount of scam letters reported and decided to start a facility where the public and law enforcement agencies could benefit.

"Here scam letters can be reported with minimum trouble and law enforcement agencies can conduct useful investigations without using resources of their own.

"My biggest advantage is that people who conduct internet searches on information that could be contained in reported scam letters, will immediately find the results in the world's biggest search engines."

Visser said the site, which was opened for testing on September 1 and officially opened to the public on September 4, has so far received 150 scam letters on a daily basis.

"We were also already contacted by various law enforcement agencies, including some divisions in the SAPS," Visser added.

The site is managed by Visser and 15 volunteers - the website is automated, but the volunteers assist in answering user queries and ensure that scam letters are reported correctly.

- News24