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Yes people should be aware that googling a name will find that name wherever its posted on an open forum,Thats why I would only PM someone on here with info for a person who could still be alive.
Shirley
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things can go awry,
Bloodline con tricks elderly, identity fraud warningArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment Kay Dibben
September 07, 2008 12:00am
PEOPLE researching their family tree on the internet are being hit by conmen and could expose themselves to identity fraud if too many personal details are revealed, police warn.
An elderly woman from the Rockhampton area lost about $4000 after she was conned by overseas criminals who used information from her family tree.
Queensland fraud prevention officer Detective Senior Constable Rod Shelton said the woman, 72, was convinced that a Scottish relative had died and left her all his money.
"She was told his full name, where he was born, where he lived in Scotland, and because of that information she believed it," Det Sen-Constable Shelton said.
"Rather than just sending an email saying a relative had died, they picked out a particular person from her family."
The woman told police she had been researching her family genealogy and the details of her relatives, and their dates of birth, could be seen on the internet.
Det Sen-Constable Shelton said the woman was led to believe a pastor overseas had paid a fee so that she could collect the inheritance, and that she needed to reimburse him.
He said the woman then became the victim of a second scam when she was told that she had won a car in England through an internet search engine lottery.
"She was told all she had to do was pay the taxes," he said.
The woman sent more than $1000, believing it was going to the head of the British tax office.
Victims in this particular scam often were told that their email addresses had been entered into a lottery.
Det Sen-Constable Shelton said some people put enough family information on the internet to allow criminals to use the details to fraudulently obtain birth certificates in their names.
They then could become victims of identity fraud.
"You shouldn't have anything on the internet that you don't want to share with the rest of the world," Det Sen-Constable Shelton said.
He said in some Australian states people could obtain birth certificates by sending their own and relatives' full names, maiden names and dates of birth via the internet, without having to show documents.
He said in another recent scam two elderly disabled women from the Beenleigh area had lost more than $100,000 after being focused on through their membership of a worldwide disability association.
The women, who lived in neighbouring units, were told they had won $3.5 million in an international lottery held by the association.
"They paid in excess of $100,000 to various individuals in an attempt to obtain the funds," Det Sen-Constable Shelton said.
Both women lost all their money and one had since sold her property.
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