engine - 5:31 pm on Oct 29, 2008 (gmt 0)

Microsoft Warns of Financial [reuters.com]Crisis Fraudsters

Internet fraudsters will try to exploit the global financial crisis by sending fraudulent emails purporting to offer cash-strapped consumers new mortgages, loans or money from failed banks, a Microsoft executive said on Wednesday. Tim Cranton, an Internet safety expert at Microsoft, said there are early signs that criminals have already begun trying to cash in on the economic turmoil. "It's especially troubling right now with the financial crisis," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "There are more and more people who are maybe in a more desperate or vulnerable situation. "We have seen an increase in some mortgage refinance type of scams. We are anticipating that they'll become more sophisticated.