Welsh 419 scam

Email from Welsh-speaking Kuwaiti widow indicative of more targeted spam.

Email users in Wales who received a recent 419 scam will have been surprised to find the message – purportedly from the widow of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Ivory Coast – written in Welsh.

A lesser known aspect of spam and phishing is that most of the messages are written in English. Many users around the world discard these messages immediately, either because they are unable to read the language, or because they know they do not receive legitimate emails in English.

However, a growing trend has been observed in which spammers are tailoring their campaigns more specifically, with messages being written in the intended recipient’s language. Researchers at

Symantec

recently discovered the Welsh 419 scam email which claims to have been sent from the widow of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Ivory Coast who, as is typical for these kind of emails, wants the recipient to help her distribute a large sum of money among charities.

The email is likely to have been blocked by most users’ spam filters, but even if it had made it to a Welsh user’s inbox, it is unlikely that they would have found these claims credible – if only for the extreme improbability of the widow knowing the Welsh language (a language not even spoken by all Welsh citizens – the Welsh Language Board reports that 20.8% of the population of Wales could speak the language at the last census in 2001).

Still, this amusing incident should serve as a warning that the fact that a message is written in a local language does not mean it should be trusted.

More on the scam at

Symantec

‘s blog

here

. More on the history of the Welsh language

here

.

Posted on 23 February 2011 by

Virus Bulletin