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SalvaPC News - sicurezza per tutti N. 75 di mercoledi' 17 dicembre 2003

Supplemento a Punto Informatico
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 UNA CELEBRE TRUFFA
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Da diversi anni ormai gli autori di una celebre truffa condotta via email su Internet provano a far cadere in trappola il maggior numero possibile di utenti. 
Nelle ultime settimane si sono moltiplicate le segnalazioni a SalvaPC di utenti che ricevono una lettera proveniente dalla Russia. Ecco di cosa si tratta.

 UNA LETTERA DALLA RUSSIA
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La lettera e' redatta in inglese e ha per subject la frase: Letter from Russia.
In apparenza sembra spedita dallo studente russo Valentin Mihailin, bisognoso di beni di prima necessita', possibilmente di soldi.

Con alcune variazioni la stessa lettera, a firma di Valentin, viene spedita in rete da almeno quattro anni. In uno dei primi lanci Valentin non si definiva studente ma professore. La trasformazione dal secondo al primo e' stato probabilmente ritenuto piu' fruttuoso dagli autori della truffa.

SalvaPC ha provato a rispondere a Valentin ma non ha fin qui ottenuto una risposta. L'ha invece ottenuta un lettore, Tougher, ed e' una risposta illuminante: il sedicente Valentin infatti ringrazia chi lo aiutera' a superare con sua madre l'incipiente inverno e spiega come trasferire a lui dei soldi tramite i servizi bancari di Western Union.

 LA LETTERA DALLA RUSSIA
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Dear Friend,
Please excuse me for any inconvience caused by this message. 
My name is Valentin. I'm a student and I live with my mother in the city of Kaluga, Russia, that is 200km south from Moscow. My mother is invalid. She cannot see and she receives pension from the government very rare which is not enough even for medications. 
I work very hard every day to be able to take care of my mother, but my salary is very small, because my studies still not finished. 
Due to the crisis our authorities recently stoped gas in our district and now we cannot heat our home without gas. I don't know what to do, because the winter is coming and the temperature in the street can be lower than minus 20 degrees Celsius. I'm very afraid that the temperature inside our home can be very cold and we will not be able to survive.
I have found several e-mail addresses, including yours, that is why I decided to appeal to you with a prayer in my heart for a small help. If you have any old electric heater, warm clothes, warm caps and shoes, high-calories food, vitamins, medicine against cold, any hygiene-products, I will be very grateful to you if you could send it to our postal address which is:
Valentin Mihailin,
Ryleeva Street, 6-45.
Kaluga. 248030,
Russia.
If you think that it would be better or easier for you to help with some money, please write me back and I will give you details for sending it safely if you agree. This way to help is very good because the necessities here are not very expensive.
I hope to hear from you very soon and I pray that you will be able to help us to survive this winter. I also hope very much that this hard situation will get better very soon in our country.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2004. I'm sending to you many thanks in advance for your kind understanding. Please excuse me, once more, for any inconvience I could cause you by sending this message.
God Bless You
Valentin and my mother Elena.
Kaluga. Russia.

 LA RISPOSTA DEL SEDICENTE VALENTIN
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My dear Friend,
I thank you very much for your kind message. I'm happy to hear that you will try to help us to survive the coming winter.
Thanks to your help I will be able to buy a portable stove at a special shop "Chozyaistvenniy" in our small city and it will help me to warm our home during the winter and cook the food inside of our home. I will also buy a sleeping bag for my mother, a warm blanket for me and the other things of the primary necessity at our local market. Due to the crisis all these necessities are not very expensive, therefore even a little money will help me to buy it or a part of it.
Concerning remittance I would be able to receive from abroad, I heard on the radio that the most reliable way on how you can safely send money to Russia is to use the Western Union Money Transfer System. I have checked our local phone book and found out that we have a Western Union agent in our city.
I visited our local Western Union Agent and they gave me a paper with the following information I translated for you in English :
1. A remittance via Western Union should be sent to the address of its receiver. Therefore you can send your remittance to our home address is:
Valentin Mihailin, Ryleeva Str. 6-45, Kaluga 248030 Russia.

2. For sending the remittance you need to visit a local Western Union Agent in your city. According to the information of our local Western Union Office, usually they are located inside of post offices. They adviced me to visit the web-site of the Western Union to find all the necessary information. I have visited this site and please find below the link where you can find the address of the nearest Western Union office in your city: http://www.westernunion.com/info/agentInquiryIntl.asp?POPUP=true&PAGE_NAME=i
nfo/agentInquiryIntl

3. When your remittance is sent, you need to inform me the money transfer control number (MTCN) of your remittance. After that I will be able to visit our local Western Union Office in order to receive your remittance.

And the employee told me in addition Please note that if the person will not inform you about the MTCN of his remittance, you will then be unable to receive it. 
My Mother sends you a big hello and she thanks you very much for your great help to our family.
We both would be more than happy if you could tell us a little bit more about yourself, your family and your life in your great country. I thank you very much for your help and I pray to hear from you soon.
God Bless You,
Valentin.

 ULTERIORI INFORMAZIONI
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HoaxBuster.com ha dedicato alla questione una approfondita pagina di analisi, qui:
http://www.hoaxbuster.com/hoaxliste/hoax.php?idArticle=6296

Una analisi e' anche disponibile sul sito italiano Attivissimo.net:
http://attivissimo.homelinux.net/antibufala/valentin/valentin_russia.htm

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