People are fined $250,000 for visiting WikiLeaks

Scammers have hammered out a new scheme that may defraud unwitting people of big amounts of money. Now the scam is related to WikiLeaks. Victims who are supposed to be rich enough are called by an automated system that states their computer and IP address "had been noted as having visited the Wikileaks site, and that there were grave consequences for this, including a $250,000 or $25,000 fine, perhaps imprisonment".

Panicked marks are given a dedicated phone number to discuss payment terms if, certainly, these people are stupid enough to be deceived by the trick.

A woman who received the scam voicemail phishing (vishing) call reported the incident to the Central and Eastern Kentucky Better Business Bureau, which issued an alert warning of the ruse and quoting sensible general advise on avoiding phone-based frauds in general, from US consumer watchdog the FTC.

Robert Schroeder, northwest regional director of the Federal Trade Commission, said: “Consumers who get phone calls from strangers need to keep their guard up, especially when the caller makes threats based on bogus accusations – that the consumer has failed to pay an old debt, or has committed some kind of crime, and has to pay up immediately.

"Insist on a written statement of what you owe. Don’t pay it if it’s fake. Don’t provide your bank account, credit card, or social security number. And report the threat to the FTC and your state attorney general - and, if it’s a threat of personal harm, call the police.”