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New scam parades as speeding ticket
Posted: 08.22.2011 at 5:58 PM
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A new scam has criminals emailing what looks like a speeding ticket, asking for personal information  / Ashley Knight
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ALBANY, GA -- A new internet scam is making its rounds and you need to be aware of it.    

It's an email claiming to be a traffic ticket and wanting you to download and send back your personal information.

It seems criminals are finding new ways to reach into your wallet--and their weapon of choice is the internet, now more than ever.

“You need to be very careful about anything you do on the internet anymore, cause the internet is a very dangerous place, it's full of minefields,” says Capt. Craig Dodd with the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office.

You get an email of a traffic ticket from the state of New York saying you were speeding. The email then prompts you to download information to send back to whoever sent the email. Experts say clicking on the download can immediately unleash a virus on your computer.

“The way things are now with the automated traffic cameras, somebody could easily fall for that,” says Edward Prince, who lives in Albany and says he has never fallen victim to a scam.

Captain Dodd also feels that folks may see this email and think they have to prove it's not them, sending in their driver's license information or other personal information.

“They might send it back, filling out information that these people want and send them back something saying 'hey, here's my driver's license, I'm not this person'.

There's also speculation that we're getting the email here in Albany, Georgia because the scammers are confusing us with Albany, New York.

Either way, never download something from someone you don't know and call the sheriff's office if you do get an email like this.

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