February 21, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Council on Foundations is warning the public about fraudulent e-mail messages that purport to be from Steve Gunderson, president of the council. The organization cautions that responding to the unsolicited e-mail messages or clicking on any of the links provided could allow passwords, credit-card information, and other personal details to be stolen.
The alert was posted on the council’s Web site after recipients of the fraudulent messages notified the organization, says Maya Horton, a lawyer at the council.
One of the e-mail messages includes Mr. Gunderson’s photo, is written in French, and says it is from the “Gunderson Council Development Foundation,” a nonexistent organization. Presented in the guise of an invitation to a fictitious conference, the message directs the reader to a fraudulent Web site and solicits personal information including financial-account information. Ms. Horton says that the same message was circulated last year and that so far most people have greeted it with suspicion.
The council has reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation through its Internet Crime Complaint Center. People who believe they have received a fraudulent e-mail message can report it to the center online.
The council says that, as a precaution, it is best for people to go to the organization’s Web site directly from their Web browsers, rather than from any unsolicited e-mail messages.
For more information: Go to http://www.cof.org.
