Forwarded Email Warnings

Most people who have email and check it regularly have been frequented by forwarded emails from friends, family, or companies. But some of these forwarded emails are not just junk; they are real warnings. Concerned family or friends may pass on a forwarded email warning to truly let you know about a new danger that is out there.

I have received four of these. One forwarded email warning was about women who were being targeted by a man who was impersonating a cop in his car on the highways at night. He would pull them over, assault them, and then leave. He was caught because a girl dialed *77 on her cell phone and asked the police dispatcher to tell the cop behind her that she would pull over as soon as she was in a well lit area (which is her right by law for her own safety). The dispatcher told her the chilling news that there was no policeman reported to be in her area, but also told the girl to sit tight and she would send someone out there to her.

In another, the forwarded email warning warned of a new and dangerous scam involving a piece of paper being stuck on the back window of peoples' cars. The person would get in their car, put it in reverse to back out of their parking space, look in the rearview mirror, and see a piece of paper stuck to their window. So, leaving the car running, they would dash out to pull it off, but before they could get back in their cars, someone would jump out, get in their car which still had the keys in it, and take off in it, sometimes almost running the owner of the car over.

Also, one forwarded email warning I received warned about a new gang initiation practice taking place on state highways. The gang member would drive beside the chosen victim, speed up, get in front of him/her, then slow way down to try and get the victim to pull over, often even flashing their lights as if to make the other driver think that it is an emergency. If the person pulled over and got out, the gang member was supposed to kill them or at the very least beat them severely.

The latest forwarded email warning I have received warns about a new scam involving perfume/cologne "dealers." The culprits will be in local parking lots asking people what perfume they are wearing and trying to get the person to smell their "perfumes" that they are supposedly selling at low prices. Except it is no perfume; it's ether. When the person smells the supposed perfume they pass out, and the culprits steal their wallet, all money, and anything else of value they happen to have on them: credit cards, personal information, keys, bank numbers, phones, etc. But with this kind of scam the culprits would not have to stop at just mugging the people, they could easily sexually assault a woman or kill.

All these emails are informative. They give the public, your family, your friends, and your co-workers an edge over the devious plans that criminals cook up to trick honest people into their traps. So, save some of those emails even though they may be another annoying forward email; they may not be truly junk. They may be the source of some lifesaving and trouble-saving information, a warning in the nick of time.