August 2, 2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (The Borowitz Report)—In what is being called a widespread e-mail scam, millions of Americans have been tricked into sending money to a person claiming to have been elected President in 2020.
According to Harland Dorrinson, who heads up the National Internet Scam Bureau, the person sending the hoax e-mails claims to have had an election stolen from him and to be in desperate need of cash.
“The e-mails look very official, so it’s not surprising that so many people have been taken in,” Dorrinson said.
The scam expert said that those receiving the e-mails should take a close look at the sender’s name. “The actual President of the United States is named Joe Biden,” he said. “If the name of the person on the e-mail is something different, then it’s a fake.”
If you receive one of the fraudulent e-mails, Dorrinson said, under no conditions should you give the sender your credit-card number or any other financial information. “E-mails from a Nigerian prince are more legit,” he said.
Andy Borowitz is a Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes The Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news.