"I am Rosmah Mansor and I need a favour"

Almost everyone with an email account would have received an email by someone claiming to be a family member of a recently toppled corrupt leader, requesting to solicit a huge stash of funds in return for a lucrative commission.

In recent years, names of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and a host of other tinpot African dictators who had quietly left their seats of power, have been invoked in such emails, which are actually sent in bulk by financial scammers hoping to dupe potential victims into parting with their money in return for millions of dollars promised to them.

But in the past few days, a name familiar to Malaysians - Rosmah Mansor (pic), wife of prime minister Najib Razak - has been added to one such email.

A reader who received the email, written in Bahasa Malaysia under the subject 'Agenda Penting' (Important Agenda), alerted Harakahdaily.

It begins with the familiar friendly introduction, and then goes on to repeat the same old story of a secret bank account in Switzerland and the difficulty of transfering hundreds of millions of dollars.

"There have been too many stories and I am aware that the current political situation is no longer favourable to me. One wrong move and I could lose whatever I have worked for," writes "Rosmah", in the email dated May 19, 2013.

"True, I don't know you but you surely know who I am. This is the only way I can avoid prying eyes and ears," the email goes on, in keeping with the modus operandi of internet scammers.

While one can easily dismiss it as work of internet scammers out to rob unthinking netizens hoping to make a quick buck, the choice of Rosmah as a cover does raise eyebrows, especially since her husband is still in power.

Outsiders unfamiliar with Malaysian politics may also be forgiven for thinking that Najib lost the recently concluded general elections.

Or could it be that those outside Malaysia, the ever-conniving internet scammers included, merely drew their own conclusion based on how his government ministers had been reacting to critics?

- Harakah Daily