Islanders on the alert after first Gaelic email scam

POLICE have warned islanders about an unusual email scam – written entirely in Gaelic.

It is believed to be the first such scam in the ancient tongue, spoken by fewer than 60,000 Scots, and could be the result of Google translating the language only three months ago.

The letter – which is circulating in the Western Isles, the heartland of Gaelic – was shown by police to Benbecula Community Council at its meeting on Thursday.

Chairman Gail Robertson said the scam had recently reached Lewis and Harris.

‘A request is made for the receiver to make an investment in an African company with the usual financial rewards promised after an initial investment which is processed via MoneyGram or similar,’ she said.

‘The only unusual thing about it is that the email is entirely in Gaelic and appears to be directly targeting Gaelic speakers.

‘The address from which the email originates is of Italian origin and relates to an African investment so it seems strange that the language used would be Gaelic.

‘A number of members of the public that I have spoken to about this told me that they would automatically be more trusting of any correspondence which was in Gaelic so there is a real risk that someone could lose money with this scam.

‘Even if one person is caught by it – it is one too many. The police said it was the first Gaelic scam they knew of.

‘An officer who can speak Gaelic said some of the Gaelic was a bit iffy, but it could fool older people in particular.’

Western Isles councillor Andrew Walker, who is also secretary of the community council, said it was important that people in the isles were widely aware of the scam.

‘Having it written in Gaelic adds to its authenticity,’ he said. ‘It might lower the defences of older people especially.’

How the email has emerged from Italy remains a mystery. But in February Google Translate decided to include Gaelic in its service and Mr Walker believes it likely the scam could be linked to that.

Google Translate can now handle more than 100 languages, after 13 new ones – including Gaelic – were introduced.

Scots Gaelic, spoken by around 57,000 people, has been added along with languages such as Hawaiian, Samoan and Pashto.

The service was launched in 2006 with translations initially between English and Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Google says the 13 new additions will help another 120 million people communicate with the rest of the world online.