I was sifting through my Gmail spam folder when I found a message purporting to be from my friend. Let’s call him Bryan:
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:02:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bryan bryan@bryansHackedEmailAccount.edu
Reply-To: Bryan scammersFakeEmailThatLooksLikeBryans@ymail.com
Subject: Urgent help…Bryan
To: Bryan bryan@bryansHackedEmailAccount.eduHow are you doing? This has had to come in a hurry and it has left us in a devastating state. My family and I had a visit to (UK) for a short vacation unannounced some days back, but unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed by some thugs, all cash, cell phones and credit cards were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.
The Embassy and Police have failed to be effective in this matter, besides paper work would cost us days we can’t afford and our flight leaves tomorrow but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills. Please I really need your financial assistance.. Let me know if you can help us out?I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Bryan
It is, of course, a scam that’s been making the rounds for a few years. Scammers will hack someone’s email account (often because of a weak password) and send this message out to all of the victim’s email contacts, hoping someone gullible enough will wire the scammer money.
Wiring money to anyone without verifying the recipient’s identity is as good as throwing it away. Don’t be the next victim! Learn to spot scams and be suspicious of any requests for money that come out of the blue. Contact the purported victim by means other than email and make sure they are who they say they are before you become the real victim!