Last Updated on: 12th December 2019, 12:25 pm
Here’s a little warning for everyone. If you get an email from a friend of yours that says they got mugged while in England, and now can’t get home without your help, don’t believe it. Likely, someone has hacked your friend’s email.
I had heard about this phenomenon happening on Facebook, where a hacker would get someone’s password and then send a message to their friends groups, but just yesterday, I got two very similar emails from two people who wouldn’t know each other at all, so I thought others might be receiving the same thing. Here are the two emails I received, with all personal information removed.
subject: Rescue!
I’m writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to Wales,United kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were robbed at the park of the hotel where we stayed,worse of it was that our bags, cash , credit cards and cell phone were stolen of us at GUN POINT, it’s such a crazy experience for us.
we need help flying back home and the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is that we still have our passports but don’t ave enough money to get our flight tickets back home and pay for the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave.I’m just gonna have to plead with you to lend me some funds right now,i’ll pay back as soon as I get home. We need to sort the hotel bills and get on the next available flight home.
Thanks very much! – xxxxx
Subject: Dilema!
How you doing? We made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced some days back, Unfortunately we got mugged at gun point last night! All cash, Credit cards and phone were stolen, we got messed up in another country, stranded in London, fortunately passport was back in my hotel room. It was a bitter experience and i was hurt on my right hand, but would be fine. I am sending you this message cos i don’t want anyone to panic, we want you to keep it that way for now!I have been to the police and embassy here, but they aren’t helping issues,I have limited means of getting out of here, we canceled our cards already and made a police report, I won’t get a new card number till I get back home! So I really need your help.
I Need you to loan me $2,500 You could wire whatever you can spare to
my name and Location via Western Union, below is all you need:Receiver’s Name -xxxx
Location – xxxxxxI still have my passport so I can use it as identification, email me the transfer details and the confirmation # would def refund it to you once we arrive hopefully tomorrow.
So if your friend suddenly loses command of the English language and starts writing like that, it’s probably not him or her. So, most importantly, don’t send any money. Talk to your friend through another way, like phone or messenger or another email address and tell them what you received. And, please don’t let your first reaction be “What? Send you money? I’m not made of money!” because your friend is probably not asking for money. A hacker is hoping you’ll fall for this. Don’t.
Hopefully, after I write this, my email address doesn’t start sending out emails asking for money. If It does, leave a comment up here and let me know. Crazy, crazy hackers!